Ancient Medieval

The Illiad dates back to the 8th century BC and is Homer's epic precursor to The Odyssey. Set during the Trojan War, it tells of battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.

In AD 1282, James de Wolfe, the endearing and gentle brother, is killed in Wales as the Welsh rebel against Henry III...or was he? Five years later, tales of a Welsh warrior known as Blaidd Cryf, or Blayth the Strong, are making way to English ears along the Welsh Marches. A Welsh warrior who can somehow read the minds of the English armies is rising to power among the last princes of Wales. Rumors come from Wales that Blayth the Strong is none other than James de Wolfe.

Homer's epic poem, written near the end of eighth century BC in Greece, follows the hero Odysseus as he journeys home after the fall of Troy. Many scholars believe that The Odyssey was originally composed as an oral tradition and was more likely meant to be heard than read, making it a great listen.

AD 1192 - Sir Christopher de Lohr is Richard the Lion Heart's champion, a man the Muslims nicknamed "The Lion's Claw". Blond, battle scarred, and powerful, he is what all men fear. After the fall of Acre, Christopher makes a promise at the deathbed of a dying comrade to marry the man's incorrigible but wealthy daughter. Christopher returns home to marry the woman, but the only thing he is interested in is her substantial dowry. He has no use for a wife and resents being forced into the marriage.

This anonymous fourteenth-century text is the glory of English mysticism, and one of the most practical and useful guides to finding union with God ever written. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s new translation is the first to bring the text into a modern English idiom - while remaining strictly faithful to the meaning of the original Middle English. The Cloud of Unknowingconsists of a series of letters written by a monk to his student or disciple, instructing him (or her) in the way of Divine union.

Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him.

Discover the origins of the original de Wolfe pack, led by the man known as Warwolfe. Before the Duke of Normandy conquered England, a legend arose. A man so fierce, so brave, and so noble, that the mere whisper of his name could strike both fear and admiration into the hearts of all men. That name is Warwolfe. Gaetan de Wolfe is this man.

The History of Mental Health Treatment: From Ancient Practices to Modern Science BOOK 1: Ancient and Medieval Mental Health Treatment: How Early Civilizations, Religion, and Philosophy Shaped the First Approaches to Mental Illness explores the long and complex history of how human societies first attempted to understand psychological suffering. Long before psychiatry, therapy, or neuroscience existed, people across ancient and medieval cultures struggled to explain behaviors such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and emotional instability. This book traces how those early explanations...

How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign.

Acclaimed actress Claire Danes burnishes an epic story of heroes, gods, and monsters in a groundbreaking translation of The Odyssey, the first great adventure story in the Western literary tradition. When the wily warrior-king Odysseus sets off for home after the Trojan War, he doesn’t realize this simple undertaking will become a perilous journey of 10 years. Beset at every turn, he encounters obstacles, detours, and temptations—both supernatural and human—while his wife Penelope fends off would-be suitors desperate to take the throne.

Plutarchs's (46-120 A.D.) epic chronicle of the lives of great Grecians and Romans. Beginning with the founding of Rome and Athens, the lives of the men who created the ancient world are brought to life in this new, high quality recording. Greats such as Romulus, Pericles, Theseus, Lycurgus and many others come alive as their politics, economy, and their individual stories play out in the time of the Ancients. This translation by John Dryden, which is considered by scholars to be the quintessential translation.

The Executioner Knights are back, now with one of their own falling in love with a Welsh princess who holds the key to a renewed rebellion. Will love win out over his sense of duty? Will his sense of duty and his loyalty to England win out? Or will the love of a Welsh princess be his downfall?

These 24 dramatic lectures examine key events from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to medieval Europe and Asia. Spanning thousands of years and three continents, this course illuminates fascinating historical dramas on the individual scale.

It’s the winter season of 1746, and the Highlands are snowy. In the village of Calvine, north of Tay Forest along a road that leads straight into Inverness, the only tavern in town is packed to the rafters with travelers. Eight months after the disastrous defeat at Culloden, the people haven’t recovered, nor has the land, and it’s a bad winter. When James de Lohr, Earl of Worcester, shows up looking for clues to his brother’s fate on the Culloden Moor, he gets more than he bargained for.

1332 A.D. - As the premier commander for Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, when he commandeered the throne from a young Edward III, Sir Mathias de Reyne is the type of knight that all men aspire to be: fair, powerful, intelligent, and bold. Men on both sides of the Mortimer/Edward lines respect and admire de Reyne for his outstanding character, including Dragonblade himself, Tate de Lara.

Blood, gore, thrills, chills, and romance abound in these plays by three of the great Greek authors. Included are "Medea" by Euripides; "Antigone" by Sophocles; and "Agamemnon" by Aeschylus.

He bears the name of de Russe, but the bloodlines of six great houses converge in the greatest knight England has yet seen. As the grandfather of Gaston de Russe, the dark one, Sir Bastien de Russe beholds a great and terrible legacy - one that makes him both the target and the leader, the hunter and the hunted. His story is the most powerful of all. Greatness and darkness abide in the man known as the beast.

It is A.D. 1486. Fresh from his treacherous turning of the tides against Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth, Sir Gaston de Russe's reputation is dark and dirty. Those loyal to Richard hate him and those loyal to Henry Tudor fear him. He is, after all, The Dark One. In order to gain a strong foothold in Yorkshire, Henry sends Gaston to one of the largest fortresses in the north, a massive bastion called Mt. Holyoak Castle.

The story of Cyrano, his famous nose, and his undying love for the beautiful Roxanne evokes the spirit and panache of 17th century France.

AD 1139 - When her husband perishes in a skirmish, the Lady Cantia du Bexley Penden is distraught. Her husband was assisting the mighty Viscount Winterton in the battle for the throne between Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois, caught, like most men, in a vicious struggle for the rightful ruler of England.