Greek Poetry

The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are the two epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. These two epics, along with the Homeric Hymns and the two poems of Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days, comprised the major foundations of the Greek literary tradition that would continue into the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. This carefully selected collection contains: The Odyssey ; The Works and Days ; Theogony ; The Complete Poems of Sappho ; Medea ; Antigone ; Agamemnon ; The Choephori ; Eumenides.

The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of every man's journey through life. In the myths and legends that are retold here, the energy and poetry of Homer's original is captured in a bold, contemporary idiom, giving us an edition of The Odyssey that is a joy to listen to, worth...

Are you ready to embark on a journey into the mind of one of history's most intriguing philosophers? Empedocles for Beginners: Understanding the Philosopher of Love and Strife invites you to explore the groundbreaking ideas that have shaped our understanding of the universe for centuries. Uncover the Life of Empedocles: Step into ancient Greece and meet Empedocles, the philosopher who blended science with poetry. Discover how his adventurous life and bold ideas broke new ground and left an indelible mark on Western thought. Understand the Four Elements: Learn about Empedocles’ ...

This amazing collection of poetry from the famous Greek Anthology spans over 1,500 years of ancient Greek and Byzantine history. The selections in this recording were chosen and translated by famed classicist J. W. Mackail.

In this stunning reimagining of Greek myth for fans of Circe and Lore, Nikita Gill showcases the underworld and its chthonic deities in all their glory, weaving a gripping story about the young goddess coming of age within their midst. Hekate sings the story of its eponymous heroine. Born into a...

Argonautika is the story of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. This epic story of gods and goddesses, mythical beasts, thrilling adventures, and narrow escapes may be the oldest surviving Greek myth, which Homer referred to as something "familiar to all." Listen to this masterpiece of classical literature in an all-new translation that captures the timeless magic and quiet humor of this ancient legend.

McKinley introduces his readers to over thirty authors of the ancient classics, illuminating who they were, the times they lived in, and their works that have come down to us through the millennia. In the process, we are introduced to the world-changing historical events of antiquity from the Greco-Persian Wars to the centuries of conquests that built the Roman Empire. Rather than reading second-hand accounts, we share the experience through the words of the men who lived and wrote this history, from Thucydides to Julius Caesar. We read multiple original accounts of decisive events such as ...

The poem that invented the universe. Before Homer's heroes sailed to Troy, before Odysseus wandered the wine-dark sea, a Boeotian shepherd named Hesiod stood on Mount Helicon and received from the Muses the oldest surviving account of how everything began. The Theogony is the foundational text of Greek mythology — the poem that gave the gods their genealogy, the cosmos its architecture, and Western literature its first creation story. From the primordial abyss of Chaos to the rise of Zeus, from the castration of Uranus to the birth of Aphrodite from the foam of the sea, Hesiod's thousand-...

The oldest surviving philosophy of work, justice, and what it means to live in hard times. Nearly three thousand years ago, a Boeotian farmer named Hesiod sat down to tell his brother the truth: that the gods have hidden the good life from mortals, that work is the price of survival, and that justice — fragile, cosmic, indifferent to power — is the only thing standing between civilization and collapse. Works and Days is one of the founding texts of Western literature — and one of the least read. While Homer sang of heroes, Hesiod sang of the field, the season, the neighbor's debt, and...

Dating to the ninth century BC, Homer’s timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned...

Since it was first published more than forty years ago, Robert Fitzgerald's prizewinning translation of Homer's battle epic has become a classic in its own right: a standard against which all other versions of The Iliad are compared. This definitive translation of Homer's epic is timeless in its...

"In classical Greece men called rhapsodes memorized and recited “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” My own rhapsode is the English actor Dan Stevens, whom fans of “Downton Abbey” will know as Matthew Crawley. He’s been performing the Robert Fitzgerald translation, and no Hellene could...

The ancient Greeks revered Homer and Hesiod and often cited their names together in theological and theological works. While the two could have been contemporaries, some estimate that Hesiod lived up to 100 years after Homer. Sappho was an ancient Greek poetess and musician. She pioneered song lyrics and the ancient Greeks included her in the canon of nine lyric poets. Plato even numbered her among the Parnassian goddesses, referring to her as the tenth muse.

From Seferis’ speech at the Swedish Academy I belong to a small country. A rocky promontory in the Mediterranean, it has nothing to distinguish it but the efforts of its people, the sea, and the light of the sun. It is a small country, but its tradition is immense and has been handed down through the centuries without interruption. The Greek language has never ceased to be spoken. It has undergone the changes that all living things experience, but there has never been a gap. This tradition is characterized by love of the human; justice is its norm. In the tightly organized classical ...

The Aeneid represents one of the greatest cultural and artistic achievements of Western Civilization. Within the brooding and melancholy atmosphere of Virgil's pious masterpiece lies the mythic story of Aeneas and his flight from burning Troy, taking with him across the Mediterranean the survivors of the Greek onslaught. Aeneas, after many travails and adventures, including a love affair with Dido Queen of Carthage and a visit to the underworld to see his father, ends up in Italy.

The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red, a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional recreation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present.

From the renowned translator of Rilke, Tao Te Ching, and Gilgamesh, a vivid new translation of Western civilization’s foundational epic: The Iliad. Tolstoy called the Iliad a miracle; Goethe said that it always thrust him into a state of astonishment. Homer’s story is thrilling, and his...

Discover a powerful and relatable poetry collection of love, loss, and healing -- perfect for fans of Rupi Kaur and Amanda Lovelace. In this magical poetry collection, Nikita Gill unflinchingly explores the fire in every woman and the emotions that lie deep in one's soul. Featuring rewritten...

The instant #1 New York Times bestselling series! Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Alexandra Bracken, this richly imagined retelling of the Greek myth of Styx, goddess of the underworld river, is a powerful novel-in-verse from world-renowned poet Nikita Gill. Before the tale of Zeus and...

In this classic epic chronicle of the Greek Hero on his travels home from the Trojan War, Odysseus survives storm and shipwreck, the cave of the Cyclops, and the isle of Circe. He withstands the lure of the Sirens’ song and a trip to the Underworld, only to find his most difficult challenge at...