Ancient Plays

This annotated edition includes: • A 16,000-word critical study of Aeschylus and the birth of tragedy • The complete Oresteia — the only surviving Greek trilogy • All seven surviving plays, including Prometheus Bound • A life of Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE), the soldier of Marathon • The Plumptre verse translation, public domain worldwide Before Aeschylus, there was no drama. One actor faced a chorus, and nothing could happen. He added a second — and with two figures who could disagree, tragedy, and the whole of theatre after it, was born. Aeschylus is the oldest of the great ...

A year inside Ivy League Football, unveiling the heart and soul of college football’s oldest teams as they compete amidst a rapidly changing collegiate sports world—from an award-winning, bestselling author. "A reminder that Ivy football is the American Beauty Rose of the fall sport...

Before Twilight and True Blood, only one vampire commanded “the children of the night". In this bloodthirsty tale of unholy terror, Count Dracula slips into Victorian London with a cargo of his native Transylvanian soil - so he can rest between victims. The city seems helpless against his frightful power, and only one man, Dr. Van Helsing, can stop the carnage. But to do this, he must uncover the vampire’s lair and pierce his heart with a wooden stake.

The war at Troy did not end when the city fell. For the Greeks who sailed home, and the women they carried off as slaves, the worst was still to come — and it is the tragedians, not Homer, who tell that story. Twenty-five centuries ago, in the open-air theater on the slope of the Athenian Acropolis, three poets created an art form that has never been surpassed. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides took the old stories of gods and heroes — the house of Atreus, the fall of Troy, the curse of Oedipus, the fury of Medea — and turned them into something the world had never seen: tragedy. ...

This annotated edition includes: • A 16,000-word critical study of Aeschylus and the birth of tragedy • The complete Oresteia — the only surviving Greek trilogy • All seven surviving plays, including Prometheus Bound • A life of Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE), the soldier of Marathon • The Plumptre verse translation, public domain worldwide Before Aeschylus, there was no drama. One actor faced a chorus, and nothing could happen. He added a second — and with two figures who could disagree, tragedy, and all theatre after it, was born. Aeschylus is the oldest of the great ...

Min-Ji knows one thing for certain: Corin, the fierce, inventive Naga warrior, is her mate. So why does he avoid her? Min-Ji It’s my fault we crashed on this strange, barbaric alien planet. The others might have forgotten for now, but I haven’t. Then why does even my supposed mate avoid me? Corin is smart, brave, and has a heart so big, he takes on far too much to keep our new clan safe. When he goes off on a mission to save our missing friends, I follow him. This is my chance to prove that we belong together, no matter the risk. Corin Once, my only goal in life was to protect my ...

There is no finer way to welcome young people (or adults!) to the pleasures of Shakespeare than with these four masterful retellings of the Bard's most beloved plays. Ranging from the pure magic of A Midsummer Night's Dream to the heartbreak of young love in Romeo and Juliet, featuring the spine-tingling tragedy of Macbeth (complete with ghost and witches) and culminating in the laugh-out-loud hijinks of Twelfth Night.

This annotated edition includes: • A 16,000-word critical study of Sophocles and tragedy • All seven surviving plays — everything that came down to us • The complete Theban cycle: Oedipus the King, Colonus, Antigone • A life of Sophocles (c. 497–406 BCE) • The Campbell verse translation, public domain worldwide A king hunts the murderer whose crime has plagued his city, swearing to bring him to justice — and discovers, scene by scene, that the man he is hunting is himself. Oedipus the King is the play on which Aristotle built the theory of tragedy, the play Freud reached for...

Sophocles was born at Colonus, near Athens in about 496 BC and is considered to be one of the premier playwrights of Greek tragedy. His stories may have been filled with strife, but Sophocles himself was prosperous and came from a good family. It is said that he was handsome, wealthy, and a highly respected citizen of Athens. During his life, he wrote over 120 plays and was instrumental in how plays would eventually be performed, including the addition of stage props.

Inspired by the mythic house of Thebes, Sophocles’s defining Greek tragedies follow the fates that befall three doomed generations.

The ultimate, full-cast dramatisations of Homer’s two epic Greek masterpieces, with exceptional casts including Derek Jacobi, Christopher Eccleston, Tim McInnerny and Benedict Cumberbatch REDISCOVER THE EPIC MYTHS BEFORE YOU SEE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Attributed to the Greek...

A city is dying. Its king has sworn to discover why. The answer will destroy everything he believes about himself. Thebes is gripped by plague when its citizens turn to Oedipus—the celebrated ruler who once saved them from the Sphinx. The oracle’s command seems clear: the murderer of the former king, Laius, remains unpunished, and the pollution of that crime must be driven from the city. Confident in his intelligence and determined to protect his people, Oedipus begins a public investigation. Every answer brings him closer to the truth. Every warning makes him more determined to hear it...

Brought to you by Penguin. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024 WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024 LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN...

A classic comedy by the great Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest is his short farce consisting of numerous noms de plume, a case of mistaken identity, an identity left in a case by mistake, and the mistake of revealing ones identity in the presence of a previous employer, which may result post-script in a case for Scotland Yard. Or to put much more simply, of Jack and his attempts to woo Gwendolyn, his would-be bride... even if she does seem to think his name is Earnest.

Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling Roman plays. The plot against Caesar and the infamous assassination scene make for unforgettable listening. Brutus, the true protagonist of the play, is mesmerizing in his psychological state of anguish, forced to choose between the bonds of friendship and his desire for patriotic justice.

Dramatisations of selected novels and short stories by the acclaimed Robert Graves An acclaimed poet and novelist, Robert Graves is best remembered today for his immensely popular I, Claudius novels. He penned over 140 works in his lifetime, ranging from historical fiction to comic and...

Journey into the Heart of the Cosmos: A Narrative Retelling of India’s Jewel of Puranas Are you a character in a story written before time began? In a world consumed by noise, speed, and fleeting distractions, the human soul craves a map - a guide to understand where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. For thousands of years, the Vishnu Purana has served as that map. Revered as the Purana Ratna (The Jewel of Puranas), this ancient text is not merely a collection of myths; it is a profound cosmological thriller that weaves together the birth of stars, the rise and fall ...

Sophocles wrote about Oedipus twice, and the second time he changed his verdict. Oedipus the King, staged around 429 BC when Sophocles was in his sixties and at the height of an already permanent reputation, is the severest judgment tragedy has ever handed down: a man who killed his father and married his mother in total ignorance is still, without appeal, the pollution the city must expel. Oedipus at Colonus, written near the end of Sophocles's long life and staged after his death by his own grandson, argues the opposite case with total conviction — that the same man is innocent, that ...

These two great poems date from Shakespeare’s early years and are full of passion and invention. In Venus and Adonis, the goddess of love pleads with the beautiful boy to submit to her advances and become her love - but he only wants to hunt boar. In the more serious Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare draws on the Roman tale of the Emperor Tarquin’s desire for Lucrece and its tragic consequencies. These poems give prominent parts to the two heroines, and Clare Corbett and Eve Best shine.

A solo recording of Hamlet in an American dialect.