Great Books of the Western World (Great books of the Western world)(60 Volumes)

Book Description

Information... Knowledge... Understanding... Wisdom...

From the ancient classics to the masterpieces of the 20th century, the Great Books are all the introduction you`ll ever need to the ideas, stories and discoveries that have shaped modern civilization. This collection of 517 classics in 60 beautifully bound volumes is color-coded into four subject categories: literature, history, philosophy, and science. And since this edition includes works from 20th century authors, it`s the most up-to-date collection of the Great Books ever.

Product Details

Reading and understanding great works by history`s outstanding minds has always been considered the substance of a liberal education. The Great Books of the Western World has been acclaimed as the greatest publishing venture of the 20th Century. The set now consists of 60 volumes, with 517 works by 130 authors spanning 30 centuries, on a total of 37,000 pages containing 29 million words. Among the Great Books` 130 authors, 47 are writers of imaginative literature; 29 are masters of mathematics and/or the natural sciences; 28 are historians or social scientists, and 28 or more are philosophers and/or theologians. (This totals 132 because William James and Alfred North Whitehead have made contributions in both of the latter two subject categories).

Volume Details

Volumes 1 and 2 of this collection is the Syntopicon, a unique two-volume guide (not sold separately) that enables you to investigate a particular idea and compare what different authors have to say about it. The Syntopicon comprises a new kind of reference work -- accomplishing for ideas what the dictionary accomplishes for words and the encyclopaedia accomplishes for facts. Also included is the Great Conversation, featuring fascinating background information, extensive timelines, photos, and quotes from the classic works and their authors.

Special colors on the Great Books` spines guide you quickly to the four subject areas - GREEN: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, and Poetry

Volume 3 Homer

Volume 4 Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes, Aristophanes

Volume 12 Virgil

Volume 19 Dante, Chaucer

Volume 22 Rabelais

Volume 24 Shakespeare l

Volume 25 Shakespeare ll

Volume 27 Cervantes

Volume 29 Milton

Volume 31 Molière, Racine

Volume 34 Swift, Voltaire, Diderot

Volume 45 Goethe, Balzac

Volume 46 Austen, George Eliot

Volume 47 Dickens

Volume 48 Melville, Twain

Volume 51 Tolstoy

Volume 52 Dostoevsky, Ibsen

Volume 59 Henry James, Shaw, Conrad, Chekhov, Pirandello, Proust, Cather, Mann, Joyce

Volume 60 Woolf, Kafka, Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, O`Neill, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Brecht, Hemingway, Orwell, Beckett RED: Philosophy and Religion

Volume 6 Plato

Volume 7 Aristotle l

Volume 8 Aristotle ll

Volume 11 Lucretius, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Plotinus

Volume 16 Augustine

Volume 17 Aquinas l

Volume 18 Aquinas ll

Volume 20 Calvin

Volume 28 Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza

Volume 30 Pascal

Volume 33 Locke, Berkeley, Hume

Volume 39 Kant

Volume 43 Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche

Volume 55 William James, Bergson, Dewey, Whitehead, Russell, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Barth BLUE: History, Politics, Economics, and Ethics

Volume 5 Herodotus, Thucydides

Volume 13 Plutarch

Volume 14 Tacitus

Volume 21 Machiavelli, Hobbes

Volume 23 Erasmus, Montaigne

Volume 35 Montesquieu, Rousseau

Volume 36 Adam Smith

Volume 37 Gibbon l

Volume 38 Gibbon ll

Volume 40 J. S. Mill

Volume 41 Boswell

Volume 44 Tocqueville

Volume 50 Marx, Engels

Volume 57 Veblen, Tawney, Keyne

Customer Reviews:

The best of the best all in one volume.......2007-08-18

These books are worth their weight in Gold. You can find most, if not all, of these writings for free on the internet since there is no copyright anymore; however, if you are looking for physical books then this is the way to go. Very well made and if you go to the Britannica website you may a good deal or at least a payment plan for the hefty price.

Poorly Organized.......2007-08-15

I had heard of the Great Books Project some time ago but had never actually had a chance to see these translations until this past semester at my school library. They were located on the top floor right next to the bathroom so I sort stumbled into them by accident one night. After sifting through a few of these I can't say that I was anything other than supremely disapointed. It was a noble attempt on Adler's part but it just didn't pan out for a number of reasons.

I'm not one of these diversity crackpots and I personally think schools that use this collection (albeit losely) as a foundation for their curriculum (St. John's in Annapolis particularly) are vastly more rigorous, comprehensive, and rewarding than those of practically every other American University. Four years of science, three of mathematics, three of intensive Greek and French, weekly seminars in Western Literature and Philosophy. It's no wonder that this environment produces among the highest acceptance rates into top professional and graduate programs in the country.

However, as I mentioned before these schools use Adler's collection as more of a suggestion than anything else mostly because this hodgepodge of some 37,000 poorly translated and at times even obsolete pages of loseleaf paper couldn't possibly offer the coherence required of a college program.

To be fair though this was not Adler's intention with this collection. Still, one is left wondering what exactly Adler's intention was with all of this. One would assume that the intention was to get these books into as many homes and minds as possible. That's a great idea in principle but if folks aren't interest in reading these books individually what would lead you to believe that assembling them in one giant mass makes them more intriguing? Certainly he couldn't have done this to make the books more affordable ($1000+)...oh dear God, I believe he did.

I found the translations to be cumbersome, utterly oblivious to the language of the author's time and location, and unnecessarily small in size. Oh and the paper is of extremely low quality as well at least in the series I read out of.

These are all problems but what I find most unfortunate is the lack of coherence to the whole thing. First off, WHERE are the history books? Aside from the two big Greeks there are absolutely none to be found in the entire collection. Tens of thousands of pages with no history whatsoever to put any of into context for the young reader who I'll assume is the target audience of this collection.

Secondly, I support the attempt to expose the general public to the beauty of mathematics and especially science. But seriously, is there any point in adding something like Newton's Principia to this collection other than to show off? Really, what percentage of the population can make sense of a book like that? Cambridge prints short introductory texts to dozens of subjects in the sciences that are more relavent to that 99.99% of the population that doesn't have an advanced degree in Physics of Mathematics. Next.

Third, if you're selecting works based on influence then how do people like Kierkegaard, Marx and Nietzsche only get one of work apeice included whereas folks like Chaucer, Pascal and Ibsen get numerous selections? How can it be that Pascal has had more influence than a man whose philosophy spawned worldwide panic, violence and revolution for most of the 20th Century?

Finally, if you're going to try and produce a comprehensive collection of the Greatest the Western World has produced why not select each authors most notable contributions to that legacy. Nobody remembers Thomas Mann for "Death and Venice." Nobody remembers Joyce for "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

But then again I could be wrong. Regardless, I am still going to give this book 4 stars for fighting the good fight against relativism, multiculturalism and the general degeneration of the human race.

Great contents, but.......2006-09-01

Bid a new set from ebay and it arrived in two boxes. It has great contents, but:

1) The books are small in dimension, so print is small and not easy to read.

2) The paper is thin.

3) Need more pictures.

4) Some volumes are quite thin. It will be better either adding more contents, or combine volumes to make the whole set more manageable.

5) The set is listed at $1,195, which translates to about $20 per volume. Judging from the quality of the book, printing quality should be no more than $5 per volume. They should reduce price to make it more accessible.

Finest compilation of the writings of the most brilliant minds over the centuries past ever.......2006-08-17

These books were first published in 1952. Only 500 sets were published that year, a Private Library Collection it was called, and sold for $500.00 per set. My father was one of the original purchasers, and he passed them down to me when he died. (It's still even in its original custom made bookcase!)
This entire set contains the writings of the most brilliant minds over the centuries past, carefully compiled by the publishers, with a ten-year reading plan that will give the reader the most valuable of all gifts: knowledge. A must-read for any true scholar!

Cost effective when you consider your options..........2006-03-14

Regardless of minor squabbling over what should and shouldn't be included, this is a very good collection of western works. I'd call it great in fact, when you consider the amount you'd have to pay to purchase all these seperate, not to mention all the wading you'd do through some not-so-necessary reads.

Insert the rest of a 'look how big my words can be' and 'I read this while still in the womb' review here. I'm not feeling up to the pomp.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables (Children's Illustrated Classics)

Average customer rating:

Only 20 Fables
Wonderful book! Just needs MORE content!
a great book, but not for my classroom
Beautiful, but not what I expected
A beautiful book

The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables (Children's Illustrated Classics)

Manufacturer: Running Press Book Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0762404132

Book Description

A treasure for all readers.

In The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables, there are twenty tales, each told through a series of lush, colorful pictures, which end with the simple moral, evoked in a single sentence. Children will love to see what befalls Aesop's cast of creatures that includes dogs, mice, and lions, proving that no one is too big or small to learn a thing or two.

Customer Reviews:

Only 20 Fables.......2007-07-03

Large book, but it is very thin and only contains 20 fables. I am returning it.

Wonderful book! Just needs MORE content!.......2006-01-12

This book was a gift for my 4 year old. It seems to be a re-written edition which is fine, as it is easier to understand than other versions we have. The illustrations are wonderful and my daughter loves them. However I was a bit disappointed that they could not fill this book with more fables. It seems like sort of a thin book for the price, and some of the most popular fables were omitted from this version. Just an FYI, since Amazon seems to be mixing reviews on here among various versions of books... this review is for ISBN# 0-7624-0413-2. I bought this and other books based on reviews that were not relevent to the particular version of the book I purchased.

a great book, but not for my classroom.......2004-07-18

While I appreciate this book for its beautiful, large illustrations, I wish I had browsed the table of contents before purchasing it. I had intended to use this book with my first grade class because we are studying Aesop's Fables. However, since two of the fables in this book contain the word "ass," this book is not appropriate for my classroom. I have no problem using it with my own children, however, so I'm not sorry that I bought it!

Beautiful, but not what I expected.......2002-12-22

It is true - the drawings in this book are beautiful. However, I was hoping that the telling of the fables would have more of the original flavor. The stories have been updated to at least the 20th century. I am sure that when Aesop told the stories, the Country Mouse and the City Mouse didn't have to dodge automobiles and miss stepping in bubblegum. It was misleading that Aesop is listed as "editor" because the stories are not as he told them.

The overall messages (ie morals) are there. I just was disappointed that it was so updated. I'm sure that serves its purpose, but it wasn't what I wanted.

A beautiful book.......2000-04-12

I am starting my collection of children's books for my son. He is still a baby, but he loves to look at the big, interesting, and colorful pictures in this book. It is nice because there are very short stories for times when baby is particularly wriggley and it is time for bed, and longer stories for a growing attention span. He just likes the pictures right now. He tries to touch the animals on the pages. I like the fables because they teach good morals. This is one of those books that stays high on the bookshelf and can be a treasure for generations.

Average customer rating:

Odyssey/The Illiad Penguin box set
The Set You Should Own
Reads Like a Dream
Two greats for the price of one
Excellent translations -- not to mention great stories

Iliad and Odyssey boxed set
Homer
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0147712556

Amazon.com

This is a boxed gift edition of Fagles's two widely acclaimed translations of Homer.

The Iliad is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to call it a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the 10th and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. The Odyssey is, quite simply, the story of Odysseus, who wants to go home. But Poseidon, god of oceans, doesn't want him to make it back across the wine-dark sea to his wife, Penelope, son, Telemachus, and their high-roofed home at Ithaca. The story is told in easy-going, beautiful poetry; the characters speak naturally, the action happens briskly. Even the gods come across as real people, despite the divine powers they exercise constantly. Both works have been hailed by scholars and the public for the powerful language that brings clashing, pulsing life to these ancient masterpieces.

Book Description

A beautiful gift set of Robert Fagles' award-winning translations of Homer

Gripping listeners and readers for more than 2,700 years, The Iliad is the story of the Trojan War and the rage of Achilles. Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic.

If The Iliad is the world's greatest war story, then The Odyssey is literature's greatest evocation of every man's journey through life. Here again, Fagles has performed the translator's task magnificently, giving us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Each volume contains a superb introduction with textual and critical commentary by renowned classicist Bernard Knox.

* Deluxe paperback editions with French flaps and acid-free paper in a handsome slipcase

* Robert Fagles is the recipient of the 1997 PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters

* The Iliad was a New York Times Notable Book and won the 1991 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award by The Academy of American Poets, an award from the Translation Center of Columbia University, and the New Jersey Humanities Book Award

* The Odyssey was chosen by Time as one of the ten Best Books of 1996

Customer Reviews:

Odyssey/The Illiad Penguin box set.......2007-09-24

A very nice set. It looks good and the binding is sturdy. It should last many years of use and still look presentable on the shelf. The poetic translation is the best I know of. A poetic translation is always suspect because either meaning, tone or the poetic phrases will have to be sacrificed at certain (usually frequent) points. This one goes quite a ways in the direction of maintaining the feel of the original, and staying poetic - a least better than any other translation I know of. The original has a sound and movement in its meter that is unmatched and this translation does not match it, but it does occasionally remind me of the original, and there are a very few, if any, really awkward phrases. The text is also approachable by someone who is not a classical expert, another problem with many translations. Not a masterpiece, but it does allow you to get glimpses of the masterpiece that is the original. It is a very approachable and enjoyable translation, and the best thing out there for these very important, enjoyable, imaginative, and pivotal works in Western literature.

The Set You Should Own.......2007-06-06

Quality. Quality. Quality.
And at a VERY nice price.
A common problem with sets like these is that the type is often
crammed so close together, and so light, it can be extremely hard to read.
That's NOT the case here.
Very easy on the eyes, well spaced and printed on surprisingly thick, rag edge stock.
The binding (so important in a paperback) is absolutely first-rate.
The covers are way beyond what you'd expect at the price.
And boxed is always nice.

Quality. Quality. Quality.
And highly recommended.

Reads Like a Dream.......2007-04-15

This two volume set is excellent. Both books are essential pieces of literature which belong together on everyone's bookshelf. Western Literature began with Homer. If our entire civilization were to be lost and only Homer's great classics were to survive, human culture would be well represented.

Different translations have somewhat of a different flavor. This particular translation is well constructed, easy to follow and represents the works very well. Other translations, such as Samuel Butler's, Homer - The Iliad and The Odyssey, which is more formal tend to present Homer with a bit more grandeur, but then, that is really a matter of individual taste. This edition cannot be faulted.

If you are looking for a gift for someone you really care about. You might want to consider this edition of Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. This boxed set not only looks good - it reads like a dream.

Two greats for the price of one.......2007-03-12

The Iliad and The Odyssey are epics that everyone should read whether their required to at school or not. There are places with dullness, but also ones of great excitement. Homer transcends even modern writers with his graphic telling of Troy's fall. Incredible writing, and even more incredible to see that perhaps we haven't evolved so much into loving violence as we may think, it's been here for over two-thousand years.

Excellent translations -- not to mention great stories.......2007-01-16

I have a number of translations of these works in my personal library. Since I was beginning a new course about these books, I went searching for a more up-to-date (modern) approach.

Some professors of classical studies have criticized these translations for being marred by excessive use of colloquial language and that Fagles' meter does not capture the feeling of the Homeric hexameter. That may be true but, as far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter.

Fagles' translation is very easy for the ordinary American to read and that is most important as far as I am concerned.

A Loeb Classical Library Reader (Loeb Classical Library)

Average customer rating:

Nice and short; all in all, a decent sampling
A Damned Good Compromise!
brevity may be the soul of wit, but this needs to be bodied out
A very good introduction.

A Loeb Classical Library Reader (Loeb Classical Library)
Loeb Classical Library
Manufacturer: Loeb Classical Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067499616X

Book Description

This selection of lapidary nuggets drawn from thirty-three of antiquity's major authors includes poetry, dialogue, philosophical writing, history, descriptive reporting, satire, and fiction--giving a glimpse at the wide range of arts and sciences, thought and styles, of Greco-Roman culture.

The selections span twelve centuries, from Homer to Saint Jerome. The texts and translations are reproduced as they appear in Loeb volumes.

The Loeb Classical Library is the only existing series of books which, through original text and facing English translation, gives access to all that is important in Greek and Latin literature. The Loeb Classical Library Reader offers a unique sampling of this treasure trove. In these pages you will find, for example:

Odysseus tricking the Cyclops in order to escape from the giant's cave;

Zeus creating the first woman, Pandora, cause of mortals' hardships ever after;

the Athenian general Nicias dissuading his countrymen from invading Sicily;

Socrates, condemned to die, saying farewell;

a description of Herod's fortified palace at Masada;

Cicero's thoughts on what we owe our fellow men;

Livy's description of the rape of the Sabine women;

Manilius on the signs of the zodiac;

Pliny's observation of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D..

Here you can enjoy looking in on people, real and imaginary, who figure prominently in ancient history, and on notable events. Here, too, you can relish classical poetry and comedy, and get a taste of the ideas characteristic of the splendid culture to which we are heir.

Customer Reviews:

Nice and short; all in all, a decent sampling.......2007-05-14

Since Amazon still doesn't have a "Search Inside" option for this book, I am copying its contents below:

Homer (Odyssey), Hesiod (Works and Days), Pindar (Olympian Odes), Sophocles (Antigone), Euripides (Medea), Herodotus (Persian Wars), Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War), Aristophanes (Lysistrata), Xenophon (Anabasis), Plato (Phaedo), Aristotle (Poetics), Callimachus (Hymns), Josephus (Jewish War), Plutarch (Brutus), Lucian (Dialogues of the Gods), Pausanias (Description of Greece), Terence (The Brothers), Cicero (On Duties), Caesar (Gallic War), Lucretius (On the Nature of Things), Virgil (Aeneid), Horace (Odes), Livy (History of Rome), Propertius (Elegies), Ovid (Heroines), Manilius (Atronomica), Seneca (Octavia), Pliny (Natural History), Petronius (Satyricon), Pliny the Younger (Letters), Juvenal (Satires), Apuleius (Metamorphoses), Jerome (Letters).

Given that these texts have been drawn from different volumes, the quality of the translations varies. However, at the end of the day, the beauty of the Loeb series lies in the fact that we have access to the original.

I found some of the selections (Josephus, Caesar, Manilius) underwhelming, but that is to be expected. De gustibus non est disputandum, and that is why the Editors seem to have tried to cater to different needs by giving as representative a sample as possible. To make a long story short: this is definitely a good buy.

A Damned Good Compromise!.......2006-08-30

Of course, the editors were damned if they did and damned if they didn't -- select other passages from the 500 other Loeb volumes. Would I have made a different selection? OF COURSE!

But what do I want to have in my briefcase in case my flight is delayed, the newspapers are depressing and the magazines insipid?

Why this handy anthology! Absolutely a worthy purchase. Where else can you tuck into some choice passages from Cicero, savor Lucretius' account of peace of mind, snack on Aristotle without gagging and get a tremendous belly-laugh from Petronius or Juvenal?

This is a no-brainer and a great gift, too!

brevity may be the soul of wit, but this needs to be bodied out.......2006-08-05

120 pages of english translation as an introduction to a library of several hundred volumes? drop the latin and greek, and triple the length.

A very good introduction........2006-03-16

This book is a good introduction to the Loeb Classical Library. The book is in greek and latin with the translations in english. The quality is the same like in a normal book from the library. A good book to begginers in the classical world. A invitation to start your collection in the Loeb Classical Library.

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-By-Map Directory (2 Volume Set)

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Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-By-Map Directory (2 Volume Set)

Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691049459

Book Description

In 99 full-color maps spread over 175 pages, the Barrington Atlas recreates the entire world of the Greeks and Romans from the British Isles to the Indian subcontinent and deep into North Africa. It spans the territory of more than 75 modern countries. Its large format (13 x 19 ins or 33 x 48 cm) has been custom-designed by the leading cartographic supplier MapQuest.com, Inc., and is unrivalled for range, clarity and detail. Over 70 experts, aided by an equal number of consultants, have worked from satellite-generated aeronautical charts to return the modern landscape to its ancient appearance, and to mark ancient names and features in accordance with the most up-to-date historical scholarship and archaeological discoveries. Chronologically, the Barrington Atlas spans archaic Greece to the Late Roman Empire, and no more than two standard scales (1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000) are used to represent most regions.

Since the 1870s, all attempts to map the classical world comprehensively have failed. This new initiative has finally achieved that elusive and challenging goal. It began in 1988 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, under the direction of the distinguished ancient historian Richard Talbert, and has been developed with approximately $4 million in funding support.

The resulting Barrington Atlas is a reference work of permanent value. It has an exceptionally broad appeal to everyone worldwide with an interest in ancient Greeks and Romans, the lands they penetrated, and the peoples and cultures they encountered in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Scholars and libraries should all find it essential, although it is not just for them. It is also for students, travelers and lovers of fine cartography, as well as for anyone eager to retrace Alexander's eastward marches, to cross the Alps with Hannibal, to traverse the Eastern Mediterranean with St. Paul, or to ponder the roads, aqueducts and defense works of the Roman Empire. For the new millennium the Barrington Atlas brings the ancient past back to life in an unforgettably vivid and inspiring way.

Map-by-Map Directory

The Barrington Atlas includes a CD-ROM Map-by-Map Directory. A separate 1,500 page two-volume print edition of the Directory is also available at $150 / £95. The Directory is designed to provide information about every place or feature in the Barrington Atlas. The section for each map comprises:

a concise text drawing attention to special difficulties in mapping a region, such as extensive landscape change since antiquity, or uneven modern exploration.
a listing of every name and feature on the map, with basic data about the period of occupation, the modern equivalents of ancient placenames, the modern country within which they are located, and brief references to relevant ancient testimony or modern studies.
a bibliography of works cited.

The Map-by-Map Directory is an essential accompaniment to the Barrington Atlas. As a uniquely rich, comprehensive, up-to-date distillation of evidence and scholarship, it has no match elsewhere and opens the way to an immense variety of further research initiatives.

The CD-ROM will work on any MAC or PC that supports Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4.0. The installation software for Acrobat Reader is included on the CD-ROM.

Average customer rating:

Beauty
Great for intro. to Greek Mythology
Greek Myths
Bedtime read
Get them started early

Greek Myths for Young Children

Manufacturer: Usborne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0746037252

Customer Reviews:

Beauty.......2007-09-26

This book is both lovely to look at and to read - it was a wonderful gift that our expecting friends adored, as I am sure their baby boy will for years to come.

Great for intro. to Greek Mythology.......2007-08-16

I bought this book for my 5 year old and she absolutely loves it! The stories contain just enough detail to interest her, but not overwhelm her.

Greek Myths.......2007-08-05

This is a good introduction to Greek Myths for kids. The myths are short and easy to follow. My daughter is six and she frequently requests this book for her bedtime reading.

Bedtime read.......2007-07-20

My almost 5 year old daughter loves the stories in this book. She gives it her undivided attention and always wants to read the next story.

Get them started early.......2006-08-21

This is a great book for the 6 - 10 age group. Younger kids may need some bits explained "Mummy, what's a gorgon?" And older kids will already know these popular myths and can go on to more advanced translations. The illustrations are simple and effective with a different border theme for each story. My only gripe is that not all the characters were drawn, mostly they were but some like Helen and Narcissus weren't. The language is age appropriate and the stories move along at a lively pace. Be warned Heracles and Odysseus will require three or four bedtimes to get through.

Average customer rating:

Superb translations
"The first of autumn you shall be my guest."
Davenport's Greeks
Scrupulously accurate, thoroughly modern

7 Greeks

Manufacturer: New Directions Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0811212882

Book Description

translations of ancient Greek poets & philosophers

Customer Reviews:

Superb translations.......2007-03-01

'7 Greeks - Translations by Guy Davenport.'

My favorite is his Herakleitos which is pithy, pungent, very much to the point, and reads better than any other I know of:

16. "Awake, we see a dying world; asleep, dreams."

82. "Defend the law as you would a city wall."

97. "Life is bitter and final, yet men cherish it and beget children to suffer the same fate."

Contrast this with Kathleen Freeman's translation of the same fragment: "When they are born, they are willing to live and accept their fate (death); and they leave behind children to become victims of fate" ('Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', p.26).

107. "Having cut, burned, and poisoned the sick, the doctor then submits his bill."

Davenport's Diogenes was also for me a wonderful find and I'm still chuckling over this one:

Diogenes 109. "I've seen Plato's cups and table, but not his cupness and tableness."

The rest of the book reads extremely well too.

"The first of autumn you shall be my guest.".......2005-04-12

It has no sense to tell you this book is very good and you ought to read it. Instead I'll give a short introduction to each poet and a short example of their work. So you can judge by yourself if it is interesting enough.
I
The first poet is Archilochos. He lived in the seventh century B.C. He was born on the island of Paros, one of the cyclades. He left it for good when he became a mercenary.
He was at his best as a satirist. His work came to us in fragments (like for many poets in this collection).
(# 36)
"He comes in bed,
As copiously as
A Prilnian ass
And is equipped
Like a stallion."
II
Sappho! Who doesn't know her, at least from hearsay!
If we can believe Plato she was the tenth Muse and someone called her poetry "as refreshing as a morning breeze."
(# 18)
"With eyes like that, stand still,
Gaze with a candor from that beauty,
Bold as friends before each other."
III
Alkman lived also in the 7th century B.C. He was born in Sparta. Only a few fragments survived and a 'Partheneion', a song for a girl's choir.
(# 35)
"My hearth is cold but the day will come
When a rich pot of red bean soup
Is on the table, the kind Alkman loves.
Good peasant cooking, nothing fine
The first day of autumn, you shall be my guest."
IV
Anakreon lived in the 6th century B.C. His poems are about wine, love and getting old. They are easy to read thanks to his humor, vivid expressions and originality. For hundreds of years after the dead of Anakreon there were a lot of anonymous imitators who wrote poems called the 'Anakreontea'.
(# 53)
"And now my hair is thin and white,
Grizzled the locks above my ears.
Youth's gone, and with it, all delight.
My teeth are going with the years
..."
V
Herakleitos (ca.500B.C.) a philosopher, was from Ephesus and his nickname was 'The obscure'. He was called that way because his main work 'De Natura' consists of about 120 sayings, a lot of them as hard to understand as the oracles of Delphi.
(# 2)
"Let us therefore notice that understanding is common
to all men. Understanding is common to all, yet each man acts as if his intelligence was private and all his own".
VI
From Diogenes, the Cynic (= 'who lives like a dog'), nothing survived. The sayings ascribed to him are from the 2nd century B.C.
(# 112)
" A lecher is a fig tree on a cliff: crows get the figs."
The legend goes that when Alexander The Great went to see Diogenes and asked him if there was anything he could do to help him, Diogenes answered:"Step aside please, you're blocking the sunlight!".
VII
Herondas (3th century B.C.) wrote dialogues that were satiric and were often performed for the public in the streets.
An excerpt from 'The Dream':
"Get up, Psylla! Get up, girl!
...
You sleep so hard it makes you tired. Get up!
Light the lamps. Put the pig out to pasture.
She's driving me crazy. Grumble and scratch!"

Davenport's Greeks.......2000-10-08

This is a gem of a book for anyone who is interested in ancient Greece. Guy Davenport is a wonderful interpreter of Archilochos, Sappho, and the rest; his introduction, describing each poet is as interesting as the poetry itself. Davenport's explication of how translation of the ancient poets is done is fascinating, and lends integrity to the book. Mr. Davenport tells you when the papyrus he is translating is simply too worn to read (explaining gaps in the verse), but he also speculates about what the original poem might have been, when, for example, the entire left side of a papyrus page is missing. His "wishful thinking" about how a certain poem of Sappho's might have read (if we had the entire text) gives us a better idea why the Greeks and Romans loved her, but Davenport scrupulously identifies what is his "tuckpointing" and what is the actual text. Mr. Davenport's translations of the fragments of Archilochos are particularly powerful to me. He has captured with great sensitivity the thinking of this remarkable soldier-poet who is the second oldest Western poet after Homer. Archilochos' writing brings us a view of war in the sixth century before Christ with a realistic pen, and also a passionate one. This was the poet who could write in one poem of throwing down his shield and running away at the height of the battle ("somehow life seemed more precious"), and in another speak with respect of bravery and defense of home ("remember us, remember this earth when, with hearts against despair, our javelins held Thasos from her enemies"). In all, another fine book from an extraordinary author whose range of learning is enormous, and who understands how to entertain while enlightening.

Scrupulously accurate, thoroughly modern.......2000-01-11

This is a little book that will take your breath away. Most of the poets here survive only in tatters, rags of verse and words quoted by other authors. Yet the power that dwells in a handful of scattered words from a great verse is poetry itself, like haiku. Sappho and Archilochos read as though they could have been contemporaries of Ted Hughes. The key here is Davenport, a man of incredible sensibility, and the best bridge-builder between the ancient and the modern since Ezra Pound.

Aesopica: A Series of Texts Relating to Aesop or Ascribed to Him

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getting your masters in aesopic folklore?

Aesopica: A Series of Texts Relating to Aesop or Ascribed to Him

Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Hesiod: Volume I, Theogony. Works and Days. Testimonia (Loeb Classical Library No. 57N)

ASIN: 025203192X

Book Description

The most complete corpus of the proverbs and fables of Aesop ever assembled Ben Edwin Perry's Aesopica remains the definitive edition of all fables reputed to be by Aesop. The volume begins traditionally with a life of Aesop, but in two different and previously unedited Greek versions, with collations that record variations in the major recensions. It includes 179 proverbs attributed to Aesop and 725 carefully organized fables, for which Perry also provides their eldest known sources. To better evaluate the place of Aesop in literary history, Perry includes testimonies about Aesop made by Greek and Latin authors, from Herodotus to Maximus Planudes.

Customer Reviews:

getting your masters in aesopic folklore?.......2007-03-14

This book assumes a working knowledge of both Latin and Greek. The introduction is in English; the rest of the commentary is in Latin. The fables, life of Aesop and sayings of Aesop overlap in Greek and Latin. I was once hanging out at a monastery library and I stole into a dark closet where many old books donated by dead priests and nuns were piled up in boxes waiting for kingdom come. In one of the boxes (once belonging to a nun) I found a Greek reader that was published and inscribed in 1904. In the book were many Aesopic fables which I felt were quite satisfying. It's too bad that you can't find simple non New Testament Greek readers like that today. Aesopica is my favorite book. If you are looking for a cheaper alternative check out Babrius and Phaedrus published by Loeb Library, ISBN 0674994809.

Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Birds; The Clouds; The Frogs; Lysistrata (Meridian Classics)

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Inexpensive and very okay
Great Ancient Greek Political Parodies
Get on the right page
ancient Greek comedy at its best
Great Student Edition

Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Birds; The Clouds; The Frogs; Lysistrata (Meridian Classics)
Aristophanes
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452007178

Book Description

This volume features four celebrated masterpieces: Lysistrata, The Frogs, The Assembly-Women, and Plutus (Wealth), all in new translations by the distinguished poet and translator Paul Roche.

Customer Reviews:

Inexpensive and very okay.......2006-09-27

Roche's Signet Classic "Four Plays by Aristophanes" provides good contemporary translations of Lysistrata, The Frogs, A Parliament of Women, and Plutus. On the negative side, the renderings are not terrifically inspired. The paper is too pulpy for a "classic," but that's a drawback of most (though not all) inexpensive classics nowadays. My printing of Roche, however, is not thick or blotchy, though I've noticed the Signet Classics sometimes tend in that direction.

Gone are the days, evidently, when the pages of a Signet Classic always looked crisp and stayed bright for decades. I've got some from the '60s that still look good.

Roche's introduction and notes to these four plays are brief but solid.

Great Ancient Greek Political Parodies.......2005-01-06

I should first point out that I read a different edition of this book, and the one that I had had only two plays - The Birds and The Frogs. I will review only these two. Aristophanes has a "no holds barred" type of approach to controversial political decisions and actions. The Birds is a comedy that ridicules the disastrous Greek expedition to Sicily in 413 B.C. Arisotophanes is a wonderful writer and he uses similes and parables throughout his writing. Besides being comedic, The Birds pays tribute to man's eternal desire to achieve the freedom and beauty associated with birds.
The Frogs is a parody on the stupidy and culpability of persons afflicted with their own preoccupation with themselves. We see these types of "puffed up" personalities all around even in this day and age. So like the frogs we hear in our ponds and marshes chirping the same old songs. This is acually as timely as it was when it was written sometime around 400 B.C. Hard to believe.

Get on the right page.......2004-08-25

The reviews attached here seem to refer to another collection by another translator--the Arrowsmith edition, apparently. Instead of "Clouds" we have two lesser plays--"Parliament of Women" and "Wealth." The translation's lively, the notes very helpful, the glossary mentioned in other reviews is absent here. All in all, a very useful introduction to Aristophanes, and endless fun.

ancient Greek comedy at its best.......2004-04-05

Aristophanes was to theatre what Socrates was to religion and politics--the funny, irreverent "bad boy." My favorite of these 4 plays has to be "The Clouds", which is in fact a parody mocking and making fun of Socrates (spelled or mis-spelled Sokrates). Very funny dialogue.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Great Student Edition.......2002-10-31

This book is physically constructed like a student edition -- i.e., cheaply. The paper is cheap and thick, the ink thick and sometimes blotchy, with that great newspaper smell. If you're looking for a lovely edition of Aristophanes to sit on the mantle with your nice books, this is not.

The text is also organized like a student edition. The translations are great, lively, readable and fun. Each of the four plays is followed by a commentary, with textual and contextual explanation (pointing out Greek jokes that couldn't be translated, explaining Athenian politics, etc.). The back of the book is a glossary of names, places and institutions. The aids are clear and very helpful, especially for first time readers.

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