検索キーワード： 古代・古典・中世の文学

Born a slave, the Roman Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 55-135 AD) taught that mental freedom is supreme, since it can liberate one anywhere, even in a prison. In How to Be Free, A. A. Long - one of the world's leading authorities on Stoicism and a pioneer in its remarkable contemporary revival - provides a superb new edition of Epictetus's celebrated guide to the Stoic philosophy of life (the Encheiridion) along with a selection of related reflections in his Discourses.

The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on February 14, 1895, at the St James' Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious persona to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage and the resulting satire of Victorian ways.

Sénèque est un philosophe de l'école stoïcienne, un dramaturge et un homme d'État romain du Ier siècle. Il est parfois nommé Sénèque le Philosophe, Sénèque le Tragique ou Sénèque le Jeune. Conseiller à la cour impériale sous Caligula et précepteur de Néron, Sénèque joue un rôle important de conseiller auprès de ce dernier avant d'être discrédité et acculé au suicide.

Razor-sharp wit inflames a competitive game of survival in the salons of 17th century France where, in this world of "finest appearances," one man's blunt honesty shatters his society's delicate web of manners. Often considered to be Moliere's Hamlet, this is a wickedly scathing satire.

This classic Shakespearean comedy is presented here in a colorful full-cast dramatization, drawn from the complete text and starring Warren Mitchell, Michael Maloney, and Sarah Woodward.

Seeking to depose his brother Artaxerxes and take his place upon the Persian throne, Cyrus the Younger leads the 10,000 mercenaries on a dangerous campaign deep into the heart of Persia. There, Cyrus is killed and his generals overthrown, leaving a young Xenophon to lead the army on its treacherous journey home. Snowy mountains, wide rivers, violent blizzards, and hostile tribes obstruct their way, testing Xenophon's leadership and his soldiers' perseverance to the extreme.

Petronius’ Satyricon is a rampant and vivacious Roman adventure dating back to the first century, during the reign of Nero. It follows the exploits of Encolpius, an impoverished ex-gladiator, and his boy-lover Giton. The action is fleet and the narrative sweeping: over the course of their journey we meet a host of lewd and comical rogues, including beggars, prostitutes, poets, sodomites, and pedants, and witness many strange and curious events, including a remarkably vulgar multi-course feast, hosted by the pompous nouveau riche Trimalchio

Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in this 1949 masterpiece by Arthur Miller, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman (Keach) is the play's iconic traveling salesman, whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with greatness and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their station in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or 'purpose', kama or 'pleasure', dharma or 'duty' and moksha or 'liberation') takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'self') and the workings of karma.

AudioLearn's Philosophy Classics presents Plato's Republic. Welcome to our discussion of this classical work. Plato was one of the world's first political scientists. His most famous work, The Republic, was written 24 and a half centuries ago - 360 years before the birth of Christ. Yet many of the debates he provoked, issues he raised, and insights he provided are still with us today.

Since it was first published more than 25 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. Fitzgerald's work is accessible, ironic, faithful, written in a swift vernacular blank verse that "makes Homer live as never before" ( Library Journal).

One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader, Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge - although knowing this will ensure his own early death.

¿Cuál será el estado de la sociedad y la política de nuestra república dentro de 70 años, cuando algunos de los niños que ahora van al colegio aún estén vivos? ¿Conservaremos un gobierno basado en la Constitución, en la igualdad de todos los ciudadanos ante la ley y en la pureza de la justicia, o nos gobernarán el dinero o la mafia? Joseph Pulitzer se lo preguntaba a principios del siglo XX, cuando por su iniciativa nacía la Escuela de Periodismo de la Columbia University de Nueva York.

After Eustace Borlsover’s blind uncle dies, the nephew receives in the mail the uncle's severed hand as part of his inheritance. It soon emerges that the hand is alive in some sense, intelligent and very mobile. Eustace and his secretary immediately assume the hand is evil, but to be honest it seems more mischievous than malevolent. Until, of course, Eustace nails the hand to a board and sticks it in a safe for several months, whereupon the hand seeks vengeance and a final showdown between men and appendage ensues.

Acerbic wit and stinging satire are contrasted with delicate sensibility and passionate desire in the work of the Latin poet Catullus. Armed with an urbane sophistication and an aristocratic circle of friends, Catullus moved about easily in the upper ranks of Roman society and was acquainted with Cicero, Caesar, and Pompey among others.

A selection of the very best of Chinese poetry over the course of a thousand years, from 100 years before Christ was born up of the middle ages. Arthur Waley's translations of Chinese poetry are still the benchmark by which such translations are held, nearly two hundred years after he introduced the west to the wonder of classical Chinese poetry.

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett was born into a very unusual situation in 1878. He was the eldest scion of a family that had lived in the oldest castle in Ireland since its construction in 1180 CE, and became the 18th Baron Dunsany in 1899 at the age of 21, when his father passed away. He was a soldier, lord, military trainer, propaganda writer, activist, and invented Dunsany’s Chess, in which one player has four ranks of pawns and no other pieces. He published mostly first drafts, writing short stories, fantasy novels, plays, and poems, with over 90 publications in his lifetime.

There have been many translators of Chinese literature and poetry over time, but Arthur Waley stands out as one of the best known and most loved. This is perhaps because he had an attribute that most others lacked, which is his poetic abilities. Waley was as much a poet himself as a translator, and while his scholarly erudition was matched by a few others at his time, none ever managed to bring out the true character of Chinese poetry quite so well.

These are called '' Poems from the Chinese" and we have Mr. Waley's assurance that there are in existence Oriental originals.

This collection contains five speeches from a millennium shaped by faith and empire.