Akron Public Library

"In this passionate, deeply personal book, Adam Nicolson explains why Homer matters--to him, to you, to the world--in a text full of twists, turns and surprises. In a spectacular journey through mythical and modern landscapes, Adam Nicholson explores the places forever haunted by their Homeric heroes. From Sicily, awash with wildflowers shadowed by Italy's largest oil refinery, to Ithaca, southern Spain, and the mountains on the edges of Andalusia...

Passions unleashed cause much wooing and confusion in the magical woods of Athens. Whether real or induced by magical potions seems to mak little difference, showing that love is far from rational, though those afflicted might feel otherwise. A Midsummer night's dream is a delightful comedy that offers something for everyone. The intertwined love constellations include Hermia and Lysander, who having decided to elope, steal away into the forest. Demetrius,...

Has any other love story become so enmeshed in our culture as the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet? In fair Verona the families of Montague and Capulet are locked in a long-standing, bitter blood feud when young Romeo Montague slips into a masquerade party at the Capulet's. During the dance he glimpses Juliet, the daughter of the house, and is struck by love at first sight. She returns his passion and they promise each other everlasting love notwithstanding...

The History of Ancient Greek Literature is an exceptional and comprehensive textbook of Europe's oldest civilization. The book covers the ancient Greek literature from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. It begins with the earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, the two epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, set in an idealized archaic past today identified as having some relation to the Mycenaean era. Homer's epics...

A wise and witty revival of the Roman poet who taught us how to carpe diem What is the value of the durable at a time when the new is paramount? How do we fill the void created by the excesses of a superficial society? What resources can we muster when confronted by the inevitability of death? For the poet and critic Harry Eyres, we can begin to answer these questions by turning to an unexpected source: the Roman poet Horace, discredited at the...