100 Best Greek Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Odyssey

Homer

5.0

After enduring the Trojan War, Odysseus begins the treacherous journey home to Ithaca. On the way, he faces ravenous monsters and vengeful gods. But the real battle awaits, as his kingdom is under siege by unruly suitors vying for his wife’s hand—and his son’s head. To reclaim his throne and save his family, Odysseus must rely on his wits…and help from the unpredictable gods.

Homer’s The Odyssey wa

Recommended by Caterina Fake, Ted Turner, Charlotte Higgins, and 3 others.

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

It’s a very easy read, and a completely different world from The Iliad. Whereas The Iliad depicts a militaristic and war-wrecked world, The Odyssey is like a fairytale and it’s fascinatingly complex. It’s told in flashbacks, it has time that’s extended and time that’s compressed, and it’s told from different viewpoints. [source]

Janine di Giovanni

The thing I loved about Ulysses was that he’s so in love with adventure and with love. [source]

2

The Iliad

Homer, Robert Fagles, Bernard Knox

4.9

Dating to the ninth century B.C., 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 classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and re

Recommended by Ted Turner, Charlotte Higgins, Daniel Mendelsohn, and 2 others.

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

I think The Iliad has much to say to politicians now – it’s completely clear-eyed about collateral damage, about problems of post-conflict and about the ghastly things that happen to women and children in war. [source]

Daniel Mendelsohn

There are always new translations of The Iliad coming out, but this one has a very specific approach, both in terms of its philosophy of translation and its approach to the text. [source]

3

The Republic: The Influential Classic

Plato

4.8

The newest deluxe edition in the bestselling Capstone Classics Series This ancient classic has had a make-over. In recent years these Capstone Classic deluxe editions have caught the book buying public's imagination. The volumes of international bestsellers such as Think and Grow Rich and The Art of War have quickly become the market leaders. Now Plato's best known work, one of the most intellectu

Recommended by Bryan Van Norden, David Heinemeier Hansson, Jonathan Glover, and 6 others.

Bryan Van Norden

It’s very readable even if you aren’t a professional philosopher. Take the story of ‘The Ring of Gyges,’ which raises the question of whether you would continue to act like a good person if you had a ring of invisibility that let you get away with doing whatever you wanted to do. That’s a fascinating thought experiment that anybody can appreciate. [source]

David Heinemeier Hansson

I’m about a third through this and still can’t tell whether Plato is making a mockery of Socrates ideas for the idyllic society or not. So many of the arguments presented as Socrates’ are so tortured and with so disconnected leaps of logic that it’s hard to take it at face value. Yet still, it’s good fun to follow the dialogue. It reads more like a play than a book, and again, immensely accessible. It’s fun to see the lines that continue from a book like this to the considerations of the Stoics all the way to Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations and then onto a modern critique and history in that Debt: First 5,000 Years. A conversation spanning millennia. [source]

Jonathan Glover

It contains a tremendous amount of nonsense about what the ideal society would be like. But it is an unmissable book because of Socrates. He invented the method of doing and teaching philosophy that has never been improved on. [source]

4

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

4.7

Preview Summary

One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent

Recommended by Arianna Huffington, Naval Ravikant, Chip Conley, and 12 others.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

I find this book so inspirational and instructive, it lives on my nightstand. [source]

Chip Conley

I have given this book away to a number of people. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

5

Mythology

Edith Hamilton

4.6

The world-renowned classic that has enthralled and delighted millions of readers with its timeless tales of gods and heroes.

Edith Hamilton's mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture-the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.

We follo

Recommended by Alan Kay.

Alan Kay

A few more books like this, and by the time I got to first grade I had been ruined for the 'single book - single truth' ideas of school and church. [source]

6

The Symposium

Plato, Christopher Gill

4.6

A fascinating discussion on sex, gender, and human instincts, as relevant today as ever.

In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventi

Recommended by Bryan Callen and Edward Skidelsky.

Bryan Callen

Bryan Callen recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Edward Skidelsky

Plato is the founding figure in the Western philosophical tradition and the Symposium is one of his most charming books – you can read it like a novel. [source]

7

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

Rick Riordan

4.6

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, a

8

The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone

. Sophocles

4.5

English versions of Sophocles’ three great tragedies based on the myth of Oedipus, translated for a modern audience by two gifted poets.

9

The Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle

4.5

Preview Summary

‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy’

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in ‘activity of the soul in accordance with virtue’, for example with moral virtues, such as courage, generosity and justice, and intellect

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, A C Grayling, Christian B Miller, and 1 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics was something I reread and cannot recommend highly enough. [source]

A C Grayling

He said the great question is how we should live well, so that we live a good life, and he came up with a very positive response – what distinguishes us from the rest of the world is our possession of reason [source]

Christian B Miller

According to Aristotle, it is hard to become virtuous, and hard to become vicious too. The character of most people is somewhere in the middle. [source]

10

The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

Aeschylus, W. B. Stanford, Robert Fagles

4.5

Alternate cover edition can be found here, here, here, here

In the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos.

Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an

11

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)

Rick Riordan

4.5

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now i

12

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2)

Rick Riordan

4.5

The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan's amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a "half blood" whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan's series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment.

In this

13

Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)

Sophocles, Elizabeth Osborne, J.E. Thomas

4.5

"...what man wins more happiness than just its shape and the ruin when that shape collapses?"

Sophocles' Oedipus Rex has never been surpassed for the raw and terrible power with which its hero struggles to answer the eternal question, "Who am I?" The play, a story of a king who acting entirely in ignorance kills his father and marries his mother, unfolds with shattering power; we are helplessly car

Cover unavailable

14

Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3)

Sophocles

4.5

The curse placed on Oedipus lingers and haunts a younger generation in this new and brilliant translation of Sophocles' classic drama. The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Antigone is an unconventional heroine who pits her beliefs against the King of Thebes in a bloody test of wills that leaves few unharmed. Emotions fly as she challenges the king for the right to bury her own brother. Determined

15

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)

Rick Riordan

4.5

Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears at his potential new school, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.

In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood

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16

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3)

Rick Riordan

4.5

It's not everyday you find yourself in combat with a half-lion, half-human.

But when you're the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh, and guess what? The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive...

17

History of the Peloponnesian War

R. Warner Thucydides,M. I. Finley

4.5

Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling its author's ambitious claim. Thucydides himself (c.460-400 BC) was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war. He applied thereafter a passion for accuracy and a contempt

Recommended by Satya Nadella, Ryan Holiday, and Steven Pressfield.

Ryan Holiday

Author

This book – of a long forgotten war – really functions as a biography and strategic analysis of some of the greatest minds in the history of war. We have Pericles, Brasidas, Alcibiades and many others. The anecdotes and the stories in this book are timeless. If you make your way all the way through it, I promise you will not forget it. Because the war was so long, involved so many different countries and was so varied (sea, land, siege, politics), it basically covers every type of situation you can think of. Think of this book as a textbook. Read it. [source]

Steven Pressfield

It is loaded with hardcore, timeless truths and the story it tells ought to be required reading for every citizen in a democracy. [source]

18

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

4.4

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother The

Recommended by Daniel Mendelsohn and Lucy Coats.

Daniel Mendelsohn

I don’t want to know what Achilles did in bed, frankly. If you want to play with the big boys, fine, but don’t turn The Iliad into a Twilight novel. [source]

Lucy Coats

I loved the richness of the language, the descriptions. She really made me feel I was in ancient Greece — the smells, the whole environment. [source]

19

Aesop's Fables

Aesop

4.4

Aesop, an ancient Greek poet who was sold into slavery in the early sixth century BC, relied on animal stories to convey his key points to his masters in court. Aesop's Fables are classic, memorable morality plays in which amusing animal characters drive home thought-provoking morals to generations of listeners and modern-day audiences. They illustrate what was fundamental to Greek culture, yet th

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20

Zorba the Greek

Nikos Kazantzakis, Peter Bien

4.4

A stunning new translation of the classic book—and basis for the beloved Oscar-winning film—brings the clarity and beauty of Kazantzakis’s language and story alive.

First published in 1946, Zorba the Greek, is, on one hand, the story of a Greek working man named Zorba, a passionate lover of life, the unnamed narrator who he accompanies to Crete to work in a lignite mine, and the men and women of th

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss.

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

Zorba the Greek' is a really good read for trying to chill out that Type A drive ... piece of yourself, so that you can actually enjoy the ride. [source]

21

Circe

Madeline Miller

4.4

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banis

Recommended by Jacqui Pretty and Jason Kottke.

Jacqui Pretty

When it comes to fiction, there are so many to choose from! Some books I've loved in the past year include Circe by Madeline Miller. [source]

Jason Kottke

Another contemporary reinterpretation of Greek mythology from the perspective of a woman. I’m 3/4s of the way through Circe right now and I might like it even more than The Odyssey. [source]

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22

Medea

Euripides, Rex Warner

4.4

One of the most powerful and enduring of Greek tragedies, Medea centers on the myth of Jason, leader of the Argonauts, who has won the dragon-guarded treasure of the Golden Fleece with the help of the sorceress Medea. Having married Medea and fathered her two children, Jason abandons her for a more favorable match, never suspecting the terrible revenge she will take.

Euripides' masterly portrayal

23

The Histories

Herodotus, John M. Marincola, et al.

4.4

One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the "Histories" describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colorful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and

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24

The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)

Rick Riordan

4.4

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells wit

25

Letters from a Stoic

Seneca

4.3

I feel, my dear Lucilius, that I am being not only reformed, but transformed. I do not yet, however, assure myself, or indulge the hope, that there are no elements left in me which need to be changed. Of course there are many that should be made more compact, or made thinner, or be brought into greater prominence. And indeed this very fact is proof that my spirit is altered into something better,

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss, Ryan Holiday, David Kadavy, and 5 others.

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

This is a letter from Stoic heavyweight Seneca the Younger — who lived a mere 2,000 years or so ago — to his friend Lucilius. It’s from a collection of letters that comprise, effectively, my favorite book of all time. I’ve read it dozens of times, and I loved it so much that I turned it into The Tao of Seneca, a three-volume set of audiobooks. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

After Marcus Aurelius, this is one of my favorite books. While Marcus wrote mainly for himself, Seneca had no trouble advising and aiding others. In fact, that was his job—he was Nero’s tutor, tasked with reducing the terrible impulses of a terrible man. His advice on grief, on wealth, on power, on religion, and on life are always there when you need them. [source]

Jerzy Gregorek

From this book, I learned self-mastery: to constantly improve myself so I would be ready for any possible disaster. I also learned that when disaster happens, it means that something is being asked of me. I need to improve. [source]

26

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)

Rick Riordan

4.3

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appe

Cover unavailable

27

Apology

Plato and James J. Helm

4.3

The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399BCE against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel" (24b). "Apology" here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the word "apologia") of speaking in defense of a cause or of

Recommended by Mehdi Kajbaf.

Mehdi Kajbaf

It’s difficult for me to separate all the different things I was reading and learning about at that time but I think Socrates Apology is probably the best place to focus. If you aren’t familiar with Socrates, he’s considered by most to be the father of Philosophy (which means love of wisdom). He annoyed a lot of people though because he constantly challenged their world views and encouraged them to seek truth and wisdom. He questioned everything, and eventually created too much of a stir so he was sentenced to death. In the Apology he gives a powerful speech and defense which ultimately falls short. [source]

28

Poetics

Aristotle and Malcolm Heath

4.3

‘The plot is the source and the soul of tragedy’

In his near-contemporary account of Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to produce pity and fear in the audience, and asks why we derive pleasure from this apparently painful process. Taking examples from the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, The Poetics introduces

Recommended by Bill Liao and Richard Walter.

Bill Liao

The Book "Made to Stick" combined with "The Poetics" by Aristotle really helped me to see the power of telling great stories with surprises in them and every time I meet a start-up I can always make a contribution to their pitch. [source]

Richard Walter

Aristotle’s Poetics is the user’s guide to dramatic narrative and dramatic structure. It’s just a ragged little pamphlet really. [source]

29

The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)

Rick Riordan

4.3

Hazel stands at a crossroads. She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reinca

30

The Trial and Death of Socrates (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo (death scene only))

Plato

4.3

Chronicling the life and death of the father of western philosophy, and charting his influence on the most influential ancient Greek philosophers, Plato's The Last Days of Socrates is translated from the Greek by Hugh Tredennick, revised with an introduction and notes by Harold Tarrant in Penguin Classics.

The trial and condemnation of Socrates on charges of heresy and corrupting young minds is a d

31

Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides

4.3

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license...records my first name simply as Cal."

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and thr

Recommended by Alex Stojkovic and Lisa Feldman Barrett.

Alex Stojkovic

I don’t. But I would. Books love to be used up. (Related: Middlesex is the best book I read in 2019. If you’re look… [source]

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Eugenides does a really nice job of illustrating the complexity of emotional life, the emotional life that doesn’t necessarily fall into neat categories. [source]

32

The Little Prince Family Storybook: Unabridged Original Text

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

4.3

Rediscover Antoine de Saint-Exupery's universal masterpiece with original text and magnificent new illustrations created by masters of film animation. This wise and enchanginting fable teaches the secret of what is really important in life.

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Brandon Stanton, Evan Goldberg, and 1 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

Equally allegorical, I read The Little Prince for the first time which for some reason I’d never been exposed to before. If you’re in the same boat, read it. It’s short but great. [source]

Brandon Stanton

Brandon Stanton recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Evan Goldberg

Phenomenal. [source]

33

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

Anne Carson

4.3

From poet and classicist Anne Carson comes this translation of the work of Sappho, together with the original Greek. Carson presents all the extant fragments of Sappho's verse, employing brackets and white space to denote missing text - allowing the reader to imagine the poems as they were written.

Recommended by Bettany Hughes and Lydia Ruffles.

Bettany Hughes

This is a collection of fragments of Sappho’s poems. They are so beautiful, I would recommend them to anyone. [source]

Lydia Ruffles

Fragments [source]

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34

Lysistrata

Aristophanes, Sarah Ruden

4.3

Aristophanes' comic masterpiece of war and sex remains one of the greatest plays ever written. Led by the title character, the women of the warring city-states of Greece agree to withhold sexual favours with their husbands until they agree to cease fighting. The war of the sexes that ensues makes Lysistrata a bawdy comedy without peer in the history of theatre.

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35

100 Provocative Statements about the Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan

4.3

In this book, we have hand-picked the most sophisticated, unanticipated, absorbing (if not at times crackpot!), original and musing book reviews of "The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero." Don't say we didn't warn you: these reviews are known to shock with their unconventionality or intimacy. Some may be startled by their biting sincerity; others may be spellbound by their unbridled fligh

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36

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths

Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

4.3

Here are the gods, goddesses, and legendary figures of ancient Greece--mighty Zeus, with his fistful of thunderbolts; gray-eyed Athena, goddess of wisdom; Helios, the sun; greedy King Midas--lavishly depicted by Caldecott winners Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. In a relaxed and humorous tone, these splendid artists bring to life the myths that have inspired great European literature and art throu

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37

Η φόνισσα

papadiamantis alexandros 1851-1911

4.2

Το κακό που κάνει η γριά Χαδούλα δεν είναι το συνηθησμένο, το καθημερινό, αλλά κακό μεγάλο, ασυγχώρητο, μοιραίο. Αλά ποιά είναι αυτή η Φραγκογιαννού, τι είδος άνθρωπου είναι αυτή η γυναίκα που κάνει ένα τέτοιο μεγάλο έγκλημα; και ποιό το κίνητρο;

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38

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Steven Pressfield

4.2

In 480 B.C., two million Persian invaders come to the mountain pass of Thermopylae in eastern Greece, where they are met by 300 of Sparta's finest warriors. The Greek loyalists battle for six days in a prelude to their ultimate victory.

Recommended by Ron Conway, Chris Fussell, Xi-Wei Yeo, and 1 others.

Ron Conway

The story of the battle of 300 Spartan soldiers against the Persian army. [source]

Chris Fussell

A classic in the special operations community. [source]

Xi-Wei Yeo

I wasn’t the most confident of youths, I think. I was never bold enough to be a trend-setter, but always too concerned about what others thought of me to be comfortable in my own skin. Because of this I was lost, drifting from path to path. Then I read Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield, which was a historical fiction about the Battle of Thermopylae. I know it sounds a little silly now, but reading about the Spartan code changed me. It wasn’t about how brave you looked or seemed, but truly about knowing yourself and being proud of who you are. I learned to believe in myself more since then, and seize opportunities that I believed in, and not just what others wanted for me. [source]

39

Theogony / Works and Days

Hesiod, M. L. West

4.2

Hesiod, one of the oldest known Greek poets, stands out as the first personality in European literature. The Theogony contains a systematic genealogy of the gods from the beginning of the world and an account of their violent struggles before the present order was established. The Works and Days, a compendium of moral and practical advice for a life of honest husbandry, throws a unique and fascina

40

The Secret History

Donna Tartt

4.2

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.

Recommended by Dave Child, Jess Brammar, Kelly Ellis, and 1 others.

Dave Child

In my 20s, it would have been The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It's a shame you can only read a book for the first time once, because this doesn't fare so well the second time around, when you already know what happens. I'm not sure I've found another book quite like it since, but then I'm not really sure what sort of book it is. It isn't a murder mystery, except when it is. It isn't a crime thriller, except when it is. It isn't a love story, except ... you get the idea. [source]

Jess Brammar

@StigAbell Love that book [source]

Kelly Ellis

@elanpin @Nicole_Cliffe Like a favorite song, just thinking about this book immediately takes me back to the point in my life when I first read it. I really enjoyed The Goldfinch, as well. [source]

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41

Prometheus Bound

Aeschylus, James Scully, C. John Herington

4.2

For readers accustomed to the relatively undramatic standard translations of Prometheus Bound, this version by James Scully, a poet and winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize, and C. John Herington, one of the world's foremost Aeschylean scholars, will come as a revelation. Scully and Herington accentuate the play's true power, drama, and relevance to modern times. Aeschylus originally wrote Prometheus

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42

Το λάθος

1919-2003 Samarakis, Antonis

4.2

Το Καθεστώς είναι ο τέλειος μηχανισμός εξόντωσης του ανθρώπου. Όπλο του οι πράκτορες της Ασφάλειας, και η αμείλικτα τετράγωνη λογική τους. Όπλο του, επίσης, η επίμονη διάκριση μόνο ανάμεσα σε οπαδούς και εχθρούς.
Ο πολίτης που είναι ύποπτος για συνωμοσία ενάντια στο Καθεστώς πρέπει να βγει από τη μέση. Κι αφού ο μόνος μάρτυρας κατηγορίας (ή υπεράσπισης) είναι δολοφονημένος από τους ίδιους τους πράκ

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43

The Bacchae

Euripides

4.2

Euripides' classic drama about the often mortifying consequences of the unbridled--and frequently hysterical--celebration of the feast of Dionysus, the God of wine.

44

Iliad & Odyssey (Leather-bound Classics)

Homer

4.2

No home library is complete without the classics! Iliad & Odyssey brings together the two essential Greek epics from the poet Homer in an omnibus edition-a keepsake to be read and treasured.

The Iliad and The Odyssey are two of the oldest works of Western literature--yet these ancient myths still offer powerful lessons for our times. From the fascinating fall of Troy to Odysseus' perilous journey h

45

Mythos

Stephen Fry

4.2

Stephen Fry retells the Greek myths! This glitzy, gorgeous hardcover pairs a legendary storyteller with some of the most popular legends of all time.

Recommended by Simon Kuestenmacher.

Simon Kuestenmacher

Amazing series of symbol visualises Greek mythology. I just finished @stephenfry's amazing book Mythos and could remember more characters than expected. Icon source: https://t.co/xd2ZbgqUca The book: https://t.co/svtMJRmEiF #Greece #mythology #history #booklovers https://t.co/opZxytQDCU [source]

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46

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar

William D. Mounce

4.2

New, updated editions of the best-selling and most widely accepted textbook and workbook for learning biblical Greek William D. Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar and its companion tool Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook are by far the best-selling and most widely accepted textbooks for learning New Testament Greek. As a result of feedback from professors, the author has made adjustments to

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47

Greek New Testament

Kurt Aland

4.2

Nestle-Aland Greek text with English introduction, Greek-English dictionary, and United Bible Societies' critical apparatus. Includes key to sigla.

48

Euripides I: Alcestis, Medea, The Children of Heracles, Hippolytus

Euripides

4.2

Euripides I contains the plays “Alcestis,” translated by Richmond Lattimore; “Medea,” translated by Oliver Taplin; “The Children of Heracles,” translated by Mark Griffith; and “Hippolytus,” translated by David Grene. Sixty years ago, the University of Chicago Press undertook a momentous project: a new translation of the Greek tragedies that would be the ultimate resource for teachers, students, an

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49

Oedipus at Colonus (The Theban Plays, #2)

Sophocles, Eamon Grennan, Rachel Kitzinger

4.2

The latest title to join the acclaimed Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus tells the story of the last day in the life of Oedipus. It was written at the end of the fifth century BCE in Athens, in the final years of the "Golden Age" of Athenian culture, and in the last year of Sophocles' own life. At the center of the play is the mysterious transformation of Oedi

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50

Politics

Aristotle and Benjamin Jowett

4.2

What is the relationship of the individual to the state? What is the ideal state, and how can it bring about the most desirable life for its citizens? What sort of education should it provide? What is the purpose of amassing wealth? These are some of the questions Aristotle attempts to answer in one of the most intellectually stimulating works.
Both heavily influenced by and critical of Plato's Rep

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51

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Rick Riordan and John Rocco

4.2

A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians mad at me again. But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week.

So begins Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, i

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52

The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5)

Rick Riordan

4.2

Nico had warned them. Going through the House of Hades would stir the demigods' worst memories. Their ghosts would become restless. Nico may actually become a ghost if he has to shadow-travel with Reyna and Coach Hedge one more time. But that might be better than the alternative: allowing someone else to die, as Hades foretold.

Jason's ghost is his mother, who abandoned him when he was little. He m

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53

Christ Recrucified

Nikos Kazantzakis

4.2

The inhabitants of a Greek village, ruled by the Turks, plan to enact the life of Christ in a mystery play but are overwhelmed by their task. A group of refugees, fleeing from the ruins of their plundered homes, arrive asking for protection - and suddenly the drama of the Passion becomes reality.

54

Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo

Plato, John M. Cooper, et al.

4.2

The second edition of Five Dialogues presents G. M. A. Grube's distinguished translations, as revised by John Cooper for Plato, Complete Works (Hacket, 1997). Cooper has also contributed a number of new or expanded footnotes and updated Suggestions for Further Reading.

Recommended by Carlos Fraenkel, Kenan Malik, and M M McCabe.

Carlos Fraenkel

Reading Plato can be a Socratic exercise because you’re reading a text that is part of the canon of philosophy but it advances views that are opposed to everything you believe in. [source]

Kenan Malik

Unlike earlier Greek philosophers, such as Diagoras and Democritus, Plato believed in the divine, and much of his philosophy flowed from his concept of a transcendental reality. He provided the resources for the later Christian view of goodness as a transcendental quality. But in his dialogue Euthyphro he also provides the classic argument against looking to God as the source of moral values, an argument that still resonates 2,000 years later. [source]

M M McCabe

The philosophical content creeps up on you when you think all this is merely a rhetorical flourish: it’s completely extraordinary. [source]

55

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou

4.2

An innovative, dramatic graphic novel about the treacherous pursuit of the foundations of mathematics.
This graphic novel recounts the spiritual odyssey of philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his agonized search for absolute truth, he crosses paths with thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert & Kurt Gödel, & finds a passionate student in Ludwig Wittgenstein. But his most ambitious goal—to establi

Recommended by Marcus du Sautoy.

Marcus du Sautoy

This is quite a recent publication and I saw the first inklings of this graphic novel when I went to a meeting in Mykonos on maths and narrative and it really looked an incredibly exciting project. I enjoy the graphic novel as an art form and I’ve always enjoyed Tintin and this has a very Tintinesque line to it, the illustration. But it brings alive one of the great stories of 20th-century mathematics, which is the crisis that happened when Gödel proved that there are statements about numbers which are true but which will never be proved. And this went against the whole ethos of mathematics since the ancient Greeks. If something is true, we should be able to prove why it’s true. If there are infinitely many primes, we can prove that there are infinitely many primes. But we don’t know that there are infinitely many twin primes: Primes that are two apart, like 17 and 19. Maybe that’s a true statement that doesn’t have a proof and we’re trying to chase something that doesn’t exist. Gödel’s theorem, proved in the 1930s, was a real bombshell for the philosophy of mathematics. [source]

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56

Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament

Daniel B. Wallace

4.1

For seminary students, the goal of studying Greek grammar is the accurate exegesis of biblical texts. Sound exegesis requires that the exegete consider grammar within a larger framework that includes context, lexeme, and other linguistic features.While the trend of some grammarians has been to take a purely grammatical approach to the language, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics integrates the techni

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57

Clouds

Alan H. Sommerstein

4.1

Text with facing translation, commentary and notes. (Aris and Phillips 1982)

Recommended by M M McCabe and Paul McMullen.

M M McCabe

If you read The Clouds and the Apology side by side you get a snapshot of Athens at the end of the Fifth Century [source]

Paul McMullen

It is a comedy and quite vulgar, which I love. [source]

58

Prometheus Bound and Other Plays

Philip Vellacott, Aeschylus

4.1

Aeschylus I contains “The Persians,” translated by Seth Benardete; “The Seven Against Thebes,” translated by David Grene; “The Suppliant Maidens,” translated by Seth Benardete; and “Prometheus Bound,” translated by David Grene. Sixty years ago, the University of Chicago Press undertook a momentous project: a new translation of the Greek tragedies that would be the ultimate resource for teachers, s

59

Gorgias

Plato, Robin Waterfield

4.1

One of Plato's most widely read dialogues, Gorgias treats the temptations of worldly success and the rewards of the genuinely moral life. Appealing to philosophers as a classic text of moral philosophy--and to everyone for its vividness, clarity, and occassional bitter humor--this new translation is accompanied by explanatory notes and an illuminating and accessible introduction.

About the Series:

Recommended by David Greenberg.

David Greenberg

Plato and Socrates heavily disapproved of spin (or rhetoric, as it was referred to back then). Aristotle and the Sophists had a different point of view. [source]

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60

The Aeneid

Virgil, Robert Fitzgerald

4.1

The Aeneid is an epic poem written by Virgil in the 1st century BC. It's hero is Aeneas, a Trojan who travels from Troy to Italy to eventually found Rome. Some argue that The Aeneid is Virgil's answer to Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, combining two genres of the day - travel and war - into one poem. Take that, Homer!

No civilization is without a bit of revisionist history: so it was that Virgil picked

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Ryan Holiday, Ted Turner, and 2 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

Oh, it’s not a favorite book or anything like that, I just added it because I liked it. I don’t think there’s any real significance to the fact that it’s listed there and other books aren’t. But there are definitely books—like the Aeneid—that I enjoyed reading a lot more. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I made an effort to read some classical poets and playwrights this year. The Aneiad was far and away the most quotable, readable and memorable of all of them. There’s no other way to put: the story is AMAZING. Better than the Odyssey, better than Juvenal’s Satires. Inspiring, beautiful, exciting, and eminently readable, I loved this. I took more notes on it that I have on anything I’ve read in a long time. [source]

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

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61

Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica)

Apollonius of Rhodes, Richard Hunter

4.1

The Argonautica is the dramatic story of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and his relations with the dangerous princess Medea. The only surviving Greek epic to bridge the gap between Homer and late antiquity, this epic poem is the crowning literary achievement of the Ptolemaic court at Alexandria, written by Appolonius of Rhodes in the third century BC. Appollonius explores many of the fundamen

62

Metamorphoses

Ovid, David Raeburn, Denis Feeney

4.1

Prized through the ages for its splendor and its savage, sophisticated wit, The Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of Western culture--the first attempt to link all the Greek myths, before and after Homer, in a cohesive whole, to the Roman myths of Ovid's day. Horace Gregory, in this modern translation, turns his poetic gifts toward a deft reconstruction of Ovid's ancient themes, using contemporary id

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63

Hippolytus

Euripides, Richard Hamilton

4.1

Two book set: individual Commentary and Text. Bryn Mawr Commentaries have been admired and used by Greek and Latin teachers at every level for twenty years. They provide clear, concise, accurate, and consistent support for students making the transition from introductory and intermediate texts to the direct experience of ancient literature. They assume that the student will know the basics of gram

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64

Ματωμένα χώματα

1909-2004 Sotiriou, Dido

4.1

Νεοελληνική πεζογραφία - Μυθιστόρημα

Τα Ματωμένα Χώματα τα είπαν "βιβλίο της σύγχρονης Εξόδου του μικρασιατικού Ελληνισμού". Τα είπαν "σεισμική δόνηση". Μυθιστόρημα που "Τσούζει. Ζεματάει. Κάει. Τιμωρεί. Έχει ψυχή ανθρώπινη. Οργή λαού. Πόνο εθνικό". "Κάστρο σωστό λόγου, ενάντια στον καιρό, τη λησμονιά και το ψέμα". Τα "Ματωμένα Χώματα" εκδόθηκαν το 1962. Μεταφράστηκαν σε μια σειρά χώρες, Γαλλία, Σ

65

The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika

Xenophon, Robert B. Strassler, John Marincola, David Thomas

4.1

From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides and The Landmark Herodotus, here is a new edition of Xenophon’s Hellenika, the primary source for the events of the final seven years and aftermath of the Peloponnesian War.

Hellenika covers the years between 411 and 362 B.C.E., a particularly dramatic period during which the alliances among Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Persia were in co

Recommended by Johanna Hanink.

Johanna Hanink

He goes through to the end of the Peloponnesian War and becomes the major source that we have for what happened in Athens during the rise and the rule of the Thirty Tyrants. He then goes on into this very interesting period, in the first part of the 4th century, when Athens has some aspirations to regain the Aegean empire that it had. [source]

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66

Electra

Sophocles, Marianne MacDonald, J. Michael Walton

4.1

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67

The Persian Expedition

Xenophon, Rex Warner, George Cawkwell

4.1

In The Persian Expedition, Xenophon, a young Athenian noble who sought his destiny abroad, provides an enthralling eyewitness account of the attempt by a Greek mercenary army - the Ten Thousand - to help Prince Cyrus overthrow his brother and take the Persian throne. When the Greeks were then betrayed by their Persian employers, they were forced to march home through hundreds of miles of difficult

68

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)

Rick Riordan

4.1

How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, mons

69

The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness

Epictetus

4.1

Epictetus was born into slavery about 55 C.E. in the eastern outreaches of the Roman Empire. Sold as a child and crippled from the beatings of his master, Epictetus was eventually freed, rising from his humble roots to establish an influential school of Stoic philosophy. Stressing that human beings cannot control life, only how they respond to it, Epictetus dedicated his life to outlining the simp

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70

The Complete Poems

C.P. Cavafy, Rae Dalven, W. H. Auden

4.1

Cavafy, the foremost modern Greek poet, is a master at presenting a scene, an intense feeling, or an idea in direct, unornamented verse. Many of the poems are openly homosexual. Sixty-three newly translated poems have been added to the widely praised edition which includes the classic poem “Ithaca.” Introduction by W. H. Auden. Translated by Rae Dalven.

Recommended by Philip Mansel.

Philip Mansel

Cavafy is a typical Levantine. He came from Constantinople and Liverpool, where his family was in the cotton trade. So he had an international background and was very familiar with English literature. His family eventually settled in Alexandria. They suffered financial decline and he took a lowly job in an Egyptian ministry. His Arabic wasn’t actually very good – he was culturally and intellectually Greek. [source]

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71

Report to Greco

Nikos Kazantzakis

4.1

Kazantzakis's autobiographical novel 'Report to Greco' was one of the last things he wrote before he died. It paints a vivid picture of his childhood in Crete, still occupied by the Turks, and then steadily grows into a spiritual quest that takes him to Italy, Jerusalem, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Russia and the Caucasus, and finally back to Crete again. At different times Nietzsche, Bergson, Buddha,

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72

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set

Rick Riordan and John Rocco

4.1

5 Book Paperback Boxed Set (new covers with poster)
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian

73

The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler, Richard Crawley, Victor Davis Hanson

4.1

Recommended by Gideon Rose, Joseph Nye, and Robert Service.

Gideon Rose

Thucydides is the single best treatment of international relations, foreign policy and military affairs that exists. It is the best description of what life in a multipolar world is like, what politics and war are like for the units involved, of the basic realities of international relations. It has no single line. [source]

Joseph Nye

when Thucydides is trying to account for the Peloponnesian War, an extraordinary war in the fifth century BC in which the Greek city-state system tore itself apart, he says the basic cause of the war was the rise in power of Athens and the fear that created in Sparta. He points out that when there is this kind of fear, and there is a belief that war is inevitable, it can itself become a cause of war. Some of the greatest wisdom on international politics and the rise and fall of power goes back to Thucydides in the fifth century BC. [source]

Robert Service

It was the trauma of Thucydides’ lifetime and in the book he sought to explain why the war had gone on so long and why Athens lost it. [source]

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74

The Greek Myths

Robert Graves

4.1

Combines in a single volume the complete text of the definitive two-volume classic, citing all the ancient myths. For a full appreciation of literature or visual art, knowledge of the Greek myths is crucial. In this much-loved collection, poet and scholar Robert Graves retells the immortal stories of the Greek myths. Demeter mourning her daughter Persephone, Icarus flying too close to the sun, The

Recommended by Lucy Coats.

Lucy Coats

As far as I know, every single myth and every single variation, every single little nugget of Greek myth that isn’t necessarily even complete, is in there. [source]

75

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

Eugene Trivizas, Helen Oxenbury

4.1

When it comes time for the three little wolves to go out into the world and build themselves a house, their mother warns them to beware the big bad pig. But the little wolves' increasingly sturdy dwellings are no match for the persistent porker, who has more up his sleeve than huffing and puffing. It takes a chance encounter with a flamingo pushing a wheelbarrow full of flowers to provide a surpri

Recommended by India Knight.

India Knight

Such a great book https://t.co/rioiqWz9dC [source]

76

Plato: The Complete Works

Plato

4.1

This ebook contains Plato's complete works.

This edition has been professionally formatted and contains several tables of contents. The first table of contents (at the very beginning of the ebook) lists the titles of all novels included in this volume. By clicking on one of those titles you will be redirected to the beginning of that work, where you'll find a new TOC that lists all the chapters an

77

Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica

Arrian, Martin Hammond, John Atkinson

4.1

'His passion was for glory only, and in that he was insatiable'Although written over four hundred years after Alexander’s death, Arrian’s Campaigns of Alexander is the most reliable account of the man and his achievements we have. Arrian’s own experience as a military commander gave him unique insights into the life of the world’s greatest conqueror. He tells of Alexander’s violent suppression of

Recommended by Hugh Bowden.

Hugh Bowden

Arrian is using Alexander as a model for how to be a king and setting up his bad points as things to avoid and his good points as things to follow. [source]

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78

The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Rick Riordan

4.1

How do you handle an encounter with Medusa on the New Jersey interstate? What's the best way to take down a minotaur? Become an expert on everything in Percy's world with this must-have guide to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

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79

Le Monogramme

Odysseas Elytis

4.1

Elytis (Prix Nobel de Littérature 1979) tenait particulièrement à ce livre bref, en quoi il voyait un peu son "Cantique des cantiques". Poème du désir et de la quête mystique, mêlant le profane et le sacré, la réalité quotidienne et l’élan cosmique, il dut attendre la présente édition pour trouver une traduction française qui lui rende justice, celle de Natalie Depraz. Le texte est accompagné de h

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80

Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #2)

FRY STEPHEN

4.1

There are Heroes - and then there are Greek Heroes.

Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.

In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard t

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81

Poems and Fragments

Sappho, Stanley Lombardo, Pamela Gordon

4.1

Little remains today of the writings of the archaic Greek poet Sappho (fl. late 7th and early 6th centuries B.C.E.), whose work is said to have filled nine papyrus rolls in the great library at Alexandria some 500 years after her death. The surviving texts consist of a lamentably small and fragmented body of lyric poetry--among them, poems of invocation, desire, spite, celebration, resignation, an

Recommended by Charlotte Higgins.

Charlotte Higgins

Well, she was admired in antiquity for the delicacy and elegance of her verse, and this is quite right – it’s just pitch-perfect. She talks about love as being bittersweet – such a cliché but she was almost certainly the first person to coin this expression that everyone can understand…..In classical antiquity and later she was massively valued as a poet. In the Great Library in Alexandria there were nine volumes of her poems. We now have 200 tiny fragments and only two complete poems. So it’s a minuscule proportion of what she produced. [source]

82

Phaedrus

Plato, Alexander Nehamas, et al.

4.1

Set in the idyllic countryside outside Athens, the Phaedrus is a dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and his young friend Phaedrus, inspired by their reading of a clumsy speech by the writer Lysias about love. After first considering the virtues of romantic love, their conversation develops into a wide-ranging discussion on such subjects as the pursuit of beauty, the nature of humanity, the

83

HOMER: The Iliad & the Odyssey (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

Homer

4.1

The Iliad & The Odyssey by Homer brings together two of the greatest works of ancient Greek literature and classical epic poetry in one timeless volume. These foundational epics explore war, heroism, destiny, honor, loyalty, adventure, and the enduring struggle between human ambition and the will of the gods.The Iliad unfolds during the final stages of the Trojan War, centering on the wrath of Ach

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84

Το καπλάνι της βιτρίνας

Alki Zei

4.1

ΕΥ-ΠΟ; ΛΥ-ΠΟ; είναι η συνθηματική ερώτηση που ανταλλάσσουν μεταξύ τους η Μέλια και η Μυρτώ λίγο πριν κοιμηθούν. Δυο μικρές αδερφές που ζουν σ' ένα νησί του Αιγαίου το 1936 ακούνε τον παππού τους να τους μιλάει ώρες ατέλειωτες για τους "αρχαίους" του, ανυπομονούν να ανταμώσουν με τους φίλους και τις φίλες τους από τα τσαρδάκια σαν έρχεται το καλοκαίρι, μα πάνω απ' όλα τρελαίνονται με τις μαγικές ισ

85

The Penelopiad

Margaret Atwood

4.0

Now that all the others have run out of air, it’s my turn to do a little story-making.

In Homer’s account in The Odyssey, Penelope—wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy—is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelop

Recommended by Emily Wilson.

Emily Wilson

I really love the Penelopiad. It’s wonderful at bringing out some of what I already hinted was important in my work of a translator: teasing out the multiple perspectives, multiple voices, in this poem. I also love how it juxtaposes different styles and different voices. It has both ballad-like verse and prose intermixed, which is not what the Odyssey does, but I think it speaks to something which is in the Odyssey, about the mixture of different modes, different ways of seeing things. [source]

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86

Freedom or Death

Nikos Kazantzakis

4.0

Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis is a novel on the heroic or epic scale about the rebellion of the Greek Christians against the Turks on the island of Crete, where Kazantzakis was from. The story follows the exploits of a Greek: Captain Michalis and his blood brother, Nurey Bey, a Turk, through war, love , friendship, hatred and a backdrop of the island of Crete with all its beauty, drama, jo

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87

Agamemnon (Oresteia, #1)

Aeschylus, Philip de May, P. E. Easterling

4.0

Treating ancient plays as living drama. Classical Greek drama is brought vividly to life in this series of new translations. Students are encouraged to engage with the text through detailed commentaries, including0 suggestions for discussion and analysis. In addition, numerous practical questions stimulate ideas on staging and encourage students to explore the play's dramatic qualities. Agamemnon

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88

The Trojan Women

Euripides, Gilbert Murray

4.0

"This is a new translation of the classic play. It combines a poet's translation with a scholar's introduction and notes." "Among surviving Greek tragedies only Euripides' Trojan Women shows us the extinction of a whole city, an entire people. Despite its grim theme, or more likely because of the centrality of that theme to the deepest fears of our own age, this is one of the relatively few Greek

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89

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes

Rick Riordan, John Rocco

4.0

Who cut off Medusa's head? Who was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus? It takes a demigod to know, and Percy Jackson can fill you in on the all the daring deeds of Perseus, Atalanta, Bellerophon, and the rest of the major Greek heroes. Told in the funny, irreverent style readers have come to expect from Percy, ( I've had some bad experiences in my time, but the heroes I'm going to tell you ab

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90

Pure (Covenant #2)

Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.0

There is need. And then there is Fate... Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn’t exactly awesome—especially when Alexandria’s "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth’s in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom—so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with h

Recommended by Nicolás Maduro.

Nicolás Maduro

On behalf of poetry, writing and the national spirit, we baptize the beautiful Book: "Aquello Puro" by the great writer Luis Alberto Crespo, legend of universal poetry and our homage to the 15th International Book Fair 2019. Culture … https://t.co/i99TwjklQc [source]

91

Metaphysics

Aristotle, Joe Sachs

4.0

Aristotle’s probing inquiry into some of the fundamental problems of philosophy, The Metaphysics is one of the classical Greek foundation-stones of western thought

The Metaphysics presents Aristotle’s mature rejection of both the Platonic theory that what we perceive is just a pale reflection of reality and the hard-headed view that all processes are ultimately material. He argued instead that the

92

Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined

Stephen Fry

4.0

In this brilliant conclusion to his bestselling Mythos trilogy, legendary author and actor Stephen Fry retells the tale of the Trojan War.Full of tragic heroes, intoxicating love stories, and the unstoppable force of fate, there is no conflict more iconic than the Trojan War. Troy is the story of the epic battle retold by Fry with drama, humor, and vivid emotion. Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Helen,

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93

The Axion Esti

Odysseus Elytis

4.0

The Axion Esti [is] the work on which Elytis's reputation rests, and which almost certainly won him the Nobel Prize."
New York Review of Books

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94

The Last Black Cat

Eugene Trivizas

4.0

"It was a whisper at first. But then we knew. Black cats were disappearing. Silktail was the first. Then Whiny, Giuseppe, Rameses, Blackie, Lothario, and Bijou…" Island life had been good for the street cats—stealing fish, laying in the sun, singing under the stars. This is the story of dark deeds, cool cats, and The Society of the Superstitious. Get your paws on it! Eugene Trivizas, who has been

95

Theaetetus

Plato, Robin H. Waterfield

4.0

Set immediately prior to the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC, Theaetetus shows the great philosopher considering the nature of knowledge itself, in a debate with the geometrician Theodorus and his young follower Theaetetus. Their dialogue covers many questions, such as: is knowledge purely subjective, composed of the ever-changing flow of impressions we receive from the outside world? Is

Recommended by Angela Hobbs and M M McCabe.

Angela Hobbs

Plato’s Theaetetus asks what knowledge is, and several possible definitions are explored in depth. [source]

M M McCabe

The great contemporary translation is by M J Levitt, with a magisterial introduction by Myles Burnyeat [source]

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96

Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)

Josephine Angelini

4.0

How do you defy DESTINY?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is - no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood...

97

The Bacchae and Other Plays

Euripides

4.0

98

The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2)

Rick Riordan

4.0

Go west. Capture Apollo before he can find the next oracle.
If you cannot bring him to me alive, kill him.

Those were the orders my old enemy Nero had given to Meg McCaffrey. But why would an ancient Roman emperor zero in on Indianapolis? And now that I have made it here (still in the embarrassing form of Lester Papadopoulos), where is Meg?

Meg, my demigod master, is a cantankerous street urchin. S

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99

Crito

. Plato, C.J. Emlyn-Jones

4.0

Plato's Socrates, in prison and being urged to flee execution, raises in acute form, and for the first time in European thought, a central question: is it right to disobey the state? Socrates' controversial answer in "Crito" has generated much contemporary literature, but no English commentary of the Greek text for seventy-five years. This new edition aims to provide an up-to-date literary and phi

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100

Phaedo

Plato and David Gallop

4.0

The Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato's masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a document crucial to the understanding of many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best i