Works and Days, The Theogony, and The Shield of Heracles by Hesiod

MAS works_days_1509

Works and Days provides advice on agrarian matters and personal conduct. The Theogony explains the ancestry of the gods. The Shield of Heracles is the adventure of Heracles accepting an enemy’s challenge to fight. – Summary by Arthur Krolman for Librivox

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Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

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Works and Days

The Theogony

The Shield of Heracles

Gorgias by Plato

MAS gorgias_1211

This dialogue brings Socrates face to face with the famous sophist Gorgias and his followers. It is a work likely completed around the time of “Republic” and illuminates many of the spiritual ideas of Plato. The spirituality, as Jowett points out in his wonderful introduction, has many ideas akin to Christianity, but is more generous as it reserves damnation only for the tyrants of the world. Some of the truths of Socrates, as presented by Plato, shine forth in this wonderful work on sophistry and other forms of persuasion or cookery. (Summary by Kevin Johnson for Librivox)

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Run time: 7 hours, 6 minutes

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Introduction Part 1

Introduction Part 2

Introduction Part 3

Introduction Part 4

Gorgias Part 1

Gorgias Part 2

Gorgias Part 3

Gorgias Part 4

Gorgias Part 5

Gorgias Part 6

Gorgias Part 7

Meno by Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett

MAS meno_1303

Meno (Ancient Greek: ?????) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Written in the Socratic dialectic style, it attempts to determine the definition of virtue, or arete, meaning in this case virtue in general, rather than particular virtues, such as justice or temperance. The goal is a common definition that applies equally to all particular virtues. Socrates moves the discussion past the philosophical confusion, or aporia, created by Meno’s paradox (aka the learner’s paradox) with the introduction of new Platonic ideas: the theory of knowledge as recollection, anamnesis, and in the final lines a movement towards Platonic idealism.. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

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Run time: 2 hours, 24 minutes

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1 – Meno

2 – On the Ideas of Plato

3 – Part 1 of the Dialogs of Meno

4 – Part 2 of the Dialogs of Meno

Henry V by William Shakespeare

Queen Katherine of France by Laura T. Alma-Tadema
Queen Katherine of France by Laura T. Alma-Tadema

After the turmoil and uncertainty of Henry IV a new era appears to dawn for England with the accession of the eponymous Henry V. In this sunny pageant Chorus guides us along Henry’s glittering carpet ride of success as the new king completes his transformation from rebellious wastrel to a truly regal potentate. Of course, there is an underlying feeling that the good times won’t last, and this is all the more reason to enjoy the Indian summer before the protracted and bitter fall of the house of Lancaster. (Introduction by Algy Pug for Librivox)

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Run time: 3 hours, 4 minutes

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Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

MAS Macbeth_by_Thomas_Beach
Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corroding psychological and political effects produced when its protagonist, the Scottish lord Macbeth, chooses evil as the way to fulfill his ambition for power. He commits regicide to become king and then furthers his moral descent with a reign of murderous terror to stay in power, eventually plunging the country into civil war. In the end, he loses everything that gives meaning and purpose to his life before losing his life itself. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Lady Macbeth by Cattermole
Lady Macbeth by Cattermole

Hamlet by Shakespeare, simplified for school children and baffled adults

Benjamin_West_-_Hamlet-_Act_IV,_Scene_V_(Ophelia_Before_the_King_and_Queen)_-_Google_Art_Project

Hamlet by Shakespeare, simplified for school children?by Shakespeare Lynch Multimedia is performed by Michael Matus.

Description from iTunes:

Shakespeare made easier for schoolchildren and baffled adults with an easy to understand narrative adaptation and parallel text with the original. Why adapt Shakespeare? Well, it’s hard! A lot of actors in Shakespeare productions can act it, confusing audiences. A lot of teachers can’t teach it, confusing pupils. A lot of parents lack confidence helping with homework. This is for students of all ages and parents, too. The purpose is to make Shakespeare comprehensible and accessible. Shakespeare is the greatest of writers, for that reason everyone must attempt to grasp his genius. Read the original first and then consult this adaptation to help you. Use this as an aid. The poetry of the original cannot be matched. The action of Book One, Chapter 1 corresponds with Act One, Scene 1, (for the podcasts Episode 1 is 1-1) and so on This recording of Hamlet is read by Michael Matus, who has acted extensively with the RSC and will be appearing at the Globe in London during the Summer 2008 season.

Robert Burns poetry

Penleigh_Boyd_-_Hawkesbury_River,_1922
Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn (text and audio reading)

Green Grow the Rashes

Green Grow the Rushes (modernized version, Celtic Woman)

Flow Gently Sweet Afton by Robert Burns (You Tube video, including lyrics)

To a Louse by Robert Burns (eText and You Tube video)

To a Mouse by Robert Burns (You Tube video with embedded text)

Auld Lang Syne (You tube video with embedded text)

My Love is like a Red, Red Rose (song and e-Text)

Editing Burns for the 21st century has updated audio renditions of several Burns poems

The Story of Abraham Lincoln by Mary Agnes Hamilton

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Summary:?In this biography for young adults, Mary A. Hamilton gives a British person?s perspective on the 16th President of the United States. A glowing tribute to ?Honest Abe?, the author traces Lincoln?s ancestral roots and recounts his birth in Kentucky, his youth in Indiana, his adult life in Illinois and his years in the White House. She also provides a good background on the causes and course of the American Civil War.?

Hamilton is not always historically precise. For example, she erroneously names Jefferson Davis as the Southern Democratic candidate for president running against Lincoln and Douglas in 1860 rather than John C. Breckinridge. However, overall ?The Story of Abraham Lincoln? is a good summarization and interesting account of the life, values and politics of Lincoln.?

Cautions: Chapter 7 contains a single use of an epithet for African-Americans in a quotation from a British magazine. Chapter 8 ends with an example of a stereotypical Southern black dialect which many may find offensive. (Summary by John Lieder for Librivox.)

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Run time: 2:37

Boyhood

The Young Backwoodsman

Slavery

Lincoln the Lawyer

Defeat of the Little Giant

The New President and Secession

The War

Victory

“Oh Captain! My Captain”

The Aeneid by Virgil

Summary: 

The Aeneid

VIRGIL (70 BC – 19 BC), translated by John DRYDEN (1631 – 1700)

The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. The first six of the poem’s twelve books tell the story of Aeneas’ wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem’s second half treats the Trojans’ ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The poem was commissioned from Vergil by the Emperor Augustus to glorify Rome. Several critics think that the hero Aeneas’ abandonment of the Cartheginian Queen Dido, is meant as a statement of how Augustus’ enemy, Mark Anthony, should have behaved with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. (Summary by Wikipedia and Karen Merline)

Running time: 13 hours, 40 minutes

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To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter links.

Book 1: A Fateful Haven, part 1

Book 1: A Fateful Haven, part 2

Book 2: How they took the City, part 1

Book 2: How they took the City, part 2

Book 3: Sea Wanderings and Strange Meetings, part 1

 

Book 3: Sea Wanderings and Strange Meetings, part 2

Book 4: The Passion of the Queen, part 1

 

Book 4: The Passion of the Queen, part 2

Book 5: Games and a Conflagration, part 1

 

Book 5: Games and a Conflagration, part 2

Book 6: The World Below, part 1

Book 6: The World Below, part 2

Book 7: Juno Served by a Fury, part 1

Book 7: Juno Served by a Fury, part 2

Book 8: Arcadian Allies, part 1

Book 8: Arcadian Allies, part 2

Bk 09: A Night Sortie, a Day Assault, pt 1

Bk 09: A Night Sortie, a Day Assault, pt 2

Bk 10: The Death of Princes, pt 1

Bk 10: The Death of Princes, pt 2

Bk 11: Debaters and a Warrior Girl, pt 1

Bk 11: Debaters and a Warrior Girl, pt 2

Bk 12: The Fortunes of War, pt 1

Bk 12: The Fortunes of War, pt 2

Plato’s Apology


The Apology of Socrates is Plato’s version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399 BC 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 one’s beliefs or actions. (Summary by Wikipedia)

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Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Part One

Part Two

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