Best ancient & classical dramas & plays according to redditors

I just wanted to drop by and say that I really appreciate this sub. I've been lurking a long time and I've recently started doing a bit more active reading thanks to some recommendations and just the general conversations that happen here. So thank you all for being awesome.

Also, for those who use e-readers, here is a great deal for you: The complete works of Seneca, in both English and Latin, for $2.51. It's a huge book, so I haven't been thorough in checking, but so far it's pretty awesome. This also includes his tragedies, by the way. Enjoy!

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

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> Every six weeks is a sabbat

8 sabbats separated by six weeks each would make a 48 week year. Actually the minor sabbats (solstices and equinoxes) are seven weeks after the last major sabbat, while the major sabbats are six weeks after the last minor.

There's various issues around the names. Eostre is Germanic so shouldn't be used in a Celtic context. Ditto Litha, though there's no historic evidence I'm aware of that the solstice was ever historically called Litha. Mabon is an invention of Aiden Kelley, the autumn equinox was never called that by the celts or anyone else. Yule, again, is Germanic.

For a sensible and informed discussion of the festivals I would recommend Ron Hutton's The Stations of the Sun. Professor Hutton knows his stuff.

I wouldn't call early Arab Nationalists fascists, but the links between the fascist European states and the early Arab Nationalist movements is a topic of huge study:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relations_between_Nazi_Germany_and_the_Arab_world (basic run-down)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Greater-Syria-History-Ambition-Daniel-Pipes/0195060229/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498712774&sr=8-1&keywords=daniel+pipes+greater+syria

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arabs-Holocaust-Arab-Israeli-War-Narratives/dp/0863566391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498712833&sr=8-1&keywords=arabs+holocaust

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Farhud-Arab-Nazi-Alliance-Holocaust-Edwin-Black/0914153145/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498712876&sr=8-1&keywords=arabs+nazis


This was a complex, multi-layered relationship that, yes, did have a lot to do with rising antisemitism, but was based mostly around the concept of the enemy of my enemy. Needless to say, it wasn't a good look for the nationalists as little as a decade later.

Indeed, unlike say the Rashyd Aly (which I would call fascist) regime in Iraq or the Jerusalem Grand Mufti's odd relationship with Hitler (again, massive fascist), these links were less obvious in Ba'athist circles of the early 40s. Though I'm sure a lot would call the neo-Ba'aths fascists.

I like to tailor my recommendations to what I know about people, so a request like this leaves me a little at a disadvantage. Basically, I believe that there may be no such thing as a universally applicable book, and to that end, whether or not a book is really a "must-read" for any given person depends on the circumstances of that person's life. So what I'm going to give you instead is this: a list of the ten books that I've read that I think (at the moment) have the best chance of having an impact on any random English-speakers life. Make of it what you will.

Ahem. In no particular order:

1. The Bridge at San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder
   
   
2. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
   
   
3. The Spirit Catches You and You Fell Down, by Anne Fadiman
   
   
4. The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius
   
   
5. We With to Inform You that Tomorrow We Well Be Killed With Our Families, by Philip Gourevitch.
   
   
6. The Theban Plays of Sophocles.
   
   
7. The Bell, by Iris Murdoch.
   
   
8. The Book of J, by Harold Bloom and David Rosenberg.
   
   
9. Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative, by Herbert Mason.
   
   
10. The Street of Crocodiles, by Bruno Schulz.

I'd recommend A Rasa Reader: https://www.amazon.com/Rasa-Reader-Aesthetics-Historical-Sourcebooks-ebook/dp/B01ERNT7EA

It's one of the classic readers for Alankara the branch of Indian philosophy devoted to systematic reflection on poetry.

It covers pretty much the first millennium of it's history, from the first work of Alankara, the Natya Shastra, through the linguistic turn of Anandavardhana, culminating in the cognitive turn of Bhatta Nayaka and Abhinavagupta and the shift from formal analysis of poetic language to analysis of aesthetic effect and audience response.

The basic idea of classical (eg post-Natya Shastra) Alankara is the understanding of the emotional content of poetic language as a kind of "meaning", analogous to its cognitive content (the meaning, proper) and the subsequent unfolding of a theory of poetry along similar lines (but interestingly different) to earlier theories of meaning developed for ordinary language use.

Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun does a fantastic (if sometimes dry) job of exploring the development of the modern pagan wheel of the year and the holidays therein.

Mike Nichols has a collection of essays on the sabbats.

Book wise, "Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain" by Ronald Hutton is scholarly text detailing their origins and practices.

There are tons of videos on YouTube, you'll have to sort through them for those that focus on the historical side.

Letters from a Stoic and Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics) seem to be the two most recommended on this sub. Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters also contains a shorter selection of his letters along with some of his essays.

A complete collection of his letters is available on Wikisource as well.

typische Verbindungen = Kollokationen?

I'm going to assume you've already gone through Lingua Latina 1 and 2. (BTW there are other ones with the same style of Latin glosses like: https://www.amazon.com/Caesaris-Commentarii-Gallico-Lingua-Latina/dp/1585102326/ref=pd_sim_14_13?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585102326&pd_rd_r=JCPQ1JW98FZ0FFP1PYK2&pd_rd_w=nWCk3&pd_rd_wg=GI00g&psc=1&refRID=JCPQ1JW98FZ0FFP1PYK2

but they're kind of hard to find apparently, considering they just throw "Lingua LAtina" after to show the edition...

Here's one with some bible stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Epitome-Historiae-Sacrae-Christi-Narratione/dp/1585104256/ref=pd_sim_14_20?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585104256&pd_rd_r=RYEWCXZ23VQX695ER2NS&pd_rd_w=dv3qm&pd_rd_wg=FpPNK&psc=1&refRID=RYEWCXZ23VQX695ER2NS

.

https://www.amazon.com/Ars-Amatoria-Lingua-Latina-Ovid/dp/1585106348/ref=pd_sim_14_13?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585106348&pd_rd_r=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0&pd_rd_w=dE96G&pd_rd_wg=87lDQ&psc=1&refRID=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0

.

https://www.amazon.com/Sallustius-Cicero-Catilina-Lingua-Latina/dp/1585103675/ref=pd_sim_14_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585103675&pd_rd_r=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0&pd_rd_w=dE96G&pd_rd_wg=87lDQ&psc=1&refRID=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0

.
https://www.amazon.com/Amphitryo-Comoedia-Lingua-Latina-Plautus/dp/158510194X/ref=pd_sim_14_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=158510194X&pd_rd_r=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0&pd_rd_w=dE96G&pd_rd_wg=87lDQ&psc=1&refRID=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0
.

https://www.amazon.com/Vergil-Aeneis-Libros-Lingua-Latina/dp/158510633X/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=158510633X&pd_rd_r=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0&pd_rd_w=dE96G&pd_rd_wg=87lDQ&psc=1&refRID=AGTD6A26M03XJPTCYDW0

I'm kind of concerned about the... contents, they seem rather short (only 2 books + parts of the Aeneid?) But if it keeps the method up like I've been told once or twice and you've not passed the level where you can breeze through it, it could be useful and worth it? Even for what shouldn't be more than a few days of reading at most. :P

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There's a book called Colloquial and Literary Latin by Eleannor Dickey which shows a lot of "incorrections" found in various writers, i.e. how they violate the rules taught by grammar obsessed professors etc. It's kind of cool/fun.

You know Vox Latina, right?

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My personal path through Latin was like... LinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatinaLinguaLatina OOH LIVING LATIN, WAIT THEY'RE FREAKS, Oh cool I'll do some stuff at uni... Oh God, I'm already in advanced classes because these Germans doing it highschool know nothing, oh, that TA is hawt! I'll go to those things and listen to her talk about Homer even though I don't know Greek! Oh cool, this Czech guy online speaks it well! Oooh lala.

Then I read funny medieval texts (digitized since I can't make my way through pictures/the different scripts they use, but one day I'll even learn the shorthand!)

So... This... http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/LATIN_PALEOGRAPHY.pdf

http://learningtechnologies.truman.edu/r_harrison/charpcl.htm (make sure to scroll down, it has multiple scroll bars (badly cody) so it's annoying, but there's a bit of stuff there)

A. G. Rigg's A History of Anglo Latin Literature: 1066-1422 is cool.

One of my favorite books ever is: Intellectual Culture in Elizabethan and Jacobean England

But good luck finding it, I only found it once in a library I visited, goes over all the writers from like 1500-1600 in England, all the plays, poems, swimming manuals and so on they wrote, stylistics, errors common to certain printers, vocab about the different printers, and all this stuff!

(It also gave me my favorite language learning technique, of translating something from the language, then back in it and comparing, so as to notice and learn someone's style etc.)

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But that's... not quite what you're looking for I guess.

THIS IS

http://linguax.com/lexica/wagner.php?searchedLG=latinitas (I hope)

There are quite a few synonyms etc. listed for more... core words like: http://linguax.com/lexica/wagner.php?searchedLG=filius

Da findste auch diese typischen Verbindungen, soweit ich durchblick, worauf der Duden damit hin will :D

(There're more on the site like: http://www.linguax.com/lexica/ but Wagner's the best I think)

You coul also try: https://books.google.com/books?id=1IwAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Maybe those help?

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61498463/f91.item.zoom

To get started I'd recommend particular translations rather than particular plays. Ted Hughes' version of the Oresteia is far from the most accurate, but it does the best job I know of capturing some of the power of Greek tragedy in English poetry. For Euripides I'd recommend Collier and Machemer's Medea, and for Aristophanes Douglass Parker's Lysistrata.

What you describe has existed since ancient times. In Freudian psychology "Daddy issues" are called"Electra complex". It is a stage in development where you have to stop being attracted to your father, and realise you have to look more like your mother, because you are a woman and not a man.

Watch this video about the "Electra complex": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VAo-FQTB8E&feature=youtu.be

You can read some books about the Electra complex, like Sophocles' "Electra", Jean Paul Sartre's "No exit" & "The flies" and Honore De Balzac's "Pere Goriot"

Looking for this play book published in 2017:

https://www.amazon.com/Aristophanes-translation-introduction-Oxford-Classics/dp/0192824090/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1539148938&sr=8-2&keywords=the+frogs+aristophanes

Need this exact version because other versions have different text. Payment is 5 USD through PayPal.

These versions have Greek on one side, English on the other. Unfortunately to get all 3 of the plays you will have to get several of the books, as they are not distributed nicely for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Sophocles-Electra-Oedipus-Tyrannus-Classical/dp/0674995570/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485144484&sr=8-1&keywords=loeb+classical+library+sophocles


https://www.amazon.com/Sophocles-Antigone-Trachis-Philoctetes-Classical/dp/0674995589/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485144484&sr=8-2&keywords=loeb+classical+library+sophocles

You can try the Hitopodesha and the Panchatantra, collections of ancient Indian folk tales.

Alternatively, you can try reading some ancient drama, like the Abhijñānaśākuntalam of Kalidasa.

they had what i wanted.

when you're searching for obscure-ish stuff, other sites often don't have them.

TPB was often the only one who had a that research book, or college lecture series about medievalist literature.

like this bookis $80, and that's for just ONE book! that's not a well rounded education at all, you can't just read one book and think you got it covered.

most of these types of things are in the hundreds so buying them is just not feasible.

the pirate bay was the only one to supply these kinds of materials.

If you are really reading it on a Kindle, any complete works will be a navigation nightmare and likely difficult to read. I checked out the Oxford, which is at least reasonably authoritative and unlikely to contain errors found in other editions. There is a huge introductory section before the plays start so you will need to get to the table of contents and click on the right one to jump, and it is more than $15. There are some pretty excellent apps for iPad if you are using that.

Otherwise, I guess Oxford is ok but unless you are looking for a deal, if you don't want paper I think you would be better off getting individual plays for Kindle. You can find at least some editions of individual plays from the Folger Library on Kindle, for example, and those are excellent, although they will run you $5 - $6 each. Some Arden editions are available for Kindle, too, and those are even better, but more expensive.

If you don't need the accompanying essays, etc., and just want the play in a readable format from people who know what they are doing, there are some editions that look pretty good, like this one for Macbeth for only $0.99.

For fairy tales, I recommend the following:

• The Victorian Fairy Tales Book
  
• Norton's The Classic Fairy Tales
  
• Norton's The Great Fairy Tale Tradition
  
• The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales
  
• My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
  
• Any and all of Andrew Lang's Colored Fairy Books (the first two focus on collections of well-known tales, but most of them are sort of themed/grouped geographically and have fairy tales from all over the world)
  
• The Complete Fairy Tales of George MacDonald
  
• The Names Upon the Harp: Irish Myth and Legend
  
• I'm a big fan of the various "Annotated" Fairy Tale collections, like the Annotated Brothers Grimm, Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, and Annotated Hans Christen Andersen, though I don't always agree with the editorializing. It's a whole series, so I'm only going to link to a couple.
  
• On that note, look for book collections put together and/or edited by Maria Tatar and Jack Zipes. They're the two most prominent fairy tale scholars at the moment and basically have an unofficial duopoly on the fairy tale academic criticism market.
  
• Also, a special shout-out to P.J. Lynch's illustrated version of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and really all of the fairy tales books that Lynch illustrates. They're beautiful.
  
  
  For mythology and classical studies, there are a couple that are basically required reading for any Mythology or Classics class. Since several people have already recommended anthologies of Greek myths, I'm going to err more on the "Classics" side of the conversation:
  
  
• Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
  
• The Odyssey, Homer (I recommend the Fagles translation due to its prominence in academia and its status as one of the best translations of the work)
  
• The Illiad, Homer (again, Fagles translation)
  
• The Aeneid, Virgil (again, Fagles has a translation that's very good). My bias as a Latin student, however, leads me to also recommend Pharr, which has no real use to you if you don't know Latin but it's the most popular all-time textbook version of the Aeneid)
  
• Metamorpheses, Ovid
  
• You also probably want to look at some Greek plays like the Sophoclean Tragedies/Three Thebian Plays

God, excellent question. Though I admittedly haven't read more than one (alas!), I used this one way back in the day and really enjoyed it. Nicely poetic while not sacrificing meaning.

If you like Fagles (and I do), he also translated Aeschylus' The Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides) as well as Sophocles' The Three Theban Plays (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone). I haven't actually read either of these, although his translation of Aeschylus is on my bookshelf, and I can't speak to their popularity but I'd imagine they're somewhat similar to his translations of epic poetry. I don't think he translated Euripides though. Hope this helps!