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The Phaedrus by Plato, is a dialogue between Plato's protagonist, Socrates, and Phaedrus, an interlocutor in several dialogues. It was probably written around 370 BC, at about the same time as Plato's Republic and Symposium. Ostensibly about love, the discussion in the dialogue focuses on the art of rhetoric and how it ought to be practiced. The dialogue appears in the direct words of Socrates and Phaedrus, without an introduction.

The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the sense of nationality that led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. Beginning with the traditional Finnish creation myth, the Kalevala branches out into stories of the creation of the earth, plants, creatures, and the sky. There are many stories of, romance, kidnapping, seduction, and magical spell casting and singing.

The Nature of Things was written in the 1st century BC by Roman polymath Lucretius. It is written as a didactic poem, and explains Epicurean physics.

De Vita Caesarum ("About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of 12 biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The work was considered highly significant in antiquity and remains a primary source on Roman history. It examines the critical period of the Principate from the end of the Republic to the reign of Domitian.

Ghosts is a play by the legendary Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Written in 1881, the play is a scathing commentary on 19th-century morality. Its controversial subject matter includes frank discussions of incest, euthanasia, criticism of religion, and venereal disease, a basket of deplorable themes that scandalized Victorian society. Ghosts is the story of Helen Alving, a widow who is haunted by the many mistresses of her deceased husband and by her troubled son. The theme is a refutation of the idea that one ought to sacrifice one’s dreams on the altar of duty.

Before his assassination, Julius Caesar named his great nephew Gaius Octavius as his successor. In this excerpt from The Twelve Caesars, Roman biographer Suetonius tells the life story of Octavius, who took the name Augustus when he became emperor. While Augustus did have a military career, Suetonius focuses on the dramatic details of Augustus’ personal life, making this biography more gossip-filled than its contemporaries.

In 387 AD, Emperor Theodosius I imposed new taxes. In Antioch, the protests against the tax degenerated into a riot in which the statues of the imperial family were thrown down. Roman emperors viewed the crime of lèse-majesté in a serious light, and the Antiochenes dreaded that Theodosius would destroy the city in retaliation. It was in the aftermath of the Riot of the Statues that Chrysostom delivered a series of lenten sermons which have come to be known as The Homilies on the Statues.

The Greek poet, Hesiod, stands out as the first personality in European literature. The Theogony contains a genealogy of the gods from the beginning of time and an account of their violent struggles before the present order was established. The Works and Days, a compendium of advice for a life of honest husbandry, shines a unique and fascinating light on archaic Greek society, ethics, and superstition. Hesiod's poetry is the oldest source of the myths of Prometheus, Pandora, and the Golden Age.

Nathan the Wise, a play published by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in 1779, is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsches Theatre in Berlin. The narrative is set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade and describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened sultan Saladin, and a Templar Knight bridge the differences between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Its major themes are friendship, tolerance, the relativism of God, a rejection of miracles and a need for communication.

As a foremost historian of his time, Samuel Rawson Gardiner’s evaluation of Oliver Cromwell has generally been perceived as a work of great significance. Gardiner applies his highly credited critical eye to one of England’s great military and political leaders. Cromwell rose to power during a time of turbulence and civil distress during which he was admired for certain attributes, yet distrusted for others, including his loyalties to Puritanism.

The Book of Enoch describes the fall of a group of angels called the Watchers, who married the daughters of men and fathered the Nephilim (Genesis 6: 1-2). The Book of Jubilees, also known as The Little Genesis and The Apocalypse of Moses, reveals heaven's viewpoint of history. The Book of Jasher deals with the antediluvian patriarchs, angels, watchers, the flood, the tower of Babel and other events mentioned in the Bible.

Eumenes lived in the shadows of conquerers - Philip and Alexander the Great - until he rose up to claim his own title. He was one of the many who grappled for power in the wake of Alexander's sudden death. Dive into his life and the machinations behind the thrones of ancient Greece and Egypt. Will Eumenes be victorious, claiming a crown of his own, or will he fall prey to the wiles of others?

The ancient Greek poet Hesiod lived around the same time as Homer. He is considered to be an economist and also wrote works on mythology, ancient time-keeping, and farming techniques. The Hesiod Collection includes The Shield of Heracles, Theogony (the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods), and Works and Days (a farmer’s almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the art of agriculture).

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 349-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. These three homilies deal with errors against, which Chrysostom contended all his life. It is assumed that they were delivered at Antioch when Chrysostom was a presbyter under the Episcopate of Flavian. Chrysostom opposed the idea that the world was abandoned to the dominion of devils, insisting very boldly on the freedom of will, moral responsibility, and the duty of vigorously resisting temptation.

Inferno follows Dante through hell, with only an roman poet named Virgil to guide him. Dante loses his way in a forest and stumbles across Hell; but Virgil tells him that if he ventures through hell he can reach Heaven where his beloved awaits....

Aristotle was the first philosopher to write ethical treatises. His best-known work in this field, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of 10 books addressing the question of how the individual should best live. For Aristotle, ethics seeks to determine what makes a virtuous character possible, which is essential for a state of well-being. He describes a sequence of necessary steps to achieve this, such as righteous actions that promote the development of the right habits. He examines the moral virtues and their corresponding vices, like courage versus fear.

Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, and literary critic. His 12 collections of fairy tales are known as Andrew Lang's Coloured Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors. The third in the series, the Green Fairy Book, contains tales from around the world, from Grimm (“The White Snake” and “Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle”), France de Caylus, Fenelon, Kletke, and D'Aulnoy. The stories include "The Crystal Coffin", "The Three Snake-Leaves", "The Riddle", "Jack My Hedgehog", "The Golden Lads", and many more.

Oscar Wilde's Salome was originally published in French in 1891 and translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas. This one-act play, a sinister tale of a woman scorned and her vengeance, has become a landmark of Decadent literature. The play tells the biblical story of Salome, stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who, to her stepfather's dismay but to the delight of her mother Herodias, requests the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the dance of the seven veils.

Sappho ( c. 630-c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. In ancient times, Sappho was widely considered one of the greatest lyric poets and was given titles such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Her estimated date of birth places her sometime after the composition of the works of the Homeric poets, which are preserved in the epics known as the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is claimed that her work filled nine papyrus rolls in the famous library of Alexandria some 500 years after her death.

The Gospel of Barnabas is not to be confused with the Epistle of Barnabas or with the Acts of Barnabas. The book depicts the life of Jesus and claims to be written by the biblical Barnabas who is one of the 12 apostles. Barnabas is about the same length as the four canonical gospels put together, with the bulk being devoted to an account of Jesus' ministry. The text of this Gospel is pseudepigraphical, but some scholars suggest that it may contain remnants of an earlier, apocryphal work from the Gnostic, Ebionite, or Diatessaronic traditions.