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By: Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
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Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent.
The Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. (1824) is a compilation of eight humorous and observational letters written by American writer, Washington Irving, under the pseudonym, Jonathan Oldstyle. These eight letters and one additional were first published as a series of "Letters to the Editor" of the New York paper, The Morning Chronicle, between 1802 and 1803. In them Oldstyle skewered the local New York social scene on the topics of etiquette, marriage, fashion, and other particulars of human interaction... |
By: Various | |
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Australian Miscellany
A collection in celebration of 2012 Year of Reading Australia. Readers chose fiction, non fiction and poetry - we only asked that the readings should have some sort of Australian hook. So they can be by an Australian author, or about Australia, or just have a prominent bit of Australianess in the plot. Failing that: even being performed by Australians will do! :D . |
By: Sewell Peaslee Wright (1897-1970) | |
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Astounding Stories 13, January 1931
This issue contains "The Dark Side of Antri" by Sewell Peaslea Wright, "The Sunken Empire" by H. Thompson Rich, "The Gate to Xoran" by Hal K. Wells, "The Eye of Allah" by C. D. Willard, "The Fifth-Dimension Catapult" by Murray Leinster, and "The Pirate Planet[' by Charles W. Diffin. | |
Astounding Stories 07, July 1930
Issue seven of this seminal science-fiction magazine |
By: Mabel Osgood Wright (1859-1934) | |
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Flowers and Ferns in their Haunts
Pleasant non-fiction journey into the backwoods of the New England coastal countryside by the first president of the Connecticut Audubon Society, circa 1900. |
By: Rev. Gerald T. Brennan (1898-1962) | |
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Just For Juniors: Little Talks to Little Folks
This fourth addition to Father Brennan's delightful series of "Angel Food" story books brings twenty-eight more tales which, while they excite youthful imaginations, at the same time teach the important lessons of knowing, loving and serving God, and point the way - the children's own little way to heaven. |
By: John Fletcher (1579-1625) | |
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The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed
John Fletcher's comedy (probably written and performed around 1611) is a sequel to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, in which, as the title suggests, the tamer will be tamed. Petruchio, the shrew-tamer, has been widowed, and marries a second wife, Maria, a "chaste witty lady." At the instigation of her cousin Bianca, and with the fellowship of her sister Livia, Maria decides to go on strike for equal rights, refusing to behave as a proper 17th century wife. Fletcher's play addresses the issue of men and women's roles within marriage, a controversial issue for his day. |
By: Jack Williamson (1908-2006) | |
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Astounding Stories 15, March 1931
This issue includes "When the Mountain Came to Miramar" by Charles W. Diffin, "Beyond the Vanishing Point" by Ray Cummings, "Terrors Unseen" by Harl Vincent, the conclusion of "Phalanxes of Atlans" by F. V. W. Mason, and "The Meteor Girl" by Jack Williamson. |
By: Charles Willard Diffin (1884-1966) | |
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Moon Master
Through Infinite Deeps of Space Jerry Foster Hurtles to the Moon—Only to be Trapped by a Barbaric Race and Offered as a Living Sacrifice to Oong, their Loathsome, Hypnotic God. |
By: Anonymous | |
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Mother Stories From the New Testament
A book of the best stories from the New Testament that mothers can tell their children. |
By: Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) | |
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The Freedmen's Book
Lydia Maria Child, an American abolitionist, compiled this collection of short stories and poems by former slaves and noted activists as an inspiration to freed slaves. In her dedication to the freedmen, she urges those who can read to read these stories aloud to others to share the strength, courage and accomplishments of colored men and women. In that spirit, this recording aims to gives that voice a permanent record. As in the original text, the names of the colored authors are marked with an "x". |
By: Wilbur D. Nesbit (1871-1927) | |
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An Alphabet of History
An alphabet of historical characters presented in poetical form!In their original form, the contents of this book appeared in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, which newspaper is hereby thanked for the privilege of reproducing this Alphabet |
By: Charlotte Grace O'Brien (1845-1909) | |
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Basil, or, Honesty and Industry
A poor boy discovers the value of honesty and industry. More than that, he discovers the value of his relationship with God. (Introduction by Robert Harder) |
By: Harl Vincent (1893-1968) | |
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Astounding Stories 10, October 1930
Issue no. 10 of the magazine brings you:- Stolen Brains by Captain S.P. MeekThe Invisible Death by Victor Rousseau Prisoners on the Electron by Robert H. Leitfred Part 2 of Jetta of the Lowlands by Ray Cummings An Extra Man by Jackson Gee along with the Readers' Corner and interesting scientific facts |
By: Confucius 孔子 (551-479 BCE) | |
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Analects of Confucius
The Analects, or Lunyu, also known as the Analects of Confucius, are considered a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. Written during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period (ca. 475 BC - 221 BC), the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a substantial influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today. William Jennings was a rector of Grasmere, and late colonial chaplain. He served at St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong. |
By: Plato (Πλάτων) (c. 428 BC - c. 347 BC) | |
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Protagoras
Jowett, in his always informative introduction, sees this dialogue as transitional between the early and middle dialogues. Socrates meets with Protagoras and other sophists and pursues his inquiry into virtue. The dialectic brings the thinkers to a surprising ending. Socrates narrates this dialogue. |
By: Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) | |
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Liliecrona's Home
Liliecrona's Home was published in Sweden 1911 and translated into English by Anna Barwell and published in London 1913. The story is set in the same surroundings in the district of Värmland, which Lagerlöf knew so well, and used in many of her books. At the bottom of the dried out Svartsjö lake (Black Lake) there lies the Lövdala Parsonage with its stables and outhouses. There resides the goodhearted, widowed, Pastor Lyselius and his beautiful daughter. Here one day, arrives his new wife, who turns out to be a wicked stepmother... |
By: Gene Sharp (1928-) | |
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There Are Realistic Alternatives
Violence in society and politics, whether in the form of war, terrorism, dictatorship, oppression, usurpation, or genocide, is widely recognized as a grave problem. The objective of this essay is to explore a different perspective on the nature of the problem of widespread violence in society and politics that suggests what will be required for its resolution. We need to analyze the conditions under which it will be possible to reduce drastically the reliance on military and other violent means of conflict. We need to examine why violence is so widely regarded as necessary for good causes as well as for bad ones, and how fundamental change away from that syndrome might be achieved. |
By: Phoebe Yates Pember (1823-1913) | |
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Reminiscences of a Southern Hospital, by Its Matron
Phoebe Yates Pember served as a matron in the Confederate Chimborazo military hospital in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, overseeing a dietary kitchen serving meals to 300 or more wounded soldiers daily. Reminiscences of a Southern Hospital is her vivid recounting of hospital life and of her tribulations (and personal growth) as a female administrator. To follow her from day one, when she is greeted with “ill-repressed disgust” that “one of them had come,” and she, herself, “could... |
By: Lizzie Lawson and Robert Ellice Mack | |
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Christmas Roses
A beautiful collection of pretty little poems. |
By: Thomas Kelly Cheyne (1841-1915) | |
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The Reconciliation of Races and Religions
“The primary aim of this work is twofold,” writes Thomas K. Cheyne. “It would fain contribute to the cause of universal peace, and promote the better understanding of the various religions which really are but one religion. The union of religions must necessarily precede the union of races, which at present is so lamentably incomplete…. I have endeavoured to study the various races and religions on their best side, and not to fetter myself to any individual teacher or party, for ‘out of His fullness have all we received... |
By: Johanna Spyri (1827-1901) | |
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What Sami Sings With The Birds
Old Mary Ann has done her best to bring up her son on her own. Like other relatives, her son has a longing to travel off over the mountains. Mary Ann goes with him. Later on her son marries, but loses his wife after she gives birth to their son. Mary Ann assumes responsibility of her grandson, while her son moves away in the agony of his grief. This is the story of what happens to her grandson and where his Grandmother, the songs of the birds, and his faith leads him. |
By: Aeschylus (c. 525/524-456/455 BC) | |
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Prometheus Bound (Buckley Translation)
"Prometheus Bound" is the only complete tragedy of the Prometheia trilogy, traditionally assumed to be the work of Aeschylus. Jupiter has turned against Prometheus for protecting mankind and has ordered him to be chained to a rock. But Prometheus is comforted by his knowledge of a way to bring about the downfall of Jupiter. |
By: Izaak Walton (1593-1683) | |
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Izaak Walton's Lives Of John Donne, Henry Wotton, Richard Hooker and George Herbert
The full title of Walton's book of short biographies is, Lives of John Donne, Henry Wotton, Rich'd Hooker, George Herbert, &C. Sir Henry Wotton (1568 – 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. He is often quoted as saying, "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.” Richard Hooker (1554 – 1600) was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition came to exert a lasting influence on the development of the Church of England... |
By: Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (1864-1960) | |
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Phillips Brooks
Phillips Brooks (1835 - 1893) was one of the finest and most famous clergyman in the nineteenth century; he was acknowledged as a masterful preacher. His teachings were filled with understanding, compassion, and encouragement. He spent most of his life as rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and served briefly as Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts at the end of it (1891 - 1893). His life was a course of gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall... |
By: Aristophanes (446-389 BCE) | |
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Frogs
Athens is in a sorry state of affairs. The great tragedian, Euripides, is dead, and Dionysus, the god of the theater, has to listen to third-rate poetry. So, he determines to pack his belongings onto his trusty slave, Xanthias, and journey to the underworld to bring back Euripides! Hi-jinks ensue. |
By: Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC) | |
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Aeneid, prose translation
The Aeneid is the most famous Latin epic poem, written by Virgil in the 1st century BC. The story revolves around the legendary hero Aeneas, a Trojan prince who left behind the ruins of his city and led his fellow citizens 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, while the poem’s second half treats the Trojans’ victorious war upon the Latins. This is the recording of J.W.MacKail's prose translation. |
By: Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916) | |
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Famous Stories Every Child Should Know
The group of stories brought together in this volume differ from legends because they have, with one exception,no core fact at the centre, from myths because they make no attempt to personify or explain the forces or processes of nature, from fairy stories because they do not often bring to the stage actors from a different nature from ours.... The stories which make up this volume are closer to experience and come, from the most part, nearer to the every-day happenings of life. |
By: Esther Nelson Karn | |
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Snowflakes
A collection of poems with varying subjects. |
By: Unknown (427? BC - 347? BC) | |
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Statesman
Statesman (Ancient Greek: Πολιτικός) discusses God's role in maintaining the universe and describes the statesman as a good shepherd who promotes intermarriage between the orderly and courageous. | |
Sophist
Sophist (Ancient Greek: Σοφιστής) discusses being and not-being while drawing a distinction between the philosopher and the sophist. |
By: Charles Blanden (1857-1933) | |
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Omar Resung
Most of the translations of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam have been in verse. However, there have been three notable exceptions to this convention; the French translation by J. B. Nicolas (1867), the English version by Justin Huntly McCarthy (1889) and another English version by Frederick Rolfe (better known as Baron Corvo, the author of Hadrian VII), published in 1903. Charles Blanden (1857 - 1933) belonged to the group known as the Chicago poets, the most famous of which was Carl Sandburg. Unlike his celebrated contemporary... |
By: Plato (Πλάτων) (c. 428 BC - c. 347 BC) | |
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Critias
This is an incomplete dialogue from the late period of Plato's life. Plato most likely created it after Republic and it contains the famous story of Atlantis, that Plato tells with such skill that many have believed the story to be true. Critias, a friend of Socrates, and uncle of Plato was infamous as one of the bloody thirty tyrants. |
By: Various | |
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King's Daughter and Other Stories for Girls
A charming collection of short stories for young girls, including The King's Daughter, The Old Brown House, A Story for School Girls, What One Lie Did, Two Ways of Reading the Bible, Courtesy to Strangers, Live for Something, and Jennie Browning. Each story subtly teaches an important lesson. |
By: A Highland Seer | |
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Tea-Cup Reading and Fortune-Telling by Tea Leaves
Reading the Cup is essentially a domestic form of Fortune-telling to be practiced at home, and with success by anyone who will take the trouble to master the simple rules laid down in these pages: and it is in the hope that it will provide a basis for much innocent and inexpensive amusement and recreation round the tea-table at home, as well as for a more serious study of an interesting subject, that this little guide-book to the science is confidently offered to the public. |
By: Fulke Greville (1554-1628) | |
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A Treatise of Religion
Part diatribe, part discourse, part sermon and part stand-up comedy, this is Fulke Greville's 114 stanza, verse-poem about religious hypocrisy. |
By: Unknown (427? BC - 347? BC) | |
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Cratylus
Cratylus (ΚΡΑΤΥΛΟΣ) discusses whether things have names by mere convention or have true names which can only be correctly applied to the object named and may have originated from God. |
By: Nahum Tate (1652-1715) | |
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The History of King Lear
The History of King Lear is an adaptation by Nahum Tate of William Shakespeare's King Lear. It first appeared in 1681, some seventy-five years after Shakespeare's version, and is believed to have replaced Shakespeare's version on the English stage in whole or in part until 1838. Unlike Shakespeare's tragedy, Tate's play has a happy ending, with Lear regaining his throne, Cordelia marrying Edgar, and Edgar joyfully declaring that "truth and virtue shall at last succeed." Regarded as a tragicomedy, the play has five acts, as does Shakespeare's, although the number of scenes is different, and the text is about eight hundred lines shorter than Shakespeare's... |
By: Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) | |
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Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella
Michael Angelo and Campanella represent widely sundered, though almost contemporaneous, moments in the evolution of the Italian genius. Michael Angelo was essentially an artist, living in the prime of the Renaissance. Campanella was a philosopher, born when the Counter-Reformation was doing all it could to blight the free thought of the sixteenth century; and when the modern spirit of exact enquiry, in a few philosophical martyrs, was opening a new stage for European science. The one devoted all his mental energies to the realisation of beauty: the other strove to ascertain truth... |
By: Unknown (427? BC - 347? BC) | |
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Charmides
Charmides (Χαρμίδης) discusses the virtue of temperance. |
By: Christopher Morley (1890-1957) | |
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Chimneysmoke
A collection of short poems on various themes by the author. |
By: Aristophanes (446-389 BCE) | |
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Clouds
Strepsiades is an Athenian burdened with debt from a bad marriage and a spendthrift son. He resolves to go to the Thinking Shop, where he can purchase lessons from the famous Socrates in ways to manipulate language in order to outwit his creditors in court. Socrates, represented as a cunning, manipulative, irreverent sophist, has little success with the dull-witted Strepsiades, but is able to teach the old man's son Phidippides a few tricks. In the end, the play is a cynical, clever commentary on Old Ways vs. New Ways, to the disparagement of the former. |
By: Anonymous | |
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Wee Ones' Bible Stories
This is a short book of Bible Stories for Children. |
By: Gordon Bottomley (1874-1948) | |
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Gruach
Gordon Bottomley's verse drama in two scenes is a prequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth. He provides Lady Macbeth with a name - Gruach - and imagines her family life and how she meets Macbeth. |
By: Unknown (1870-1916) | |
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Reginald in Russia and other sketches
Reginald in Russia is the title story in a collection of fifteen witty and satirical stories, sketches and one "playlet" by that master of the short story H. H. Munro, better Known as Saki. The stories are: Reginald in Russia -- The Reticence of Lady Anne -- The Lost Sanjak -- The Sex That Doesn't Shop -- The Blood-feud of Toad-Water -- A Young Turkish Catastrophe -- Judkin of the Parcels -- Gabriel-Ernest -- The Saint and the Goblin -- The Soul of Laploshka -- The Bag -- The Strategist -- Cross Currents -- The Baker's Dozen (A Playlet) -- The Mouse. |
By: Molière (1622-1673) | |
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Learned Women |
By: John Leland (1503-1552) | |
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The Itinerary of John Leland in or About the Years 1535-1543, Part IX
John Leland's 'Itinerary' was the product of several journeys around England and Wales undertaken between 1538 and 1543. The manuscript is made up of Leland's notebooks, which were first published in the 18th century, and later in a ten-part, five-volume edition published by Lucy Toulmin (1906-10). Part IX of the manuscript begins in the south of England and gradually meanders its way, county by county, through central and northern England up to the borders of Scotland. Leland did not prepare the manuscript for publication and it is sometimes difficult to follow, with occasional geographically-misplaced sections, lists of headings with content yet to be added, and the odd lapse into Latin... |
By: Saki (1870-1916) | |
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Unbearable Bassington
The Unbearable Bassington was the first novel written by Saki (H. H. Munro). It also contains much of the elegant wit found in his short stories. Comus (The Unbearable) Bassington, is a charming young man about town. His perversity however thwarts all his mother’s efforts to advance his prospects and lands him in hot water. Like many a “black sheep” he ends up being sent off to one of the colonies to fend for himself. This book showcases Saki’s wonderful writing and that ability to be so very funny and terribly sad at the same time. |
By: Unknown (427? BC - 347? BC) | |
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Laches
Laches (Λάχης) discusses examples of courage including weapons masters, soldiers who stand firm in battle, ferocious animals and the wise person who endures evils. |
By: Various | |
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Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, Vol 18, April-September 1921
Spring through Fall 1921 in Poetry, edited by Harriet Monroe. 2012 is the 100th Anniversary of Poetry magazine. |
By: Anonymous | |
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Saga of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald |
By: Plato (Πλάτων) (c. 428 BC - c. 347 BC) | |
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Alcibiades I
As Jowett relates in his brilliant introduction, 95% of Plato's writing is certain and his reputation rests soundly on this foundation. The Alcibiades 1 appears to be a short work by Plato with only two characters: Socrates and Alcibiades. This dialogue has little dramatic verisimilitude but centres on the question of what knowledge one needs for political life. Like the early dialogues, the question is on whether the virtues needed by a statesman can be taught, on the importance of self-knowledge as a starting point for any leader... |
By: William Shakespeare (1554-1616) | |
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Two Noble Kinsmen
The Two Noble Kinsmen is a Jacobean tragicomedy co-written by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, first published in 1634. Set in ancient Greece during a war between Athens and Thebes, the narrative follows the title characters, Palamon and Arcite, noble youths whose friendship is destroyed by their mutual love for the beautiful Emilia. The subplot deals with the love and eventual madness of the Gaoler's Daughter, who falls hopelessly in love with Palamon. The play is based on "The Knight's Tale" by Chaucer, but also has echoes of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as two of the major characters are Theseus and Hippolyta, who also appear in the earlier play. |
By: Unknown (427? BC - 347? BC) | |
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Philebus
Philebus (ΦΙΛΗΒΟΣ) discusses pleasure, wisdom, soul and God. | |
Lysis
Lysis (Λύσις) discusses friendship and love between the good and bad. | |
Menexenus
Menexenus (ΜΕΝΕΞΕΝΟΣ) is thought to have been written by Plato (ΠΛΑΤΩΝ). The dialogue consists of Socrates (ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ) recounting a funeral oration he claims to have learned from the female philosopher Aspasia (ΑΣΠΑΣΙΑ) who may have been wealthy, a courtesan or both. | |
Euthydemus
Euthydemus (Εὐθύδημος) and Dionysodorus the sophists discuss the meaning of words with Socrates. |
By: Harl Vincent (1893-1968) | |
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Astounding Stories 12, December 1930
This issue includes "Slaves of the Dust" by Sophie Wenzel Ellis, Part B of "The Pirate Planet" by Charles W. Diffin, "The Sea Terror" by Captain S. P. Meek, "Gray Denim" by Harl Vincent, and "The Ape-Men of Xlotli" by David R. Sparks. |
By: Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC) | |
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Iphigenia in Tauris (Murray Translation)
The apparent sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis by her own father Agamemnon was forestalled by the godness Artemis, who by an adroit sleight of hand that fooled all participants, substituted a deer for the daughter. Wafted magically away to the “Friendless Shores” of savage Tauris and installed as chief priestess presiding over the human sacrifice of all luckless foreigners, Iphigenia broods over her “murder” by her parents and longs for some Greeks to be shipwrecked on her shores so she can wreak a vicarious vengeance on them... | |
Alcestis
Alcestis is the earliest surviving play by Euripides. Alcestis, the devoted wife of King Admetus, has agreed to die in his place, and at the beginning of the play she is close to death. In the first scene, Apollo argues with Thanatos (Death), asking to prolong Alcestis' life, but Thanatos refuses. Apollo leaves, but suggests that a man will come to Pherae who will save Alcestis. Euripides' play is perhaps the most unusual Greek drama ever written: a tragedy that is not a tragedy. |