"Examines how the educations of America's first four presidents, and in particular their scholarly devotion to ancient Greek and Roman classics, informed the beliefs and ideals that shaped the nation's constitution and government." --

The story tells of a bachelor, Calisto, who uses the old procuress Celestina to start an affair with Melibea, an unmarried girl kept in seclusion by her parents. Though the two use the rhetoric of courtly love, sex - not marriage - is their aim. When he dies in an accident, she commits suicide. The name Celestina has become synonymous with "procuress" in Spanish, especially an older woman used to further an illicit affair, and is a literary archetype...

This Very Short Introduction to Classics links a haunting temple on a lonely mountainside to the glory of ancient Greece and the grandeur of Rome, and to Classics within modern culture-from Jefferson and Byron to Asterix and Ben-Hur. We are all Classicists - we come into touch with the Classics daily: in our culture, politics, medicine, architecture, language, and literature. What are the true roots of these influences, however, and how do our interpretations...

The Metamorphoses of Ovid (8 AD) is an epic poem by Ovid. Published the same year, the poet was, sent into exile for the rest of his life, the Metamorphoses are the crowning achievement of the first major poet of the Roman empire. Written in dactylic hexameter, the meter of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and of Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's work is an epic poem of transformations, of shape-shifting matter and beings bound to the power of love. Taking as its...

"Life Is a Dream is a work many hold to be the supreme example of Spanish Golden Age drama. Imbued with highly poetic language and humanist ideals, it is an allegory that considers contending themes of free will and predestination, illusion and reality, played out against the backdrop of court intrigue and the restoration of personal honor." "In the mountainous barrens of Poland, the rightful heir to the kingdom has been imprisoned since birth in...

A soaring elegy for the loss of bird species due to human activity. Composed and conducted by Christopher Tin and featuring Voces8 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tin's new requiem is a celebration of birds; as symbols of beauty, hope, peace, and renewal, but it also mourns their absence.

Nonesuch Records releases Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer Caroline Shaw's Evergreen, featuring Shaw and Attacca Quartet. Evergreen is five original works by Shaw: three pieces written for the string quartet Three Essays, Blueprint, and The Evergreen, and two songs written for the string quartet and voice. It also includes an interpretation of a twelfth-century French poem, which the Quartet performs with Shaw on vocals.

A collection of music rooted in folk cultures from all around the world, personally sourced and curated by Lucie Horsch, presented here in newly commissioned arrangements and transcriptions for the recorder.

Originally published in 1853, author Nathaniel Hawthorne delivers a vibrant selection of mythological tales inspired by some of the most popular figures in Greek lore. Tanglewood Tales is filled with whimsical characters and their fantastical stories. Nathaniel Hawthorne brings Ancient Greek mythology to life in this collection of Tanglewood Tales. The author reinterprets the stories for a younger audience with a broad appeal. The book contains heroes...