Favorites of classical lit?

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Classical literature and histories? a few historical favorites mabye
lets put the line at 1900?
a few of mine
Platos Republic, Fydor Dostoyevskys Brothers Kamarazov, The Oddyssy, Machiavelli the prince, Chaucers canterburry tails, Beowolf

if its a translated work and you know the version list your favorite translation if you could

Thank you if this isn't historical i'm sorry but all books, poems and history were written at sometime. The story of the authors and how the books show the times are a critical showing of the time.:book:

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Originally Posted by Julian the apostate

:balloon2: :book: :balloon2: :book: :balloon2: :book:
Classical literature and histories? a few historical favorites mabye
lets put the line at 1900?

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Off the cuff: Herod, Homer, Thucydides, Tacitus, Beowulf, Chanson de Roland, Genji Tales, Montaigne, Dickens, Stendal, Dostoyevsky. Oh, and Maurice Druon's series The Accursed Kings.

Definately Tolstoy for me. :yes:

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Originally Posted by AggonyDuck

Definately Tolstoy for me. :yes:

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Agreed.:bow:

Shakespeare.

Toooo many to name! So, I'll mention just the one: The Aeneid.

Sorry Homer, whoever you/they may be, your stuff is genius, but the most sublime verse in epic poetry, or any poetry, is in the Latin of the Aeneid.

Suetonius...classical biography, tabloid style!
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson, still a brilliant adventure.

Definitely The Prince by Machiavelli.

what would be the best english translation of most of tolstoy? thats my big problem with russian lit. so many names, they are long and different and scary. but i love the writing.
i'm going to cheat a little bit, herman hesse published before 1900, so i'm going to put him in the running albiet his greats were later Siddharta <3.
how could i forget Rosseau, Locke and Hobbes
and my biggest error

Dante Alighieri and william butler yeats my two favorite poets
Faugh a Ballagh !

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Originally Posted by Julian the apostate

I'm going to cheat a little bit, Herman Hesse published before 1900, so i'm going to put him in the running

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In that case I'll see your Hesse and raise you a Conrad.

EDIT
Oh, and Anatole France! :yes:

What's this? No Voltaire? For shame!

And I'll second or third or fourth Tolstoy. My friends thought I was nuts many years ago when I dove into War and Peace at the age of 12. No one, they thought, could actually enjoy reading a 1000+ page book! Ah, but I could enjoy it, and I never looked back. I'm a reader and I'm not ashamed to admit it! (Cue Bill Hicks' comedy routine here)

And ditto on the Locke, Rousseau and Hobbes. The Leviathan is still a favorite.

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Originally Posted by Julian the apostate

what would be the best english translation of most of tolstoy? thats my big problem with russian lit. so many names, they are long and different and scary. but i love the writing.

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I must have found the original Penguin translation very readable [don't know how faithful it is] as I read it three times eventually. A true classic. :2thumbsup:

edit: sorry, should have said that it was 'War and Peace'. Much superior to Anna Karenina IMO.

Iliad and Odyssey. Though I admit I have probably not read enough classic lit to be an objective judge.

Michael Psellos
Machiavelli's Art of War
Bocchacio's Decameron

Shakespeare, Homer, and a couple others. I also like Daunte's Inferno

https://img215.imageshack.us/img215/...ercovernu8.jpg

:smug:

Could someone lend me an Antiochus III-hunting rifle?

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Originally Posted by AntiochusIII

https://img215.imageshack.us/img215/...ercovernu8.jpg

:smug:

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I didn't realize Harry Potter was written before 1900 AntiochusIII:smash:

No no, it was released much earlier, I believe that Antiochus went back in time, circa 1000?
I'm fairly sure I saw Antiochus at De Sade's the other weekend for a wine and bondage party.

For me it's Shakespeare.

I'm a bit puzzled by the answers; what does the thread mean?

To me, 'Classical' means from antiquity, i.e. ancient Greek and Roman literature.

But, 'Classic' means great literature from any period.

There's a subtle, but very real, difference. :inquisitive:

i don't know why i said classical :oops: :beam:

Homer, Hesiod and Xenophon
Ow and Sophocles as well.

Shakespeare and Machiavelli

Mary Shelley

Close enough
I like Sienkiwiecz, despite being published in early 1900's, he is a great author with several books.
I like Homer, Virgil, Ovid.
Julius Caesar's Commentaries, it's Roman warfare!

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Originally Posted by Julian the apostate

i don't know why i said classical :oops: :beam:

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Don't worry, I'm just being pedantic. :book: :beam:

This is a big big topic. The only way for me to answer is to break things into subcategories. Save for one work of Plato I'll stay in the more general literary arena as opposed to philosophical works (I'm making a distinction between philosohia and poesis)

Favorite Epic:

Iliad (Fagles or Latimore translation)

Favorite Greek Tragedy:

Antigone (Latimore translation)

Favorite Greek Poetry

Odes "Pindar naturally" (Latimore translation)

Favorite Philosophical/literary work from Antiquity

Phaedrus (Hackforth translation)

Favorite Medieval Literary Work

Beowulf (Kennedy or Heaney translation)

and

Saga of the Volsungs (Byock translation)

Favorite Medieval Poetry:

Divine Comedy: Inferno (Singleton translation)

Favorite Shakespeare:

Tragedy: Macbeth
Comedy: Measure for Measure
History: Henry V
Romance: Tempest

Favorite Enlightenment Poetry:

Paradise Lost

Favorite 19th Century Poetry

The Prelude (Wordsworth)


Favorite Novel: (up to 1900)

Brothers Karamazov (I have the Volokhonsky translation)

Favorite French Novel: Les Miserables (I don't know a best translation)

Favorite English Novel: Christmas Stories (Dickens)

Favorite American Novel: Huckleberry Finn

Does anyone remember what the rhyming scheme in the inferno was i think i remember reading that i was outrageously complicated

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Originally Posted by Julian the apostate

Does anyone remember what the rhyming scheme in the inferno was i think i remember reading that i was outrageously complicated

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It's called the terza rima or triple rhyme schema: ABA, BCB, CDC, DED etc.

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Originally Posted by Pindar

Favorite French Novel: Les Miserables (I don't know a best translation)

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Interesting that you'd like something I've been reading for a while now. Which version do you have, personally?

The only word I have for Les Miserables would be "outrageous," which is its charm as much as its faults. Hugo's extravagant writings are captivating in its own, self-conscious way. It's a reflection of both his time and himself, while at the same time he still manages to create a story that is independently engaging without the need to recognize the ever-present face of Hugo behind it. A lovely, epic work, that.

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Originally Posted by Orb

Could someone lend me an Antiochus III-hunting rifle?

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Which kind do you need? I must warn you however that I have a +5 defense bonus against rifle. Personally I'd suggest a stake and a bunch of onions. Cedar stake has an attack bonus on me, I think, though I actually fear anything ferns more myself. And I hate onions.

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Originally Posted by Csar

I didn't realize Harry Potter was written before 1900 AntiochusIII

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What? You did not know that? What are you? Texan? The Philosopher ("Sorceror," bah!) in the story is actually Plato, you know that? Hence why the book's my favorite classical work. The "stone" that Harry fought over is actually a metaphor for the Acropolis of Athens. This creation reflects Athens' -- represented by Plato -- desire to forever immortalize itself, its folly, and its vanity.

~;)

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Originally Posted by Bopa the Magyar

I'm fairly sure I saw Antiochus at De Sade's the other weekend for a wine and bondage party.

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Oh, that party? Nah. I was there to pick up my friend, that's all. What were you doing there? :egypt:

where did i leave my garlic. i thought it was about socrates. :book:
considering that he was nicknamed the dog i'm doubting Diogenes ever wrote much
does anyone know if he did?

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Originally Posted by AntiochusIII

Interesting that you'd like something I've been reading for a while now. Which version do you have, personally?

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I have a couple versions in my library. The last time I read the book was the Norman Denny translation. That's the version Penguin Classics goes with (I needed a small book that was easily portable).

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The only word I have for Les Miserables would be "outrageous," which is its charm as much as its faults.

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I don't know French, but I took miserables closest English variant as miserable.