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Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern literature --India's ancient epics and tales -- Early Chinese literature and thought. Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern literature -- India's ancient epics and tales -- Early Chinese literature and thought. I. MEDITERRANEAN AND NEAR EASTERN LITERATURE -- CREATION AND THE COSMOS oCannibal Spell for King Unis (Translated by James P. Allen) oThe Great Hymn to the Aten (Translated by Miriam Lichtheim) From The Babylonian Creation Epic (Translated by Benjamin R. Foster) oHesiod, from Theogony oHesiod, from Works and Days (Translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis) oEarly Greek Philosophy: Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras (Translated by Jonathan Barnes) oLucretius, from On the Nature of Things (Translated by Anthony M. Esolen) -- ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE -- oThe Tale of Sinuhe (Translated by Richard B. Parkinson) Egyptian Love Poems o(Translated by Michael V. Fox) oSetne Khamwas and Nanefrkaptah (Setne 1) (Translated by Miriam Lichtheim) oStela of Taimhotep (Translated by John Baines) -- THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH (ca. 1900-250 B.C.E.) o(Translated by Benjamin R. Foster) THE HEBREW BIBLE (ca. 1000-300 B.C.E.) Genesis Chapters 1-4 [From Creation to the Murder of Abel] Chapters 6-9 [Noah and the Flood] From Chapter 11 [The Tower of Babel] oFrom Chapters 12, 17 [God's Promise to Abraham] From Chapters 21, 22 [Abraham and Isaac] (Translated by Robert Alter) Chapter 25 [Esau Spurns His Birthright] o(Visual adaptation by R. Crumb, based on the translation by Robert Alter) Chapter 27 [Jacob and Esau] oFrom Chapter 28 [Jacob's Dream] oFrom Chapter 29 [Rachel and Leah] oFrom Chapter 31 [Jacob's Flight Back to Canaan] oFrom Chapter 32 [Jacob Is Called Israel] o From Chapter 33 [Jacob and Esau Reconciled] From Chapters 37, 39-45 [The Story of Joseph] From Chapters 46-o47 [Jacob Travels to Egypt] oFrom Chapter 50 [The Death of Joseph] oExodus Chapters 19-20 [Moses Receives the Law] Job o(Translated by Robert Alter) Psalm 8 Psalm 19 Psalm 23 Psalm 104 Psalm 137 (The King James Version) HOMER (8th century B.C.E.) The Iliad Book I [The Rage of Achilles] From Book VI [Hector Returns to Troy] From Book VIII [The Tide of Battle Turns] Book IX [The Embassy to Achilles] From Book XVI [Patroclus Fights and Dies] Book XVIII [The Shield of Achilles] Book XXII [The Death of Hector] Book XXIV [Achilles and Priam] o(Translated by Stanley Lombardo) The Odyssey o(Translated by Stanley Lombardo) -- oAESOP (ca. 620-564 B.C.E.) Fables Demades and the Athenians The Wolf, the Dog, and the Collar The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Ticks The Stomach and the Body The Shepherd and the Lion The Two Men, the Eagle, and the Fox The Boy Who Cried "Wolf" The Fox and the Stork The Goat and the Vine The Dog in the Manger The North Wind and the Sun The Lion and the Man Disputing The Sow and the Lioness The Fir Tree and the Bramble Bush The Trees and the Bramble Bush The Dogs and the Lion Skin The Tortoise and the Hare The Fisherman and the Fish The Mice, the Cat, and the Bell The Beauty Contest of the Animals The Fox and the Grapes The Mole and the Frankincense The Dog, the Meat, and the Reflection The Donkey Who Carried the God The Mountain in Labour The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Crow, the Eagle, and the Feathers The Two Hyenas The Daughter and the Hired Mourners The Donkey, the Dog, and the Letter The City Mouse and the Country Mouse Simonides and the Shipwreck The Man and the Golden Eggs The Beaver and His Testicles Mercury and the Two Women The Mother, the Child, and the Crow The Man and the Oracle The Shipwrecked Man and Athena The Poor Man and Death The Fox and the Man Counting the Waves The Old Man and His Sons The Farmer and His Sons The Monkey and Her Two Children Zeus and Man Prometheus and the Tears Prometheus and the Two Roads Opportunity Aesop and the Bow (Translated by Laura Gibbs) SAPPHO (born ca. 630 B.C.E.) Lyrics [Deathless Aphrodite of the Spangled Mind] o[Some Men Say an Army of Horse] [He Seems to Me Equal to Gods] o[Kypros Herald Came] o[Eros Shook My Mind] o[You Came and I Was Crazy for You] o[I Don't Know What to Do] o[Dead You Will Lie] o[I Simply Want to Be Dead] o[Sweet Mother I Cannot Work the Loom] o[Eros the Melter of Limbs] o[Moon has Set] o(Translated by Anne Carson) o[(You for) the Fragrant-Bosomed (Muses') Lovely Gifts] o(Translated by Martin West) -- oGREEK THEATER -- AESCHYLUS (ca. 524-456 B.C.E.) Agamemnon (Translated by Robert Fagles) -- SOPHOCLES (ca. 496-406 B.C.E.) Oedipus the King Antigone o (Translated by Robert Bagg) -- EURIPIDES (480-406 B.C.E.) Medea o (Translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien) -- ARISTOPHANES (ca. 450-ca. 385 B.C.E.) Lysistrata o(Translated by Sarah Ruden) -- PLATO (429-347 B.C.E.) oSymposium (Translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff) oTRAVEL AND CONQUEST oThe Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (Translated by Richard B. Parkinson) oSemna Stela of Senwosret III (Translated by Richard B. Parkinson) oHerodotus, From The Histories (Translated by Walter Blanco) oAeschylus, From Persians (Translated by Philip Vellacott) oAirs, Waters, Places (An Anonymous Hippocratic Text) (Translated by G. E. R. Lloyd) oHorace, From Odes (Book I, Ode 37: "Nunc est bibendum") (Translated by David West) oSeneca, Letter XLVII [On Slaves] (Translated by Robin Campbell) -- CATULLUS (ca. 84-ca. 54 B.C.E.) Poems o1 [Who's the dedicatee of my new witty booklet?] 2 [Sparrow, precious darling of my sweetheart] o3 [Mourn, Cupids all, every Venus, and whatever] 5 [Let's live, Lesbia mine, and love] o7 [You'd like to know how many of your kisses would be enough] 8 [Wretched Catullus, stop this stupid tomfool stuff] 11 [Furius and Aurelius] o16 [Up yours both, and sucks to the pair of you] o31 [Of all the near-islands, Sirmio] o42 [Come, you hecasyllables] o46 [Now spring fetches back the warmth] o48 [Oh those honey-sweet eyes of yours, Juventius!] 51 [In my eyes he seems like a god's co-equal] 58 [Caelius, Lesbia-our dear Lesbia, that one] o64 [Once on a time pine trees from Pelion's summit] o70 [My woman declares there's no one she'd sooner marry] o72 [You told me once, Lesbia, that Catullus alone understood you] 75 [My mind has been brought so low by your conduct, Lesbia] 83 [Lesbia keeps insulting me in her husband's presence] 85 [I hate and love] o92 [Lesbia's always bad-mouthing me] o93 [I've no great urge to find favor with you, Caesar] o101 [A journey across many seas and through many nations] o107 [If anything ever came through] 109 [You're suggesting, my life, that this mutual love between us can be a delight?] o(Translated by Peter Green) -- VIRGIL (70-19 B.C.E.) The Aeneid Book 1 [Safe Haven after Storm] Book 2 [The Final Hours of Troy] Book 4 [The Tragic Queen of Carthage] Book 8 [The Shield of Aeneas] Book 12 [The Sword Decides All] o(Translated by Robert Fagles) -- OVID (43 B.C.E.-17 C.E.) Metamorphoses Book I o[Proem] o[The Creation] [Apollo and Daphne] [Jove and Io] Book II [Jove and Europa] Book V [Ceres and Proserpina] Book IX [Iphis and Isis] Book X [Pygmalion] [Venus and Adonis] o(Translated by Charles Martin) -- oSPEECH, WRITING, AND POETRY oFrom Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta (Translated by Herman Vanstiphout) oTale of the Eloquent Peasant (Translated by R. B. Robinson) oReminder of the Scribe's Superior Status oAdvice to the Youthful Scribe oPrayer to Thot for Skill in Writing (Translated by William Simpson) oXenophanes (on Homer) (Translated by Jonathan Barnes) oTheognis, From Elegies (Translated by Dorothea Wender) oAristophanes, From Frogs (Translated by Paul Roche) oPlato, From Phaedrus (Translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff) Aristotle, From Poetics (Translated by James Hutton) oCallimachus, From Aetia (Translated by Frank Nisetich) oHorace, From Odes (Book 3, Ode 30) (Translated by David West) II. INDIA'S ANCIENT EPICS AND STORIES -- THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI (ca. 550 B.C.E.) Book 2. Ayodhya (sections 15-31) Book 3. Aranya (sections 14-18, 32-37, 42-68) Book 4. Kiskindha (sections 56-67) Book 5. Sundara (sections 1-38) Book 6. Yuddha (sections 109-113, 115-123, 130-131) (Translated by Swami Venkatesananda) -- THE MAHABHARATA (ca. 400 B.C.E- 400 C.E.) Book 1. Adi (sections 7-13) (Translated by Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan) Book 2. Sabha (sections 58-65) (Translated by J. A. B. van Buitenen) Book 5. Udyoga (sections 42-45) Book 8. Karna (sections 47-49) Book 9. Salya (sections 71-73) Book 11. Stri (sections 81-83) Book 12. Santi (section 84) (Translated by Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan) -- THE BHAGAVAD-GITA (ca. 400 B.C.E- 400 C.E.) The First Teaching (Arjuna's Dejection) The Second Teaching (Philosophy and Spiritual Discipline) The Third Teaching (Discipline of Action) The Sixth Teaching (The Man of Discipline) The Eleventh Teaching (The Vision of Krishna's Totality) o(Translated by Gavin Flood and Charles Martin) THE JATAKA (4th century B.C.E.) oThe Golden Goose The Hare's Self-Sacrifice The Monkey's Heroic Self-Sacrifice (Translated by H. T. Francis and E. J. Thomas) -- III. EARLY CHINESE LITERATURE AND THOUGHT -- THE CLASSIC OF POETRY (ca. 1000- 600 B.C.E.) Fishhawk o Peach Tree Soft and Tender Plums Are Falling Dead Roe Deer Boat of Cypress Gentle Girl Quince Zhongzi, Please o Zhen and Wei o Huge Rat She Bore the Folk (Translated by Stephen Owen) -- CONFUCIUS (551-479 B.C.E.) From Analects o (Translated by Simon Leys) -- oDAODEJING/LAOZI (before 3rd century B.C.E.) I [The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way] II [The whole world recognizes the beautiful as the beautiful] III [Not to honour men of worth will keep the people from contention] IV [The way is empty, yet use will not drain it] V [Heaven and earth are ruthless] VI [The spirit of the valley never dies] VII [Heaven and earth are enduring] VIII [Highest good is like water] XI [Thirty spokes share one hub] XII [The five colours make man's eyes blind] XVI [I do my utmost to attain emptiness] XVII [The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence] XVIII [When the great way falls into disuse] XIX [Exterminate the sage, discard the wise] XX [Exterminate learning and there will no longer be worries] XXV [There is a thing confusedly formed] XXVIII [Know the male but keep to the role of the female] XXXVII [The way never acts yet nothing is left undone] XXXVIII [A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue] XLII [The way begets one; one begets two] XLVIII [In the pursuit of learning one knows more every day] LXIV [It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure] LXX [My words are very easy to understand] LXXVI [A man is supple and weak when living] LXXXI [Truthful words are not beautiful] (Translated by D. C. Lau) SONGS OF THE SOUTH (ca. 4th century B.C.E.-2nd century C. E.) The Nine Songs o Lord in the Clouds o The Lord of the East o The Hill Wraith Encountering Sorrow (Translated by Stephen Owen) -- ZHUANGZI (4th-2nd centuries B.C.E) Zhuangzi Chapter 1. Free and Easy Wandering Chapter 2. Discussion on Making All Things Equal Chapter 3. The Secret of Caring for Life From Chapter 4. In the World of Men From Chapter 6. The Great and Venerable Teacher From Chapter 7. Fit for Emperors and Kings From Chapter 12. Heaven and Earth From Chapter 17. Autumn Floods From Chapter 18. Perfect Happiness From Chapter 20. The Mountain Tree From Chapter 22. Knowledge Wandered North (Translated by Burton Watson) -- oSIMA QIAN (ca. 145-ca. 85 B.C.E.) Letter in Reply to Ren An (Translated by Stephen Owen) Historical Records The Biography of Bo Yi and Shu Qi (Translated by Stephen Owen) From The Biographies of Qu Yuan and Master Jia (Translated by Burton Watson) -- oSPEECH, WRITING, AND POETRY Confucius, From Analects (Translated by Simon Leys) oFrom Classic of Poetry ["The Great Preface"] (Translated by Stephen Owen) oFrom Zhuangzi (Translated by Stephen Owen) oHan Feizi, The Difficulties of Persuasion (Translated by Burton Watson).