In one of the seminal works of the Irish Renaissance, J. M. Synge tells the tale of Christy Mahon, who believes he has murdered his father during a fight and flees to a remote rural village. A local publican gives him refuge, and Christy impresses the villagers with his tale of bloody violence and wins the heart of the innkeeper's daughter. The play caused Irish National Theatre audiences to riot when it premiered in 1907...

When Synge met William Butler Yeats in Paris, he was persuaded to live in the Aran Islands to find inspiration in the lives of the Irish people and the severe environment of the islands. His time there provided the material for two seminal works of the Irish Renaissance, Riders to the Sea and Playboy of the Western World, which identify him as one of the greatest playwrights of his generation. His time and observations on the islands, where he talked and understood Irish, learned to row a currach, and played music, is recorded in The Aran Islands...

This title is from the Hayes Barton Press "Originals" series, a collection of classic fiction and nonfiction works from world literature published in the VitalBook format. Look for new titles soon, as we expand to include more works from both Western and Eastern cultures. Available exclusively from the VitalSource Store...

This title is from the Hayes Barton Press "Originals" series, a collection of classic fiction and nonfiction works from world literature published in the VitalBook format. Look for new titles soon, as we expand to include more works from both Western and Eastern cultures. Available exclusively from the VitalSource Store...

This title is from the Hayes Barton Press "Originals" series, a collection of classic fiction and nonfiction works from world literature published in the VitalBook format. Look for new titles soon, as we expand to include more works from both Western and Eastern cultures. Available exclusively from the VitalSource Store...

Performed in 1903, In the Shadow of the Glen was one of John Millington Synge's first works. It is a peasant comedy in which a husband pretends to be dead to test his wife's faithfulness...

Pepys is perhaps the most famous diarist in the English language. His close observations and attention to detail provide a comprehensive view of daily life in seventeenth-century London and include descriptions of the Great Fire of London and the Plague of 1665 (“The plague, blessed be God! Is decreased 400; making the whole this week but 1300 and odd; for which the Lorde be praised!” - 15 November). His diary is considered a critical document of life during the Restoration...

In his search for the meaning of temperance, Socrates engages Charmides in a dialogue. Socrates refutes Charmides' definitions, but does not arrive at his own conclusion. Plato's writings have been a major influence and inspiration n the development of Western philosophy...

Plato relates Socrates's speeches to the Athenian court defending himself against charges that he introduced new gods and corrupted the youth of Athens. In the end, he accepts the court's sentence of death, forgives his accusers and judges, and comforts his friends...

This three-act comedy by John Millington Synge focuses on a blind married couple, Martin and Mary, who are healed by a beggar in rural Ireland. ..

The Golden Asse, written by Lucius Apuleius, influenced some of Shakespeare's works, notably A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lucius, the main character, is turned into an ass and, as a result, attracts the attention of many powerful women...

In Aristophanes' The Frogs, the great Greek tragedians have all died and Athens is desperate for their advice after an arduous battle at sea. Dionysus, the patron of tragedy, travels to the underworld to retrieve Euripides, his personal favorite. When he arrives, he asked to settle a dispute between Euripides and Aeschylus over who should sit on the underworld's throne of tragedy. The two debate each other's strengths and weaknesses as playwrights, and in the end, Dionysus chooses Aeschylus...

In The Clouds, by Aristophanes, Strepsiades is an unscrupulous farmer who has been financially ruined by his spendthrift wife and son. He sends his son to the Thinkery, a school run by Socrates, to learn how to defraud the farmer's creditors. Aristophanes takes much poetic license in his portrait of Socrates and uses parody and satire to great comic effect. ..

The play is set during the Peloponnesian War, after the military leaders of both sides have been killed. Peace has been banished into a cave and the people are suffering a food shortage. The farmers undertake a journey to heaven to petition the gods and successfully persuade Peace to leave her cave and return with them to Greece...

Germania, published in 98 A.D., is Tacitus’s work on the various tribes located north of the Rhine and Danube rivers. He describes the inhabitants' physical appearance, dress, gods, food and drink, geography, armies, and customs...

Crito visits Socrates in prison and tries to convince him to escape from prison and death, and go into exile. Socrates counters that such an act would be unjust and contrary to his belief in the requirements of the laws of Athens. Ultimately, Crito has no rebuttal, and Socrates fulfills his death sentence by drinking the poisonous hemlock...