Much aligned by early Christian historiographers and to a lesser extent ignored by modern thinkers of women’s liberation in her own unvarnished way, Xanthippe, the so-called shrewish wife of Socrates struggled single-handed to feed the family, though neglected by the Socrates who chose to be at the Agora or various symposia in search of beauty and truth!Socrates, falsely accused and condemned to die for corrupting the youths of Athens and accepts the verdict disdainfully , she viol...

Justin Caryll, after being raised by a vengeful guardian, travels to England to destroy his birth father for the crime of dishonouring and abandoning his late mother. When we first meet Hortensia, she responds to a cruel trick by beating a villain with his own sword. It's awesome. Justin's mixed feelings on what to do about his absent father are still the main focus of the novel, but it's nice to see him falling for a woman that's worth his time. The story has plenty of excitement, includi...

“The most lavish and picturesque special effects are what come out of the mouths of the people onstage…Mr. Kushner makes words sing, swoon and somersault as no other living American playwright does.” –Ben Brantley, New York Times“Rapture comes naturally to playwright Tony Kushner, and in The Illusion, he plants a big swoony kiss on the lips of the theater.” –Nelson Pressley, Washington Post“[The Illusion] certainly has the stamp of Kushne...

Cleopatra Selene was born to a world of plenty, where all of her wishes were granted. She was a princess of an ancient and powerful family of Egypt. Her own mother was a pharaoh, what else could a girl want more than that. Her whole life was planned out and sung to her by her own mother who cherished her in her loving embrace. Suddenly it was all ripped away, leaving Cleopatra Selene and her siblings stunned and frightened. Their mother was killed by the venomous Octavian; their father had...

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can best re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. The tragedies collected here were originally available as single volumes. This new collection retains the informative introductions and explanatory notes of th...

A bold new translation of Euripides’ shockingly modern classic work, from Forward Prize-winning poet, Robin Robertson, with a new introduction by bestselling and award-winning writer, critic and translator Daniel Mendelsohn.Thebes has been rocked by the arrival of Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy. Drawn by the god’s power, the women of the city have rushed to worship him on the mountain, drinking and dancing with frenzied abandon.Pentheus, the king of Thebes, is furiou...

From The Persians"Defeat is impossibleDefeat is unthinkableWe have always been the favorites of fate.Fortune has cupped usIn her golden palms.It has only been a matterOf choosing our desire. Which fruitTo pick from the nodding tree."This chilling passage is from Ellen McLaughlin’s new adaptation of The Persians by Aeschylus, the earliest surviving play in Western literature, an elegy for a fallen civi-lizatio...

This volume contains five works by Henry Louis Mencken: “Pistols for Two,” “Heliogabalus,” “The Artist: A Drama Without Words,” “Suggestions to Our Visitors,” and “George Bernard Shaw: His Plays.”  None of these books are included in the volume “Six by Mencken and One by Nietzsche”, which was also compiled by Ronald J. Leach, and is also available on this ebook store. “Pistols for Two” can best be described as a duel of words between two highly opinionated and cantankerous f...

When Creon refuses to bury the body of Antigone's unruly brother, Antigone's anger quickly turns to defiance. Creon condemns her to a torturous death: she's to be buried alive.Acclaimed playwright Roy Williams takes Sophocles' play and, by placing it into a contemporary setting, brings this classic tale vividly to life.A timeless story about loyalty and truth, about how we make meaning out of life and death, and what in the end really does matter.Roy Williams's adap...

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little PriceAt the whim of Dionysos, a son is torn to pieces by his own mother during the famous women-only Bacchanalian ritual. The story of revenge by the half-man half-god on Pentheus, King of Thebes, and all his people.This version of Euripides' Bacchae is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish and Frederic Raphael.

If we help, we invite trouble. If we don't, we bring shame.Fifty women board a boat in North Africa. They flee across the Mediterranean, leaving everything behind. They are escaping forced marriage in their home and seeking asylum in Greece.Written 2,500 years ago, The Suppliant Women is one of the world's oldest plays. It's about the plight of refugees, about moral and human rights, civil war, democracy and ultimately the triumph of love. It tells a story...

THE ECCLESIAZUSAE (translated variously as 'women in power' or 'women in council'), group of Athenian women led by Praxagora sneak into the Athenian assembly disguised as men and vote the women of the Republic into power.  In this hilarious farce, the women enforce an odd brand of equality through a Socialistic government; men are allowed to sleep with every woman, but they must sleep with an ugly one before a beautiful one. Aristophanes (c.446 BC - c.386 BC) was a comic pla...