Homer (Author)
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E. V. Rieu (Translator)
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D. C. H. Rieu (Translator)
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Peter Jones (Introducer)
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.
The epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats - shipwrecks, battles, monsters and the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon - Odysseus must use his wit and native cunning if he is to reach his homeland safely and overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him.
Dante (Author)
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Robin Kirkpatrick (Translator)
Discover Dante's original Inferno in this modern and acclaimed Penguin translation.
Describing Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters many doomed souls before he is finally ready to meet the ultimate evil in the heart of Hell: Satan himself.
This new edition of Inferno includes explanatory notes and illustrations showing the different layers of hell. Robin Kirkpatrick's masterful translation is also available in a bilingual Penguin edition, with the original Italian on facing pages, and in a complete edition of The Divine Comedy with an introduction and other editorial materials.
Dante Alighieri was born in 1265. He studied at the university of Bologna, married at the age of twenty and had four children. His first major work was La Vita Nuova (1292), a tribute to Beatrice Portinari, the great love of his life who had died two years earlier. In 1302, Dante's political activism resulted in his being exiled from Florence. After years of wandering, he settled in Ravenna and in about 1307 began writing The Divine Comedy. Dante died in 1321.
Robin Kirkpatrick is a poet and widely-published Dante scholar. He has taught courses on Dante's Divine Comedy in Hong Kong, Dublin and Cambridge, where is Fellow of Robinson College and Professor of Italian and English Literatures.
'The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism...likely to be the best modern version of Dante' - Bernard O'Donoghue
Jatinder Verma (Author)
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Claudia Mayer (Author)
,
Amber Lone (Author)
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Paul Bhattacharjee (Read by)
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Sasha Behar (Read by)
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Raad Rawi (Read by)
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Paul Bazely (Read by)
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Nitin Ganatra (Read by)
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Manjinder Virk (Read by)
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Lloyd Thomas (Read by)
,
Adeel Akhtar (Read by)
,
Kulvinder Ghir (Read by)
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Full Cast (Read by)
Full-cast dramatised retellings of the two most important epic Sanskrit poems of ancient India
The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are literary classics, the longest epic poems in world literature, as significant as the Bible, the Qu'ran and the works of Shakespeare. Estimated to have been composed over a period of time around the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, they encompass some of the greatest stories ever told - tales of the deeds of gods and men, and the eternal battle between good and evil. Included here are full-cast BBC Radio adaptations of both, directed by award-winning producer Claire Grove and with original music by acclaimed composer Niraj Chag.
Viewed from the perspective of one of the central characters, Yudhishtra, The Mahabharata recounts the struggles of a divided family as they fight over their inheritance and destroy the very thing they seek most - a peaceful and harmonious land. Exiled for 13 years, Yudhishtra knows his cousin will never give up the throne. War is inevitable - but which side will Krishna be on? Paul Battacharjee, Nitin Ganatra and Raad Rawi star in this intimate, accessible reimagining by Jatinder Verma and Claudia Mayer.
One of the world's most popular love stories, The Ramayana centres around the separation and reunion of Rama and Sita. When Sita first glimpses the beautiful Prince Rama, she determines to marry him or die. She wins his heart - but his stepmother's plot sees him banished from his position as heir to the throne. Exiled, he retreats to the forest, where Sita is abducted by a ruthless warlord. Rama enlists the help of an army of monkeys to get her back - but has she betrayed him with the evil ruler of Lanka? Manjinder Virk stars as Sita, with Lloyd Thomas as Rama in Amber Lone's distinctive modern version of the ancient legend.
Also included is the 5-part series Let's Talk About Rama and Sita, in which award-winning poet and broadcaster Daljit Nagra takes stories from The Ramayana into his community and finds the ancient tales alive with contemporary Asian dilemmas. Are Rama and Sita useful role models for men and women nowadays? How is the duo's relationship relevant to marriage today? And what lessons can the Indian epic teach us about loyalty and betrayal?
Produced and directed by Claire Grove
Music composed by Niraj Chag
The Mahabharata
Yudhishtra - Paul Bhattacharjee
Krishna - Nitln Ganatra
Bhishma - Raad Rawi
Dhirtrashtra - Sam Dale
Duryodhana - Zubln Varla
Arjuna - Paul Bazely
Bhima - Danny Sapani
Draupadi - Sasha Behar
Gandhari - Sudha Buchar
Kunti - Indira Joshi
Shakuni - Jude Akuwudike
Uttara - Saikat Ahamed
Dramatised by Jatinder Verma and Claudia Mayer
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4-18 February 2007
The Ramayana
Sita - Manjinder Virk
Rama - Lloyd Thomas
Lakshman - Adeel Aktar
Ravan - Paul Bhattacharjee
Surparnaka - Sasha Behar
Dasarath/Sugreeva - Jude Akuwudike
Sister/Mandodari - Deeivya Meir
Bharat - Saikat Ahamed
Hanuman - Kulvinder Ghir
Kush - Omar Kent
Lava - Neil Reynolds
Dramatised by Amber Lone
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 October-7 November 2010
Let's Talk About Rama and Sita
Presented by Daljit Nagra
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24-28 February 2014
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Virgil (Author)
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David West (Translator)
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David West (Introducer)
Virgil's Aeneid, inspired by Homer and the inspiration for Dante and Milton, is an immortal poem that sits at the heart of Western life and culture. Virgil took as his hero Aeneas, legendary survivor of the fall of Troy and father of the Roman race. In telling a story of dispossession and defeat, love and war, he portrayed human life in all its nobility and suffering, in its physicality and its mystery.
Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Author)
*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE.* 'One of the greatest writers of our time' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Perfect Nine is a glorious epic about the founding of Kenya's Gikuyu people and the ideals of beauty, courage and unity.
Gikuyu and Mumbi settled on the peaceful and bounteous foot of Mount Kenya after fleeing war and hunger. When ninety-nine suitors arrive on their land, seeking to marry their famously beautiful daughters, called The Perfect Nine, the parents ask their daughters to choose for themselves, but to choose wisely.
First the young women must embark on a treacherous quest with the suitors, to find a magical cure for their youngest sister, Warigia, who cannot walk. As they journey up the mountain, the number of suitors diminishes and the sisters put their sharp minds and bold hearts to the test, conquering fear, doubt, hunger and many menacing ogres, as they attempt to return home. But it is perhaps Warigia's unexpected adventure that will be most challenging of all.
Blending folklore, mythology and allegory, Ngugi wa Thiong'o chronicles the adventures of Gikuyu and Mumbi, and how their brave daughters became the matriarchs of the Gikuyu clans, in stunning verse, with all the epic elements of danger, humour and suspense.
'A tremendous writer... it's hard to doubt the power of the written word when you hear the story of Ngugi wa Thiong'o' Guardian
Homer (Author)
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E. V. Rieu (Translator)
,
Peter Jones (Translator)
,
D. C. H. Rieu (Translator)
,
Peter Jones (Edited by)
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Peter Jones (Introducer)
,
Peter Jones (Notes by)
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Peter Jones (Translator)
A stunning Penguin clothbound edition of Homer's great epic, in E. V. Rieu's classic translation.
The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilization - an epic poem without rival in the literature of the world, and the cornerstone of Western culture. The story centres on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilleus' killing of Hektor and determine the fate of Troy. But Homer's theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity, he presents a universal and tragic view of the world, of human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death, set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background..
Seven Greek cities claim the honour of being the birthplace of Homer (c. 8th-7th century BC), the poet to whom the composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey was attributed. The Iliad is the oldest surviving work of Western literature, but the identity - or even the existence - of Homer himself is a complete mystery, with no reliable biographical information having survived.
E. V. Rieu initiated Penguin Classics with Allen Lane and his famous translation of The Odyssey was the first book published in the series in 1947. The Iliad followed in 1950.
Nancy Sandars (Translator)
Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh's grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a landmark literary exploration of man's search for immortality.
Dante (Author)
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Robin Kirkpatrick (Translator)
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.
Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, the poet must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest level of all. For it is only by encountering Satan, in the heart of Hell, that he can truly understand the tragedy of sin.
