Books like 'Plutarch's Lives: Volume II'
Readers who enjoyed Plutarch's Lives: Volume II by Plutarch also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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I Am Rome by Santiago Posteguillo
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe runaway international bestseller--part sweeping historical epic, part legal thriller--following the trial that shaped the life of the young Julius Caesar and gave root to an immortal legacy.Every legend has a beginning.Rome, 77 B.C... -
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBoth an exploration of character and a reflection on the meaning of history, Memoirs of Hadrian has received international acclaim since its first publication in France in 1951...Categorized as:
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A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLibrarian note: Alternate cover edition of: 9780976395096Set on the eve of World War II, A Mind at Peace captures the anxieties of a Turkish family facing the difficult reality entrenched in the early republic, founded on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923... -
Aeneid Book VI by Virgil
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA masterpiece from one of the greatest poets of the centuryIn a momentous publication, Seamus Heaney's translation of Book VI of the Aeneid, Virgil's epic poem composed sometime between 29 and 19 BC, follows the hero, Aeneas, on his descent into the underworld... -
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Metamorphoses: Volume I, Books I-VIII by Ovid
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Metamorphoses is a Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Comprising fifteen books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework.Book I – The Creation, the Ages of Mankind, the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha, Apollo and Daphne, Io, Phaëton... -
Tales from Ovid by Ovid
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhen Michael Hofmann and James Lasdun's ground-breaking anthology After Ovid (also Faber) was published in 1995, Hughes's three contributions to the collective effort were nominated by most critics as outstanding...Categorized as:
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Success by Lion Feuchtwanger
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn enthralling roman à clé depicting the rise of Nazi ideology in Germany. Martin Krüger, a museum director in Munich, has become quite unpopular and some people would like to be rid of him. Consequently, the lawsuit against him does not turn out to his favor. However, his friends keep fighting to prove his innocence. "The novel Success is more than a 'documentation of Bavaria... -
Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic by Sophus Helle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA poem for the ages, freshly and accessibly translated by an international rising star, bringing together scholarly precision and poetic grace “Sophus Helle’s new translation . . . [is] a thrilling, enchanting, desperate thing to read.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe “Looks to be the last word on this Babylonian masterpiece... -
The Death of Virgil by Hermann Broch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt is the reign of the Emperor Augustus, and Publius Vergilius Maro, the poet of the Aeneid and Caesar's enchanter, has been summoned to the palace, where he will shortly die...Categorized as:
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Here, The World Entire by Anwen Kya Hayward, Anwen Hayward
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter being accused of desecrating Athena's temple and subsequently cursed with monstrousness, Medusa lives alone on the outskirts of the world, secluding herself from everyone so as to keep both herself and the rest of the world safe. When Perseus comes to ask for her help, Medusa tries desperately to make him leave, but no matter what she does, Perseus stays...Categorized as:
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Manto: Selected Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings...Categorized as:
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The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 2 of 3 by Anonymous
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEvery night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin, executing her next morning...Categorized as:
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The Erotic Poems by Ovid
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis collection of Ovid’s poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity. In the Amores, Ovid addresses himself in a series of elegies to Corinna, his beautiful, elusive mistress...Categorized as:
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The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain, Amy Welborn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe colorful, passionate world of early Christianity comes to vivid life in this story of Basil of Antioch. Basil, a sensitive artisan, is purchased from slavery and commissioned to create a decorative casing for the Chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper...Categorized as:
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Euripides IV: Rhesus / The Suppliant Women / Orestes / Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsIn nine paperback volumes, the Grene and Lattimore editions offer the most comprehensive selection of the Greek tragedies available in English. Over the years these authoritative, critically acclaimed editions have been the preferred choice of over three million readers for personal libraries and individual study as well as for classroom use...Categorized as:
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The Erotic Poems by Ovid
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis collection of Ovid’s poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity. In the Amores, Ovid addresses himself in a series of elegies to Corinna, his beautiful, elusive mistress...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization classics literary-fiction myths roman-empire adult anthologies dark-academia -
Horace: Odes and Epodes by Michèle Lowrie
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis collection of recent articles provides convenient access to some of the best recent writing on Horace's Odes and Epodes. Formalist, structuralist, and historicizing approaches alike offer insight into this complex poet, who reinvented lyric at the transition from the Republic to the Augustan principate...Categorized as:
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The Splendor Before the Dark by Margaret George
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAscending to the throne was only the beginning... Now Margaret George, the author of The Confessions of Young Nero, weaves a web of politics and passion, as ancient Rome's most infamous emperor cements his place in history.With the beautiful and cunning Poppaea at his side, Nero Augustus commands the Roman empire, ushering in an unprecedented era of artistic and cultural splendor... -
Blood and Steel by Harry Sidebottom
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBlending heart-pounding action and historical accuracy, Harry Sidebottom’s bestselling Warrior of Rome series took readers from the shouts of the battlefield to the whisperings of the emperor’s inner circle. In this second book of his new Throne of the Caesars series, Sidebottom continues his retelling of one of the bloodiest periods of Roman history—the Year of the Six Emperors...Categorized as:
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The Wreckage of Agathon by John Gardner
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA wonderful exploration into the maturation process across the course of human life Laid to waste by drink, Agathon, a seer, is a shell of a man. He sits imprisoned with his apprentice, Peeker, for his presumed involvement in a rebellion against the Spartan tyrant Lykourgos...Categorized as:
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The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling and legendary author of Helen of Troy and Elizabeth I now turns her gaze on Emperor Nero, one of the most notorious and misunderstood figures in history.Built on the backs of those who fell before it, Julius Caesar's imperial dynasty is only as strong as the next person who seeks to control it...Categorized as:
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Poems of the Late T'ang by A.C. Graham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsClassical Chinese poetry reached its pinnacle during the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), and the poets of the late T'ang-a period of growing political turmoil and violence-are especially notable for combining strking formal inovation with raw emotional intensity. A. C... -
An Imaginary Life by David Malouf
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the first century AD, Publius Ovidius Naso, the most urbane and irreverent poet of imperial Rome, was banished to a remote village on the edge of the Black Sea. From these sparse facts, one of our most distinguished novelists has fashioned an audacious and supremely moving work of fiction...Categorized as:
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The Kingdom of the Wicked by Anthony Burgess
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBeginning with the crucifixion of Jesus and ending, seventy years later, with the destruction of Pompeii, the eminent novelist and critic limns a recreation of the beginnings of... -
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For the Winner by Emily Hauser
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsSome three thousand years ago, in a time before history, the warriors of Greece journeyed to the ends of the earth in the greatest expedition the world had ever seen. One woman fought alongside them.When the king of Pagasae left his infant daughter on the slopes of a mountain to die, he believed he would never see her again...Categorized as:
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Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius, Edward John Kenney
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe story of Cupid and Psyche is part of The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses, a Latin novel by Apuleius (second century A.D.). It is both a charming fairytale and an allegory of the search of the Soul for happiness and fulfillment...Categorized as:
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Prometheus Illbound (Le Prométhée mal enchaîné) by André Gide
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe book "Prometheus Illbound" is one of the most characteristic books of Andre Gide: a work of pure intelectual fantasy, where the subtle brain of the author has full play. It is the expression of the humorous side of a mind which must be ranked among the greatest of the world's literature. "The work of art is the exaggeration of an idea," says Gide in the epilogue of "Prometheus Illbound...Categorized as:
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Leucippe and Clitophon by Achilles Tatius
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAchilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon is the most bizarre and risque of the five "Greek novels" of idealized love between boy and girl that survive from the time of the Roman empire. Stretching the capacity of the genre to its limits, Achilles' narrative covers adultery, violence, disembowelment, pederasty, virginity-testing, and a conveniently happy ending...Categorized as:
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The Purple Shroud by Stella Duffy
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTheodora: Actress, Empress, Whore, Stella Duffy's chronicle of this amazing woman's early years, delighted readers with its exquisite blend of historical detail and vivid storytelling. Now, The Purple Shroud chronicles Theodora at the height of her power, bringing the ancient world alive in another unforgettable, epic saga... -
The Pot of Gold and Other Plays by Plautus
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne of the supreme comic writers of the Roman world, Plautus (c.254-184 BC) skilfully adapted classic Greek comic models to the manners and customs of his day...Categorized as:
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Doomed Love (Great Loves, #1) by Virgil
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLove can be hopelessFrom the fall of Troy to the deadly Harpies, Aeneas’ epic voyage is filled with tragedy, destruction and omens of danger. As he recounts his adventures to Dido, who gives him sanctuary, they fall in love. But the Gods intervene and Aeneas realizes their relationship cannot last...Categorized as:
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In the Shape of a Boar by Lawrence Norfolk
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLawrence Norfolk's In the Shape of a Boar is a juggernaut of a novel, an epic tour de force of love and betrayal, ancient myths and modern horrors...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization classics literary-fiction myths 21st-century book fiction historical -
Ithaca Forever: Penelope Speaks by Luigi Malerba, Douglas Grant Heise
Rated: 3.68 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter twenty years, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, but instead of receiving the homecoming he had hoped for finds himself caught in an intense battle of wills with his faithful and long-suffering wife Penelope. When Penelope recognizes him under the guise of a beggar, she becomes furious with him for not trusting her enough to include her in his plans for ridding the palace of the Suitors... -
Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth-Century Rome by Hella S. Haasse
Rated: 3.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt is 414 A.D. and the once-powerful Roman Empire is in its death throes—split between East and West, menaced by barbarian hordes almost literally at its gates. The Emperor Honorious cowers in the marsh-bound city of Ravenna, where he has moved the government...Categorized as:
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The Rat by Günter Grass
Rated: 3.47 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA female rat engages the narrator in a series of dialogues—convincingly demonstrating to him that the rats will inherit a devastated earth. Dreams alternate with reality in this story within a story within a story. Translated by Ralph Manheim... -
The King, the Witch and the Priest: A Twelfth-Century Javanese Tale by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Centuries ago, there was, in the eastern part of the island of Java, a kingdom by the name of Daha..." So begins The King, the Witch and the Priest, a fable with contemporary allure that is based on the story of Calon Arang, a Javanese legend dating from the twelfth century... -
The Love-Artist by Jane Alison
Rated: 3.35 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWhy was Ovid, the most popular poet of his day, banished from Rome? Why do only two lines survive of his play Medea, reputedly his most passionate, most accomplished work? Between the known details of Ovid’s life and these enigmas, Jane Alison has created a haunting drama of psychological manipulation, and an ingenious meditation on love, art and immortality...Categorized as:
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The Fall of Icarus by Ovid
Rated: 3.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings‘Drawn on by his eagerness for the open sky, he left his guide and soared upwards . . .’ Enduring myths of vengeful gods and tragically flawed mortals from ancient Rome’s great poet. Ovid tells the tales of Theseus and the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, the Calydonian Boar-Hunt, and many other famous myths.(Taken from Books VIII and IX of Mary M. Innes’s translation of Metamorphoses...
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