Ancient Heroes Bundle

"No man who has read The Aeneid with full perception remains an adolescent... In making his one legend symbolical of the destiny of Rome, Virgil has, willy-nilly, symbolized the destiny of man." -C.S. Lewis

"[O]ur ancestors found in the Aeneid a purpose, a pathos, and a profundity that moved them. It was Virgil—not in opposition to but alongside the Bible—who taught Christian Europe the shape of history, the cost of empire, the primacy of duty, the transience of fame, the inevitability of death, the pain of letting go, and the burden of adapting new strategies." -From Louis Markos's Introduction

As Troy burns and King Priam dies in his own blood, a star descends to herald the birth of a new empire from the ashes. But to lay their new city's foundations, Aeneas and his people must cross the seas, evade harpies, resist the allurements of Queen Dido, and even pass through Hades itself before reaching Latium and winning the hand of a princess. Virgil celebrates the greatness of Rome and its destiny to rule unflinchingly and bring peace to the world.

This Canon Classic is a beautiful verse translation by Christopher Pearse Cranch that makes accessible a thrilling epic of fortitude, adventure, duty, and destiny. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book’s materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.

This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.

"I have always from my earliest youth had an awe and love of Homer which even now makes the words falter on my lips, for he seems to be the great captain and teacher of the whole of that noble tragic company..." -Plato

"All that man has thought or said about the glory and horror of the battlefield, the internal struggle of the soldier, and the inescapable nature of our mortality is contained within the pages of Homer’s epic. It is here that western literature, here that the big questions begin to be asked, here that beauty meets truth." -From Markos's Introduction

In the middle of the great Trojan War, the great warrior Achilles is slighted and leaves the battle to sit by his ships until his honor is restored, no matter how high the casualties mount. In his great poem, Homer shows the brutality of war, the brevity of life, the emptiness of honor, and the unspeakable grief that unites even the most hardened of foes. No pagan classic expresses greater beauty or depth, perhaps because it captures so poignantly a world hungry for the Gospel.

This Canon Classic, translated into verse by the talented poet William Cullen Bryant, presents the moving sadness of the epic as clearly as it did for the Greeks three thousand years ago. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book’s materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.

This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.

"In The Odyssey one may liken Homer to the setting sun, of which the grandeur remains without the integrity." -Longinus, On the Sublime

"If the Iliad is the first tragedy ever written, then the Odyssey is the first comedy. Whereas the first gives us man the warrior, seeking glory on the battlefield, the second gives us man the husband and father, seeking domestic bliss with his family." ~From Dr. Markos's Introduction

After the sack of Troy, the hero Odysseus travels the high seas homeward bound and finds himself confronted by every imaginable danger the angry god Poseidon can throw at him. Whether it's escaping the one-eyed Cyclops, avoiding getting turned into a pig by an enchantress, or resisting the deadly songs of Sirens, Odysseus remains determined to reach his homeland and save his faithful wife and young son from suitors who are destroying his livelihood and legacy.

This Canon Classic is an ancestral fairy tale about a man who fights monsters and comes home to save his bride, translated into verse by the famous poet William Cullen Bryant. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book’s materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.

This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.