Theogony – Works and Days Theogony – Works and Days by Hesiod Synopsis: Hesiod’s Theogony traces the origins of the cosmos from primordial Chaos, charting the births, alliances, and fierce struggles among gods, Titans, and monsters that culminate in Zeus’s triumphant establishment of divine order. In Works and Days, the poet addresses his wayward brother […]
The Frogs The Frogs by Aristophanes Synopsis: The god Dionysus, despairing over the decline of great tragedy in Athens following recent losses among its master playwrights, disguises himself as Heracles and descends to the Underworld accompanied by his clever slave Xanthias. Their perilous journey involves crossing a lake ferried by Charon, enduring the relentless croaking […]
The Clouds The Clouds by Aristophanes Synopsis: In debt-ridden Athens, Strepsiades despairs over his extravagant son’s lavish spending and seeks a clever escape from his creditors. He enrolls in the unconventional “Thinkery” run by the eccentric philosopher Socrates, hoping to master the art of persuasive sophistry and wrong-footed logic. There, he encounters the ethereal Chorus […]
The Trojan Women The Trojan Women by Euripides Synopsis: In the smoldering ruins of Troy, the conquered women—Queen Hecuba, her daughter Cassandra, Andromache widow of Hector, and the despised Helen—await their fate as slaves to the victorious Greeks. As the gods look on indifferently and Poseidon laments the city’s fall, the captive women voice their […]
Antigone Antigone by Sophocles Synopsis: In the aftermath of civil war in Thebes, Creon decrees that the traitor Polynices must remain unburied, denying him honor in death. Defiant Antigone, sister to the fallen brothers, resolves to perform the sacred rites for Polynices, prioritizing divine law and family duty over the king’s edict. Her act of […]
Oedipus at Colonus Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles Synopsis: Years after his exile from Thebes, the blind and weary Oedipus arrives at the sacred grove of Colonus near Athens, guided faithfully by his devoted daughter Antigone. Believing this hallowed ground to be the prophesied site of his final rest, he seeks sanctuary and the protection […]
Oedipus Rex Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Synopsis: In ancient Thebes, a devastating plague ravages the city, prompting King Oedipus to vow to uncover and punish the murderer of the previous ruler, Laius, as foretold by the oracle. Determined to save his people, Oedipus launches a relentless investigation, consulting prophets and witnesses while proclaiming his own […]
The Eumenides The Eumenides by Aeschylus Synopsis: In Aeschylus’s concluding Greek tragedy The Eumenides, the third play in the Oresteia trilogy, the tormented Orestes flees to Athens seeking refuge from the relentless Furies who pursue him for matricide, appealing to Athena for judgment in a trial that pits ancient blood vengeance against emerging civic justice. […]
The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus Synopsis: In Aeschylus’s powerful Greek tragedy The Libation Bearers, the second play in the Oresteia trilogy, the exiled Orestes returns to Argos years after his father Agamemnon’s murder, guided by Apollo’s oracle to avenge the crime by slaying his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. […]
Agamemnon Agamemnon by Aeschylus Synopsis: In Aeschylus’s foundational Greek tragedy Agamemnon, the first play of the Oresteia trilogy, a watchman spots the long-awaited beacon signaling Troy’s fall, heralding King Agamemnon’s victorious return after ten years of war sparked by Paris’s abduction of Helen. As the Chorus of elders recounts Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia […]
The Odyssey The Odyssey by Homer Synopsis: In Homer’s enduring ancient epic The Odyssey, the resourceful king Odysseus endures a perilous ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, facing mythical trials like the Cyclops, Sirens, and other monsters, and divine wrath from Poseidon, while relying on his cunning and the aid of gods […]
The Iliad The Iliad by Homer Synopsis: In Homer’s ancient epic The Iliad, the poet invokes the Muse to sing of the wrath of Achilles during the final weeks of the Trojan War, sparked when King Agamemnon seizes Achilles’ prize spoil of war, prompting the greatest Greek warrior to withdraw from battle and plunge the […]
