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Sophocles SOPHOCLES (C.496 B.C.–406 B.C.). ANTIGONE. Antigone, an orphan princess, defies a king's mandate and risks her life to do her duty to her brother. What is this duty which he...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/first-problem-play-popular.html
Charles Darwin CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (1809–1882). THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. South of Patagonia is Tierra del Fuego - "The Land of Fire." The natives of that primitive country are tod...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/visits-land-of-fire.html
Thomas à Kempis THOMAS À KEMPIS. (B. 1379 OR 1380, D. 1471). THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. A pure heart, says Thomas à Kempis, comprehends the very depths of Heaven and Hell. And it is b...
Dante Alighieri DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321). PURGATORY, THE DIVINE COMEDY. Dante fell madly in love with Beatrice at first sight; but it is doubted if he ever spoke to her in this wor...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/dante-and-beatrice-in-paradise.html
Herodotus HERODOTUS. AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPT: BEING THE SECOND BOOK OF HIS HISTORIES CALLED EUTERPE A king who entombed his daughter in a golden cow - the worship of the bull and the cat - sca...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/in-cradle-of-civilization.html
Robert Burns ROBERT BURNS (1759–1796). TO A MOUSE, POEMS AND SONGS. A humble Scotchman, plowing his fields, turns over the nest of a frightened mouse. He apologizes with the deepest sin...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/a-field-mouse-made-famous.html
Homer HOMER (FL. 850 B.C.). BOOK XII, THE ODYSSEY. When his ship approached the siren's rock, Odysseus stuffed the ears of his crew with wax and had himself bound to the mast that he mig...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/odysseus-silenced-sirens.html
Blaise Pascal BLAISE PASCAL (1623–1662). THE ART OF PERSUASION, MINOR WORKS. (Pascal publishes "Provincial Letters," Jan. 23, 1656.) Pascal, the keen-minded philosopher and mathemati...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/pascal-knew-men-and-triangles.html
Pierre Corneille PIERRE CORNEILLE (1606–1684). POLYEUCTE The classic plays of French literature are produced to-day precisely as when they were given for the resplendent kings they we...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/a-kings-pleasure-now-yours.html
Hans Christian Anderson HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. (1805–1875) THE NIGHTINGALE, FROM TALES. The Emperor of China lies on his deathbed grieving for the song of his favorite bird. Hark, t...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/the-nightingales-healing-melody.html
John Keats JOHN KEATS, THE EVE OF ST. AGNES (St. Agnes' Eve, Jan. 20.) At midnight on the eve of St. Agnes there were certain solemn ceremonies which all virgins must perform to have "...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/ah-it-is-st-agnes-eve.html
Edgar Allen Poe EDGAR ALLEN POE, THE POETIC PRINCIPLE Regarded in Europe as one of America's greatest writers, Poe originated the detective story, perfected the mystery short story, and p...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/poe-on-poetry.html
Aristophanes ARISTOPHANES (C.448 B.C.–C.388 B.C.). THE FROGS. "Shall I crack any of those old jokes, master, at which the audience never fails to laugh?" Like an up-to-date vaudeville...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/origin-of-yale-brekekekex-ko-ax.html
Benjamin Franklin BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, AUTOBIOGRAPHY Good middle-class people, Franklin boasts, were his ancestors. Some have attributed his genius to his being the youngest son of the you...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/franklins-family-tree.html
Aesop ÆSOP. (SIXTH CENTURY B.C.) FABLES. An old woman once found a wine jar, but it was empty. She sniffed at the mouth of the jar and said: "What memories cling 'round the instruments o...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/the-old-woman-and-wine-jar.html
Edward Fitzgerald EDWARD FITZGERALD (1809–1883), "RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM" Omar Khayyam laughed and enjoyed the good things of life. His "Rubaiyat," the most popular philosophic poem,...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/the-moving-finger-writes.html
FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT, ADOPTED JAN. 14, 1639 The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is "the first written constitution as a permanent limitation on governmental power, known in his...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/the-first-step-toward-independence.html
Jean Jacques Rousseau JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712–1778). ON THE INEQUALITY AMONG MANKIND. Rousseau taught that men were not created free and equal. To substantiate his daring beliefs he...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/rousseau-seeks-sanctuary-in-england.html
Edmund Burke EDMUND BURKE (1729–1797). ON TASTE. A Turkish sultan, relates Burke, when shown a picture of the beheaded John the Baptist, praised many things, but pointed out one gruesom...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/what-is-good-taste.html
Alexander Hamilton ALEXANDER HAMILTON, THE FEDERALIST, NO. 1 AND 2 Hamilton organized the Treasury Department. He penned most of the Federalist papers, which were greatly influential in ...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/hamilton-father-of-wall-street.html
Euripedes EURIPIDES (480 OR 485–406 B.C.). THE BACCHÆ. King Pantheus of Thebes contended against Dionysus, the God, for the adoration of the Theban women. The god was winning by bewitc...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/where-love-lies-waiting.html
Sir Francis Drake PHILIP NICHOLS, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE REVIVED With only fifty-two men, Sir Francis Drake conceives the idea of attacking his archenemy, Spain, at her most vulnerable point t...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/a-treasure-hunt-in-nombre-de-dios.html
The Book of Job in Hebrew THE BOOK OF JOB God was pleased with the piety of Job, but Satan accredited the piety to Job's prosperity and happiness. So a trial was made. See how each succeed...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/trying-patience-of-job.html
One Thousand and One Nights Book STORIES FROM THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (INTRODUCTION) The Sultan had a habit of beheading each dawn his beautiful bride of the night before, until he en...
https://www.harvardclassics365.com/2014/01/if-he-yawned-she-lost-her-head.html