Reading Ovid

by Peter Jones

Published 8 March 2007
Presents a selection of stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses, the most famous and influential collection of Greek and Roman myths in the world. It includes well-known stories like those of Daedalus and Icarus, Pygmalion, Narcissus and King Midas. The book is designed for those who have completed an introductory course in Latin and aims to help such users to enjoy the story-telling, character-drawing and language of one of the world's most delightful and influential poets. The text is accompanied by full vocabulary and grammar notes, with assistance based on two widely used beginners' courses, Reading Latin and Wheelock's Latin. Essays at the end of each passage point up important detail and show how the logic of each story unfolds, while study sections offer questions for discussion and ways of thinking further about the passage. No other intermediate text is so carefully designed to make reading Ovid a pleasure.

Reading Virgil

by Peter Jones

Published 24 March 2011
Virgil's Aeneid, an epic which tells the story of Aeneas' flight from burning Troy, his adventures on the high seas and eventual arrival in Italy, thereby founding the Roman race, is one of the most influential works of Roman literature. This edition of the first two books is designed for those who have completed an introductory course in Latin and aims to help such users to enjoy one of Latin literature's greatest masterpieces. The text is accompanied by a running vocabulary, learning vocabulary, full grammatical help and notes. Essays at the end of each passage are designed to encourage appreciation of Virgil's plot-handling, poetic art and rich understanding of humanity, and there are references throughout to the most helpful modern thinking about the poem and its significance. No other intermediate text is so carefully designed to provide all the help that is needed to make reading Virgil a pleasure.