Classical Reference Library

Ancient Greece

Explore the history, geography, culture, and political life of the ancient Greek world, from the Bronze Age and the rise of the city-states to Classical Athens, Sparta, and the age of Alexander.

Ancient Philosophy

Explore the ideas and arguments of the ancient world’s most influential thinkers, from questions of ethics and human nature to knowledge, happiness, society, and our place in the natural world.

Enlightenment Philosophy

Explore the thinkers and ideas of the Enlightenment, from reason, freedom, and human nature to questions of knowledge, morality, society, and political authority.

Greek Comedy

Explore the plays, characters, humor, satire, and social criticism of ancient Greek comedy, from Aristophanes and his contemporaries to the political and cultural world their works reflect.

Greek Mythology

Explore resources on Greek mythology, including the gods and heroes, major myths and legendary traditions, family relationships, mythological background, and materials designed to help students understand the stories, beliefs, and cultural traditions that shaped ancient Greek literature.

Greek Tragedy

Explore the plays, characters, ideas, and enduring questions of ancient Greek tragedy, from Sophocles and Aeschylus to the dramatic traditions they helped shape.

History & Culture

Explore the historical settings, societies, institutions, and cultural traditions that shaped the ancient world, from political life and warfare to religion, education, daily life, and the development of classical civilization.

History of Science

Explore the development of scientific thought and the changing ways human beings have sought to understand nature, from ancient philosophy and medieval cosmology to the emergence of modern experimental science.

Political Philosophy

Explore enduring questions about political authority, justice, liberty, rights, equality, and the obligations of citizens, from early modern theories of sovereignty and social contract to later critiques of the state and economic power.

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of the great playwrights of ancient Greek tragedy, known for dramas that explore law, conscience, leadership, family duty, fate, pride, and moral responsibility. This collection brings together teaching guides, student resources, discussion questions, background materials, and other tools for studying Sophocles’ plays, including Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Ajax, Electra, Philoctetes, and Women of Trachis.

The Iliad

Explore resources devoted to Homer’s Iliad, including teacher and student guides, character and theme studies, discussion questions, quotations, background materials, quizzes, worksheets, and other resources designed to support reading, teaching, and deeper understanding of the poem.

The Odyssey

Resources for reading, studying, and teaching Homer’s Odyssey, including student and teacher guides, vocabulary, characters, themes, and classroom materials.

Teaching the Classics

Resources about teaching, studying, and sustaining the classical tradition.

Homer & the Epic Tradition

Resources for exploring, reading, and teaching Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the epic tradition.

The Trojan War

Background and reference materials about Troy and the Trojan War.

Lectures

Quizzes

Quizzes & Assessments

Student Guides

Teacher Guides

Vocabulary & Glossaries

Worksheets & Activities

Quotation Collections

Character Guides

Reference Guide

Articles/Essays

Videos

Curated Resources

Aeschylus

Aristophanes

Georges Cuvier

Denis Diderot

Euripides

Homer

Franz Kafka

Immanuel Kant

Lucretius

Niccolò Machiavelli

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Sophocles

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe