
audiobook
by W. E. (William Ewart) Gladstone
This volume invites listeners to step into the cradle of Western political thought, using Homer’s epics as a lens for examining the earliest ideas of governance. The author argues that the ancient poet offers more than mythic storytelling; his verses capture the formative patterns of authority, law, and civic identity that echo through later traditions. By treating the Homeric world as a laboratory of political imagination, the study encourages a fresh assessment of ancient models without imposing modern national biases.
The work proceeds through a series of focused essays: an analysis of the communal structures described in the Agorè, a comparative look at Trojan and Greek societies, a survey of the Mediterranean geography that frames the narratives, and a close reading of Homer’s poetic techniques. Along the way, the author engages with contemporary scholarship on ethnicity, religion, and myth, positioning Homer as an independent center of scholarly inquiry. Listeners will come away with a richer appreciation of how the poet’s verses illuminate the roots of political and cultural life.
Full title
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 3 of 3 I. Agorè: Polities of the Homeric Age. II. Ilios: Trojans and Greeks Compared. III. Thalassa: The Outer Geography. IV. Aoidos: Some Points of the Poetry of Homer.
Language
en
Duration
~18 hours (1083K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2016-09-07
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1809–1898
A towering figure in 19th-century British politics, this four-time prime minister brought fierce energy and moral seriousness to public life. He was also a prolific writer and speaker whose career shaped debates on reform, Ireland, empire, and the role of government.
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