The procession that crosses Chaucer's pages is as full of life and as richly textured as a medieval tapestry. The Knight, the Miller, the Friar, the Squire, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and others who make up the cast of characters -- including Chaucer himself -- are real people, with human emotions and weaknesses. When it is remembered that Chaucer wrote in English at a time when Latin was the standard literary language across western Europe, the magnitude of his achievement is even more remarkable. But Chaucer's genius needs no historical introduction; it bursts forth from every page of...

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

In these influential dialogues--Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium--Plato employs the dialectic method to examine the trial and death of his mentor, Socrates, and address the eternal questions of human existence.

THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

- A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information

- A chronology of the author's life and work

- A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

- An outline of key themes and plot points to...