Favorite Ancient Book?

Question

What is your favorite book (or document) that was written over three hundred years ago.

Note: Don't even bother saying the bible

Answer 1

Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.d. 697

Answer 2

The Odyssey

Canterbury Tales


First Harry Potter Book

Answer 3

The Collected Works of Shakespeare -- If I have to choose just one: Julius Caesar. Although my favorite passage is Propero's speech from The Tempest" (Act IV, Scene I).
". . .Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. . . "

Answer 4

I was a Classical Civilization major, so here is my top ten (highly recommended reading!):

1. "The Republic", by Plato
This is Plato's examination of what "justice" is and what makes a "just" society. He examines the possibilities of various governments, social arrangements, laws, and policies. Along the way, he writes a book so influential that it is second only to the Bible.

2. "The Oddysey", by Homer (or, the collection of poets we call Homer).
Achingly beautiful in its original language. Kind of stuffy and droning in English. A book that sums up the human experience, with characters that are astonishingly modern considering the poem was composed as early as 750 BCE. Its themes and imagery will be relevant and resonate forever. Every human -- and every conscious living thing -- is Odysseus / Ulysses. His journey home, against the forces of man and nature that oppose him, is the journey of our lives. The moral lessons of respect, friendship, family duties, are threaded through the tale in a very elegant and effective way.

3. "Antigone", by Sophocles.
An Athenian play that is also told with beautiful language that would make Shakespeare jealous. In its original stage-play form, it was part Broadway Musical, part abstract Kabuki-style performance, and part poetry recitation. Its content tackles every conflict we face as humans: Young versus old, the "system" versus the individual, what is moral versus what is legal, parent versus child, brother versus brother, sister versus sister, young lovers versus disapproving parents, authority versus truth -- the list goes on and on. Sophocles puts together an incredible story of a woman (a heroic and defiant WOMAN in ancient Europe -- beat that for being ahead-of-its-time!) who defies a king to give her brother the burial rites she believes he requires and deserves as part of her religion. However, these rites are banned and her brother is branded a traitor against his homeland. She stands up for him and suffers the consequences -- but not before the king suffers the consequences of denying what is just and right.

Answer 5

Tales of 1001 Nights

Answer 6

The Iliad

Answer 7

Of course "Don Quijote de la MAncha" (in english, the man of la mancha) by Miguel de Cervantes.

Answer 8

Beowulf
best epic poem ever

Answer 9

The book of "Amun-Ra"

Answer 10

holy grail