Arguably the most entertaining philosophical work of all time. Written around 380 BC, it is a fictional recollection of an evening soiree in Ancient Greece. At said soiree, Athenian elites of the time - including Socrates - each give a speech about the god of love.

A collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroines of Greek and Roman mythology in address to their heroic lovers who have in some way mistreated, neglected, or abandoned them.

Rich in drama and humor, these dialogues include the controversial Ion, a debate on poetic inspiration; Laches, in which Socrates seeks to define bravery; and Euthydemus, which considers the relationship between philosophy and politics.

The Republic is a Socratic dialogue, authored by Plato around 375 BC, concerning justice, the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man. It is Plato's best-known work, and one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically.

A collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns and one epigram. The hymns praise deities of the Greek pantheon and retell mythological stories, often involving a deity's birth, their acceptance among the gods on Mount Olympus, or the establishment of their cult.

The earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.

A Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his magnum opus. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar in a mythico-historical framework comprising over 250 myths, 15 books, and 11,995 lines.

Considered the founding work of history in Western literature. Although not a fully impartial record, it remains one of the West's most important sources regarding these affairs. Moreover, it established the genre and study of history in the Western world.

An indispensable look at Emerson's influential life philosophy through his writing and his own personal philosophy, Ralph Waldo Emerson unburdened his young country of Europe's traditional sense of history and showed Americans how to be creators of their own circumstances.

A transcendentalist classic on social responsibility and a manifesto that inspired modern protest movements.

A semi-autobiographical novel about a teenage girl torn between Earth and the dark inner kingdom of her Schizophrenia called Yr. A timeless and unforgettable portrayal of mental illness. Our founder's favorite book.

A young woman attempts to escape the snobbery and repression of her life in Edwardian England through a passionate affair with an Italian man from a lower-class background.

E.M. Forster's beloved novel of forbidden love, culture clash, and the confines of Edwardian society.

A 1886 narrative about the complexities of science and the duplicity of human nature.

Forerunner of existentialist thought. A novella published in the journal Epoch in 1864. It is a first-person narrative in the form of a "confession." Absolutely insane.

A short story originally published in 1848, early in the writer's career. Like many of Dostoevsky's stories, "White Nights" is told in the first person by a lonely, young man living in Saint Petersburg.

An extended essay first published in September 1929. The work is based on two lectures Woolf delivered about the underinvestment of society in women's education and a lack of women's voices telling their own stories.

One of Kafka's best-known works, The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself transformed into a huge insect.

The story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader.

A protagonist known only as "K." arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern it from a castle supposedly owned by Graf Westwest.

A terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.

The story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.

An archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul.

Widely considered one of the greatest fictions written in English. A gothic novel that follows the antihero, Heathcliff, as he gets revenge on the people who kept him away from his obsession, Cathy Earnshaw.

A French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759.

A group of environmental activists plan and execute sabotages against industrial development in the American Southwest.