Audio Options for Ancients--can you add to my list?

[Mostlyamom]

There's an audio learner in our house, and I've been looking for a list of books or other material available for ancients. Since I couldn't find a list on these boards, I've pulled together the things I know about and thought I'd ask for other ideas.

Cat of Bubastes, Jim Weiss, reader
History of Ancient Egypt, Teaching Company
Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, Teaching Company

Children's Homer, Padriac Colum
Tales of the Greek Heroes, Roger Lancelyn Green
The Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff
Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, http://www.alcazaraudioworks.com sells audio version (audio is not at many libraries)
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age, Teaching Company
Age of Pericles, Teaching Company
Ancient Greek Civilization, Teaching Company
Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome, Teaching Company
Famous Greeks, Teaching Company
Greek Tragedy, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Herodotus: The Father of History, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Aeneid of Virgil, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Odyssey of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Iliad of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature, Teaching Company
Greece and Rome: An Integrated History of the Ancient Mediterranean, Teaching Company
Peloponnesian War, Teaching Company

Beric the Briton: Roman Invasion by GA Henty
The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth Speare
The Day Christ Died, Jim Bishop
Famous Romans, Teaching Company
Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliffe
Miranda the Great, Eleanor Estes
Outcast, Rosemary Sutcliff
The Silver Branch, Rosemary Sutcliff
The Thieves of Ostia, Roman Mystery series, Caroline Lawrence
The Time Traveling Cat and the Roman Eagle, Julia Jarman
Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal (Punic Wars) by Henty
Emperors of Rome, Teaching Company
Famous Romans, Teaching Company
Rome and the Barbarians, Teaching Company
History of Ancient Rome, Teaching Company

Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia, Teaching Company
From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History, Teaching Company
Great Battles of the Ancient World, Teaching Company
Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, Teaching Company
Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations, Teaching Company



Pat

[Jenny in Atl]

This is a wonderful list! Looks like you have most everything. I will be interested to see what others add. The only thing I would add is
The Odyssey read by Ian McKellen (Robert Fagles translation). It was wonderful.

[Nan in Mass]

but Lindsey Davis historical mysteries are available on audio. They've inspired my children to study the ancients. You probably want to preread one, though, because they are modern adult mystery novels, with tons of violence and quite a bit of other adult stuff as well. They aren't at all my family's normal style of reading, but for some reason, we really like them. One of my children likes the Amelia Peabody mysteries, too. Those contain lots of references to the ancient Egyptian stuff he loves. Ditto the adultness, though. I've found that a little modern fiction added to the ancients list has really helped my children to resign themselves to the hard work involved in in studying Latin and great books. It makes the whole process more enjoyable.

We've listened to The Aeneid (probably misspelled that) and Gilgamesh on audio, also. Be aware that those are very much like those Lindsey Davis mysteries that I warned you about LOL, and don't have little children in the room when you listen. My son has listened to The Aeneid several times because he enjoyed it. My children also have The Voyage of the Argo (?? Argonauts??). They listen to that every summer while we're sailing. And they grew up on D'Aulier's Greek Myths, which I read onto tape when they were little. We like listening to TC tapes in the car. Power to the People (or of the People?) is a government one which has lectures on The Republic and things like that.
-Nan

[llawrence]

There's an audio learner in our house, and I've been looking for a list of books or other material available for ancients. Since I couldn't find a list on these boards, I've pulled together the things I know about and thought I'd ask for other ideas.

Cat of Bubastes, Jim Weiss, reader
History of Ancient Egypt, Teaching Company
Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, Teaching Company

Children's Homer, Padriac Colum
Tales of the Greek Heroes, Roger Lancelyn Green
The Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff
Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, http://www.alcazaraudioworks.com sells audio version (audio is not at many libraries)
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age, Teaching Company
Age of Pericles, Teaching Company
Ancient Greek Civilization, Teaching Company
Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome, Teaching Company
Famous Greeks, Teaching Company
Greek Tragedy, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Herodotus: The Father of History, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Aeneid of Virgil, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Odyssey of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Iliad of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature, Teaching Company
Greece and Rome: An Integrated History of the Ancient Mediterranean, Teaching Company
Peloponnesian War, Teaching Company

Beric the Briton: Roman Invasion by GA Henty
The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth Speare
The Day Christ Died, Jim Bishop
Famous Romans, Teaching Company
Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliffe
Miranda the Great, Eleanor Estes
Outcast, Rosemary Sutcliff
The Silver Branch, Rosemary Sutcliff
The Thieves of Ostia, Roman Mystery series, Caroline Lawrence
The Time Traveling Cat and the Roman Eagle, Julia Jarman
Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal (Punic Wars) by Henty
Emperors of Rome, Teaching Company
Famous Romans, Teaching Company
Rome and the Barbarians, Teaching Company
History of Ancient Rome, Teaching Company

Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia, Teaching Company
From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History, Teaching Company
Great Battles of the Ancient World, Teaching Company
Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, Teaching Company
Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations, Teaching Company



Pat

The Modern Scholar (TMS) has many audiobooks similar to those of the Teaching Company and on the same subjects. They are usually not as good, but there are some exceptions, especially Cline's series on Archeology of The Illiad and Meineck's terrific lectures on Greek Tragedy. They are far better than Vandiver. The good thing about TMS is that they are carried by the Netlibrary service, which is now available through many public libraries.

As for fiction that educates about ancient Rome, there is really one one choice, the great SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts. SPQR books are the perfect blend of history, murder mystery, political intrigue and sharp wit. What I like most about the stories that his main character, Decius Caecelius Metellus shows us how Roman really thought and behaved. There is no attempt to superimpose modern beliefs and attitudes on him. We learn how Romans viewed the world, although its clear that he is not exactly a typical Roman. The stories also take you through the Roman world, so you see a lot more than just Rome, too. The bottom line is that SPQR is just great fun and SPQR is far far better than the relatively dull and preachy Saylor and Davis books.

As for ancient Greece, Mary Renault is the best.

[Anne/Ankara]

Another interesting one, reviewed in the New York Times Book Review yesterday, is Simon Armitage's retelling of Homer's Odyssey. Apparently if might work well for audio learners, since this book is cast as dialogue, like a radio production, of oral poetry. Just an idea!

http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Dramatic-Retelling-Homers-Epic/dp/0393330818/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209381506&sr=8-1

[teachmom3]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. Although none of my kids are primarily auditory learners, I'm helping a friend homeschool her kids, and one of them is. We'll be starting the ancients in the fall.

Thanks again!

[Valerie(TX)]

Pat,

You mentioned that this person is an audio learner. I don't know if you had thought of having him/her read along with the books where appropriate, but I have found that it is very important not to allow a student to primarily only *listen* to books. They gain so much by both seeing and hearing the complex vocab and proper names.

There, I've kept it to two cents' worth. :)

[In The Great White North]

I remember reading her in high school and being surprised they let the bookin the library! That's definitely for older kids who can handle step by step descriptions of the birds and the bees (and pretty graphic descriptions of sacrifices) in their novels.

[Nan in Mass]

The SPQR series must be wild if Davis is preachy by comparison. I'll have to check it out. My non-reading engineer father blasted through the Davis books. Maybe he'd like these, too.

[Julie in MN]

Odyssey of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company
Iliad of Homer, Elizabeth Vandiver, Teaching Company


These are "about" the Iliad & Odyssey, but you can also just listen to the I&O on audio. There are a couple of different translations that I've seen on audio, so I'd try to match the translation you chose in print.

Julie

[Beth in SW WA]

The bottom line is that SPQR is just great fun and SPQR is far far better than the relatively dull and preachy Saylor and Davis books.


Oh bummer. I just bought Roma by Saylor from Costco. Is it a bust? Historically inaccurate?

Anyway, Welcome to the hive Llawrence! How old are your homeschoolers?

Thanks for the tips on The Modern Scholar. I'll check it out...:)