The Great Books List

2023 Reading List

Beginning January 1, 2023, I will be a transitioning from Phase I to Phase II of this reading project. Phase II will consist of a 10 year quest to read through The Great Books. As part of this project, I will start each year reading straight through a different version of the Bible during January & February. I will then proceed with the Great Books, taking breaks during July and December.

January – February 2023

The Bible + The Apocrypha

This year, I’ll be reading through the Bible + Apocrypha, American Literary Version, Bibliotheca Edition. I’ll read straight through from Genesis to Revelation. Want to join me?

March – June 2023
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
Epic Of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Civilizations Of Ancient Iraq
Civilizations of Ancient Iraq
Gilgamesh V5
Gilgamesh: A New Translation
Writings from Ancient Egypt
Writings from Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Art
Egyptian Art
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
Akhenaten and the Religion of Light
Akhenaten and the Religion of Light
The Rig Veda
The Rig Veda
Enuma Elish
Enuma Elish
The Iliad
The Iliad
Theogony & Works and Days
Theogony & Works and Days
The Odyssey
The Odyssey

Full List

# Book Author Version Translation # of Pages
1 The Epic of Gilgamesh Penguin Classics Andrew George 220
2 The Epic of Gilgamesh Atria Stephen Mitchell 199
3 Writings from Ancient Egypt Penguin Classics Toby Wilkinson 311
4 The Rig Veda Penguin Classics Wendy Doniger 297
5 Enuma Elish Timothy J. Stephany 107
6 The Iliad Homer Ecco Caroline Alexander 541
7 Theogony & Works and Days Hesiod Oxford World’s Classics M. L. West 61
8 The Odyssey Homer Norton Emily Wilson 525
9 Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments Sappho Penguin Classics Aaron Poochigian 93
10 If No, Winter: Fragments of Sappho Sappho Vintage Anne Carson 355
11 Aesop’s Fables Aesop Barnes & Nobel Illustrated 451
12 The Oresteia (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides) Aeschylus Everyman’s Library George Thomson 127
13 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus Penguin Classics Philip Vellacott 152
14 Theban Plays (Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Colonus) Sophocles Everyman’s Library 304
15 The Histories Herodotus The Landmark Herodotus Andrea Purvis 722
16 Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Women of the Assembly Aristophanes Liveright Aaron Poochigian 376
17 Medea Euripides Penguin Classics Philip Vellacott 199
18 The Bacchae Euripides Penguin Classics John Davie 261
19 History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides The Landmark Thucydides Richard Crawley 554
20 Apology Plato Pocket Book Jewett 40
21 Laches Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato Benjamin Jowett 22
22 Symposium Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato Michael Joyce 49
23 Philebus Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato R. Hackforth 65
24 Crito Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato Hugh Tredennick 13
25 Phaedo Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato Hugh Tredennick 59
26 Theatetus Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato F. M. Cornford 75
27 Meno Plato The Collected Dialogues of Plato W. K. C. Guthrie 32
28 The Republic Plato Basic Books Allan Bloom 528
29 Rhetoric Aristotle University of Chicago Press Robert Bartlett 274
30 Physics Aristotle Rutgers University Press Joe Sachs 241
31 Politics Aristotle University of Chicago Press Carnes Lord 238
32 Nichomachean Ethics Aristotle University of Chicago Press Robert Bartlett & Susan Collins 302
33 Poetics Aristotle Penguin Classics Malcolm Heath 48
34 Analects Confucius Everyman’s Library Arthur Waley 240
35 Elements Euclid Green Lion Press 481
36 The Art of Happiness Epicurus Penguin Classics George Strodach 240