Journey through the classics on “Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf.” This massive collection, designed to provide the elements of a liberal education, was compiled by distinguished Harvard University president Charles Eliot in the early 1900s. Packed with the essential works of the Western classical tradition, the Harvard Classics collection remains one of the most comprehensive and well-researched anthologies of all time—a must-have library for students and lovers of the classics.
In the second volume of the Harvard Classics you’ll find works of Greek philosophers Plato and Epictetus, and of the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius.
Explore three of Plato’s dialogues: Apology, Phaedo, and Crito (translated by Benjamin Jowett), which epitomize the Socratic philosophical method of question-and-answer style as they detail the last days of Socrates. Find The Golden Sayings of Epictetus (translated by Hastings Crossley), transcribed by the disciples of the great Stoic. Additionally, this volume includes the Meditations (translated by George Long) of Marcus Aurelius, in which the great Roman Emperor hands down day-to-day principles on which he ruled for the welfare of the people.
About the Author
Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transformed the provincial college into the pre-eminent American research university. Eliot served until 1909, having the longest term as president in the university's history.
