The World's Oldest Short Stories: Tales from Ancient Egypt, India, Greece, and Rome

Written by Herodotus, Theocritus, Apuleius and Petronius

Narrated by Cathy Dobson

Many stories have stood the test of time, but this selection have entranced audiences for thousands of years and remain as fresh today as they were when first told. A fascinating collection which gives vivid insights into lives in ancient times and the issues that occupied the people of the day.

Includes tales of ancient Egypt, written to discourage militant women from reviving the old matriarchal system; enchanting stories of the Buddha that were later adapted by Aesop; old humorous stories of the Brahmans; stories from the Greeks in Asia Minor, including the wonderful sketch "The Ladies of Syracuse", which gives a fresh, charming, and lively picture of life in Alexandria; plus the epic Cupid and Psyche by the excellent Latin writer Apuleius.

"The Tale of Khafri" (Egyptian, 4800 BC)
"The Tale of Ahuri" (Egyptian, 1300 BC)
"Stories of the Buddha" (Indian, 560 BC)
"The Monkey and the Queen’s Jewels"
"The Tale of Princess Sambula"
"The Ass in the Lion’s Skin"
"The Talkative Tortoise"
"The Judgment of the Buddha"
"The Pancha-Tantra" (Indian, 300 BC)
"The Brahman of Vain Dreams"
"The Hitopadesa" (Indian, 600 AD)
"The Rajah’s Son and the Merchant’s Wife"
"The Faithful Servant"
"Herodotus" (485-425 BC)
"The Treasure of King Rhampsinitus"
"Polycrates and his Ring"
"Theocritus" (300 BC)
"The Ladies of Syracuse"
"Petronius" (1st Century AD)
"The Widow of Ephesus"
"Apuleius" (125 AD)
"Cupid and Psyche"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Door Consulting
• Release date: May 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781467680493

Herodotus

Often referred to as the “father of history,” Herodotus was born in what is now modern-day Turkey in 484 BCE. He travelled the world in order to collect eyewitness accounts of the Greco-Persian Wars and conduct first-hand research, and his work is amongst the earliest Greek prose to survive in its entirety. Although Herodotus’s method of collecting information was unique for the time, he, like many Greek scholars of the period, is criticized for manipulating his reporting of events and witnesses accounts in order to improve the narrative tone. The Histories is Herodotus’s only known work, and is still referred to by modern historians as providing an important perspective on life in ancient times. Recently, Herodotus’s written account of the Battle of Thermopylae was adapted into the film 300 by Zack Snyder. Herodotus is said to have died in 625 BCE at the age of 60, although this date cannot be confirmed.