Bacon’s Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients
Bacon’s celebrated essays offer crisp, worldly-wise reflections on the great subjects of life—truth, death, ambition, friendship, love, studies, fortune, and the conduct of affairs—in prose of remarkable density and polish. Each essay packs shrewd observation and memorable aphorism into a few pages, distilling the practical wisdom of a brilliant statesman and philosopher. Paired here with his Wisdom of the Ancients, they reveal a mind as sharp about human nature as it was about the new science he championed. Endlessly quotable and richly rewarding, Bacon’s Essays are a cornerstone of English prose and a treasury of hard-earned insight into how to think, act, and live well.
Listen to Bacon’s Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients Audiobook Free
Listen to Bacon’s Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon free online. The full audiobook (3 hr 17 min, 32 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
Bacon’s Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients (1884) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preface | 10:24 | |
| 2 | Cassandra, Or Divination | 3:21 | |
| 3 | Typhon, Or A Rebel | 5:44 | |
| 4 | The Cyclops, Or The Ministers Of Terror | 3:13 | |
| 5 | Narcissus, Or Self-Love | 3:22 | |
| 6 | The River Styx, Or Leagues | 4:00 | |
| 7 | Pan, Or Nature | 18:59 | |
| 8 | Perseus, Or War | 8:28 | |
| 9 | Endymion, Or a Favorite | 2:36 | |
| 10 | The Sister Of The Giants, Or Fame | 1:42 | |
| 11 | Acteon And Pentheus, Or A Curious Man | 3:26 | |
| 12 | Orpheus, Or Philosophy | 8:05 | |
| 13 | Cœlum, Or Beginnings | 5:20 | |
| 14 | Proteus, Or Matter | 5:01 | |
| 15 | Memnon, Or A Youth Too Forward | 2:25 | |
| 16 | Tythonus, Or Satiety | 2:30 | |
| 17 | Juno’s Suitor, Or Baseness | 2:19 | |
| 18 | Cupid, Or An Atom | 9:18 | |
| 19 | Diomed, Or Zeal | 6:55 | |
| 20 | Dædalus, Or Mechanical Skill | 6:08 | |
| 21 | Ericthonius, Or Imposture | 2:25 | |
| 22 | Deucalion, Or Restitution | 2:03 | |
| 23 | Nemesis, Or The Vicissitude Of Things | 4:45 | |
| 24 | Achelous, Or Battle | 2:33 | |
| 25 | Dionysus, Or Bacchus | 10:26 | |
| 26 | Atalanta And Hippomenes, Or Gain | 3:09 | |
| 27 | Prometheus, Or The State Of Man | 28:08 | |
| 28 | Icarus And Scylla And Charybdis, Or The Middle Way | 4:28 | |
| 29 | Sphinx, Or Science | 9:06 | |
| 30 | Proserpine, Or Spirit | 8:53 | |
| 31 | Metis, Or Counsel | 2:40 | |
| 32 | The Sirens, Or Pleasures | 5:21 |
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