"When Stanley Lombardo performs Homer, we feel what Bob Dylan calls the 'inner substance' of great folk songs, their 'pulse and vibration and rumbling force.' We grasp the power words had before books, movies, and iPods®. Homer taught the ancient Greeks about life, death, love, and war. Now in Lombardo's words and voice, Homer teaches us, too," says Tom Palaima, Raymond F. Dickson Centennial Professor of Classics at UT Texas at Austin.

Continuing the great oral tradition of ancient Greece, contemporary versions of ancient epics are now available in audiobook format. Parmenides Audio(TM) today releases the first set of Homer's unabridged ILIAD and ODYSSEY. These will be followed in the fall by The ESSENTIAL HOMER and The ESSENTAL ILIAD which contain key chapters and passages. Both the unabridged and the Essential versions are translated and narrated by Stanley Lombardo, University of Kansas Classics Professor, with synopses read by Academy Award®-winning actress Susan Sarandon.

In ancient Greece, history and culture were preserved through storytelling. Despite the invention of the alphabet, the tradition of oral histories and performances continued for hundreds of years. Central to those festivals of history and culture were the epics of Homer performed by "song- stitchers," the equivalent of today's "must-watch" television.

Greeks heard stories of war, betrayal, and injustice and learned life lessons through the songs of Homer. Lombardo continues this great oral tradition with a modern sensibility. His celebrated translations of the Iliad and Odyssey (Hackett Publishing Company; 1997 and 2000), which he has performed to packed auditoriums and critical acclaim for years, are written in contemporary English, making the classic tales of the Trojan War and Odysseus accessible to readers of all ages. "I knew that I wanted to maintain the song- like nature of the Iliad and Odyssey," Lombardo says. "I wanted to be able to perform it like ancient storytellers did at the Greek festivals."

"When he finishes a performance, people flock to the back of the room looking for CDs," reports Eliza Tutellier, Vice President of Operations for Parmenides Publishing. "We immediately realized there was a large market for the audiobook format."

Lombardo, a native of New Orleans, earned a B.A. from Loyola University, an M.A. from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas (1976). In 1976 he joined the faculty at the University of Kansas, where he served as department chair for fifteen years and now teaches Greek and Latin at all levels, as well as general courses on Greek literature and culture.

Parmenides Publishing, founded in 2000, is a Las Vegas-based publisher of philosophy and classics. It is committed to making philosophy and classics accessible to a wider audience, as well as to serving the academic community. The company is named after the ancient philosopher Parmenides of Elea, a philosophical pioneer, who is often regarded as the father of logic.