Introductory note on Socrates and Plato (Volume 2, Harvard Classics)

Socrates unceasingly strove for beauty, truth, and perfection. Sentenced to death on a false charge, he refused to escape from the death cell, even when opportunity was offered. (Volume 2, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Plutarch (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)

Athenians gave Aristides the title of "The Just." Later they wanted to banish him. One voter wanted Aristides banished merely because he was weary of hearing him called "The Just." (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on The Bhagavad-Gita (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)

Two armies of ancient India were about to engage in a momentous battle. Arjuna, heroic leader of the Pandu hosts, foreseeing great slaughter, hesitates. He implores the divine Vishnu to intervene. The conversation of the warrior and the god is a gem of Hindu literature. (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Edmund Spenser (Wikipedia)

To commemorate his marriage to the beautiful Elizabeth, Spenser wrote one of the most enchanting nuptial hymns. (Volume 40, Harvard Classics)

Edmund Spenser married Elizabeth Boyle, June 11, 1594.

Introductory note on Sophocles (Volume 8, Harvard Classics)

King Œdipus of Thebes as a babe was abandoned on Mount Cithæron to die. Years after he was thought dead he returns to Thebes and unknowingly slays his father, marries his mother – and thus fulfills the word of the oracle. (Volume 8, Harvard Classics)