The liberal arts have anchored western civilization for millenia. Part of that anchoring effect has been through the shared context of the classical texts themselves. Over the last century, this context has dwindled to almost nothing.
Why does this context matter? While few people living will share it with you, we live in a world and with a set of institutions and traditions created, nurtured and shaped by men and women who were deeply steeped in it.
In addition, the classics have maintained their staying power because they speak to fundamental truths and foundational human experiences. The grief of Achilles, the downfall of Athens, the hopeless, desperate love of Ovid all echo down the ages.
This curriculum is my attempt at collecting an accessible set of modern, translated works that would allow someone to develop that context. It is not meant to be comprehensive or academic, and includes a variety of media formats, both to keep the experience enjoyable, and because most of the source works were not meant to be read silently in the first place.
Homer: the foundation on which everything else rests. I recommend Fagles translation, and in particular the audiobook versions. They are performed by world class actors, and the abridgement is a feature as there are several sections of both the Iliad and the Odyssey that add little to the story.
Greek History: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch. The very idea of chronicling what happened starts with the Greeks. The Greek Histories edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm provides an excellent introduction, weaving large chunks of each history into a continuous narrative, with modern sections to bridge gaps as necessary. If you want to dive deeper, the Landmark series (edited by Robert B. Strassler) provides excellent editions of the texts, with footnotes and appendices to provide more context than you will ever need.