Author: Jonathan S. Burgess File Type: pdf Achilles deathby an arrow shot through the vulnerable heel of the otherwise invincible mythic herowas as well known in antiquity as the rest of the history of the Trojan War. However, this important event was not described directly in either of the great Homeric epics, the Iliad or the Odyssey. Noted classics scholar Jonathan S. Burgess traces the story of Achilles as represented in other ancient sources in order to offer a deeper understanding of the death and afterlife of the celebrated Greek warrior. Through close readings of additional literary sources and analysis of ancient artwork, such as vase paintings, Burgess uncovers rich accounts of Achilles death as well as alternative versions of his afterlife. Taking a neoanalytical approach, Burgess is able to trace the influence of these parallel cultural sources on Homers composition of the Iliad. With his keen, original analysis of hitherto untapped literary, iconographical, and archaeological sources, Burgess adds greatly to our understanding of this archetypal mythic hero. **

Author: Steven Levy File Type: pdf If youve ever made a secure purchase with your credit card over the Internet, then you have seen cryptography, or crypto, in action. From Stephen Levythe author who made hackers a household wordcomes this account of a revolution that is already affecting every citizen in the twenty-first century. Crypto tells the inside story of how a group of crypto rebelsnerds and visionaries turned freedom fightersteamed up with corporate interests to beat Big Brother and ensure our privacy on the Internet. Levys history of one of the most controversial and important topics of the digital age reads like the best futuristic fiction.Amazon.com ReviewIf the National Security Agency (NSA) had wanted to make sure that strong encryption would reach the masses, it couldnt have done much better than to tell the cranky geniuses of the world not to do it. Author Steven Levy, deservedly famous for his enlightening Hackers, tells the story of the cypherpunks, their foes, and their allies in Crypto How the Code Rebels Beat the Government. From the determined research of Whitfield Diffie and Marty Hellman, in the face of the NSAs decades-old security lock, to the commercial worlds turn-of-the-century embrace of encrypted e-commerce, Levy finds drama and intellectual challenge everywhere he looks. Although he writes, Behind every great cryptographer, it seems, there is a driving pathology, his respect for the mathematicians and programmers who spearheaded public key encryption as the solution to Information Age privacy invasion shines throughout. Even the governmental bad guys are presented more as hapless control fetishists who lack the prescience to see the inevitability of strong encryption as more than a conspiracy of evil.Each cryptological advance that was made outside the confines of the NSAs Fort Meade complex was met with increasing legislative and judicial resistance. Levys storytelling acumen tugs the reader along through mathematical and legal hassles that would stop most narratives in their tracks--his words make even the depressingly silly Clipper chip fiasco vibrant. Hardcore privacy nerds will value Crypto as a review of 30 years of wrangling those readers with less familiarity with the subject will find it a terrific and well-documented launching pad for further research. From notables like Phil Zimmerman to obscure but important figures like James Ellis, Crypto dishes the dirt on folks who know how to keep a secret. --Rob LightnerFrom Publishers WeeklyThe author of the 1994 sleeper Hackers reveals how a group of men developed methods for encrypting digital transmissions for use in the private sector. As the digital age was dawning in the late 1970s, a major stumbling block to delivering information and conducting transactions via high-speed networks was the lack of security from outside parties who might wish to intercept the data (even though the National Security Agency had acres of computers dedicated to protecting government secrets and even more designed to decode other countries messages). Widely available systems only began to emerge after a range of free thinkers, including such crypto legends as Whit Diffie and Marty Hellman, began to devote their considerable mind power to the issue. After a slow start, Levys story steadily builds momentum as the crypto pioneers do battle with the NSA, look for ways to commercialize their discoveries and fight for the federal governments approval of the strongest encryption methods. The chief technology writer for Newsweek, Levy locates the heart of the matter in the struggle to balance the need for the most effective encryption possible with the governments need to decode messages that might endanger national securityAa struggle in which privacy, so far, has prevailed. Agent, Dominick Abel . (Jan. 8) Forecast Levys reputation grows with each book, and publicity that links this title to his bestselling Hackers will ensure strong sales. The title is backed by a six-city author tour and national radio satellite tour. The major promo campaign online, where Levy is minor royalty, may be most effective, but the books biggest boost will come from the planned excerpt in Newsweek. 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Author: James S. Cutsinger File Type: pdf A new anthology of the work of Frithjof Schuon that includes philosophical writings along with a selection of his poems, artworks, and unpublished pieces from his personal papers. Frithjof Schuon (19071998), the leading figure in the perennialist school of comparative religious thought, remains one of the most provocative voices on religion. Bridging the divide between seeker and scholar, Schuon challenges the prevailing notion that religion should be studied with agnostic neutrality. He speaks to those who are looking for greater interfaith understanding and a deeper penetration to the esoteric heart of specific traditions, while turning the tables on an increasingly noisy chorus of skeptics. In Splendor of the True, James S. Cutsinger selects essential writings that reflect the full range of Schuons thought on religion and tradition, metaphysics and epistemology, human nature and destiny, sacred art and symbolism, and spirituality and contemplative method. In addition to Schuons essays, the book includes a number of poems, artworks, and previously unpublished materials drawn from his letters, personal memoirs, and private texts for disciples. An introductory chapter provides a careful examination of Schuon as perennial philosopher, Sufi shaykh, and teacher of gnosis. Professor Cutsingers reader provides a comprehensive introduction to the teaching of Frithjof Schuon, one of the most wide-ranging and lastingly influential religious thinkers of the past century. Of particular interest is the close attention to essays revealing Schuons extraordinary sensitivity to aesthetic, devotional, and other key aspects of practical spiritual realization. His illuminating observations in these widely shared areas of religious experience are communicated with remarkable clarity and cogency, clearly drawing on his own lifelong activity as both artist and spiritual guide. James Winston Morris, translator of Ostad Elahis Knowing the Spirit The vision of the universal metaphysician, shaykh, and poet Frithjof Schuon is finally accessible to the English-speaking reader in this outstanding collection of his writings. The foremost thinker of the perennialist school, Schuon insisted on the unity of God, arguing that this divine Absolute reveals itself perfectly in the orthodox form of each of the worlds great religions. His uncompromising rejection of relativism has made him a cult figure for some and a pariah for others, including many in the academic study of religion. Splendor of the True offers a thoroughgoing rehabilitation of this primordial twentieth-century thinker by a courageous scholar, our generations leading Schuon expert. James Cutsinger draws on decades of communion with his subjects many dimensions in order to reveal their essence. Carefully selected across a wide range of topics, insightfully translated from the French and German, and elegantly curated, Schuons writings now make their case with unprecedented clarity. Cutsinger is sensitive to Schuons ongoing role as lightning-rod with judicious balance, he shows why this has been the case why it may well be unfair and how Schuons philosophy was born out of the gnosis of lifelong, deep spiritual practice, marrying heart and intellect. Cutsinger is able to interpret Frithjof Schuon to skeptics as well as to seekersunafraid, like Schuon himself, to be provocative in the service of the True. Kimberley C. Patton, Harvard Divinity School**

Author: Simone Weil File Type: pdf A work first published in English in 1951, Waiting on God forms the best possible introduction to the work of Simone Weil, for it brings us into directcontact with this amazing personality, at once so pure, so ardent, so utterly sincere, yet normally so reserved that only her closest friends guessed the secrets of her inner life.The first part of the book concerns her letters written to the Reverend Father Perrin, O.P., who befriended her at Marseilles and, the only priest she knew, became her intimate friend. The second part of the book concerns essays and reflections on such subjects as education, human affliction and the love of God, prayer, and forms of the implicit love of God. **