Bybliotech’s splendid anthologies
Bybliotech recently published many anthologies of classical writers in a digital format that can be bought very cheaply. The many books by Josephus and Nietzsche which I bought are available on amazon for only $1.99 for each of the two anthologies.
Virtually everyone realizes that there are huge benefits that can be gained by reading classical writings, especially in literature, psychology, and history. Classical books are still read today and are considered classical because a large part of society realizes that they are educational and interesting. We are very fortunate to have this series where we can purchase these books, which would have cost us much money a short time ago, for an inexpensive price. At $1.99, it pays to buy the books though the internet rather than getting them from the library. It cost more to travel to and from the library and what is borrowed from a library must be returned. In contrast, we are able to keep these books and look at them whenever we choose.
Nietzsche’s books are significant because, among much more, he apparently did not believe in the existence of God. His books analyze the world from this perspective, including how people should act. A famous rabbi wrote that we can learn much from atheists; too many people sit back passively waiting for God to act. Atheists teach us, the rabbi said, that we should not rely on God; we should act.
The Josephus anthology contains the writings of the Jewish general Josephus who was captured by the Romans when they destroyed Israel and its temple in 70 CE. Josephus joined his captors and returned to Rome with them. He was friendly with the Roman rulers. He discovered that many Romans knew nothing about Jewish history and religion and decided to write books about these matters. He wrote a history of the Jewish people and a history of the war against Rome. He also wrote other books such as the book “Against Apion” in which he defended Judaism against the mockery of Apion. These books are included in this inexpensive collection.
The Josephus collection, as I wrote is excellent, however, and this is no fault of the collection, people need to read Josephus’s writings critically. Because one of his goals was to show that Judaism and Jews are not as bad as some Romans thought, some of “facts’ are not true or are overstatements. This is not only true of Josephus but of all writers, for all people have prejudices. Another problem is that Josephus was so respected that people inserted ideas into his writings which were not written by him. For example, there are paragraphs about Jesus that Josephus never wrote and there is a section “On Hades” that another person wrote but people claimed Josephus wrote it.
I recommend the series. People can learn much from it easily and cheaply.
