“After so many years even the fire of passion dies, and with it what was believed the light of the truth. Who of us is able to say now whether Hector or Achilles was right, Agamemnon or Priam, when they fought over the beauty of a woman who is now dust and ashes?”

Italian semiotician and novelist of the late 20th century, Eco was a scholar of medieval literature and a cultural critic whose work bridged academia and fiction. He’s best known for *The Name of the Rose*, a historical mystery that blends philosophy and medieval intrigue, and for his essays on semiotics, media, and the nature of signs. His later novels, like *Foucault’s Pendulum*, explore conspiracy, knowledge, and the limits of interpretation.