Plethon came to Florence as part of the ecumenical council attempting to unite Rome with the Roman Empire (the Latin church with the Greek) prior to the fall of Constantinople. Plethon, whose birth name was Georgios Gemistos, was at least seventy-nine, and he had come at the request of the emperor to be his advisor. He was a respected philosopher, but after his death, writings were discovered that were interpreted as a rejection of Christianity and an embrace of a pagan spirituality inspired by classical Greek mythology. It seems accurate to say his writing interpreted the facets of the Divine and categorized those facets using the names of the classical Hellenistic gods. The truth is elusive, though, as the bulk of that writing was deemed heretical and destroyed.
The Latin church of the time was very much beholden to Aristotle, but Plethon helped re-introduce the west to Plato (after whom he’d styled his own name). It is said that his profound effect upon Cosimo de’ Medici inspired the creation of the Platonic Academy which Marsilio Ficino led, but that is history, which isn’t the same as saying it’s true. Plethon’s influence on Medici has been questioned as has the role and nature of the Platonic Academy.
Sometimes, what we take for history is little more than myth.
We too easily think ourselves above believing in mythology, which we pretend is limited to pagan gods and magical creatures, but modern mythology is a re-imagined past told to hide unpleasant truths. We create mythologies about our nations, our institutions, and our past, like children who tell themselves bedtime stories so they can sleep at night.
Welcome to The Sibyliad,
I'm Thaddeus Thomas