Introduction
5
most of us, however, because he was deeply immersed in the Greek philosophical and cultural traditions. During his lifetime, George Gemistos was known as “the second Plato” due to his deep understanding of Platonic philosophy. Late in his life (but perhaps earlier in private), he began calling himself “Plethon” (Πλήθων, pronounced PLEE-thone); this was in effect his Neopagan name. It puts him in the lineage of great Platonic philosophers, which one of his admirers expressed: Plato—Plotinus—Plethon. Since this was his Neopagan name and we are concerned here with his Neopagan religion, I refer to him usually as “Plethon.”
Information about Spelling and Citations Explaining a centuries-old Pagan religion for modern worshippers requires balancing readability and familiarity against historical and linguistic accuracy. Here I explain my strategy, but feel free to skip it, since it is not essential to understanding what follows. For the most part I have used the familiar anglicized names of the Greek gods and philosophers; thus I write Apollo, Plato, and Aristotle rather than Apollôn, Platôn, and Aristotelês. However, I spell Plethon’s name with the “n” retained, since that is the common scholarly convention, although the spelling “Pletho” is also used. However, I have preferred the Greek ending -os over the Latinized -us (thus, Dionysos, Hephaistos, and Kronos), but this shouldn’t cause any confusion. I make some ad hoc exceptions for the sake of familiarity, thus Plotinus and Proclus in preference to Plotinos and Proklos. In particular, I have used the spelling “Pluto” for Plethon’s Πλούτων (Ploutôn) because this god is connected with Persephone and the souls of mortals, like Hades, equivalent to Roman Pluto, but less like Ploutôn, the ancient Greek god of wealth (πλοῦτος, ploutos). Suit yourself. Plethon’s religion can be practiced in English or any other language, and no knowledge of Greek is necessary. Nevertheless, many Neopagans prefer to recite certain phrases in the old language; moreover, it is often informative to know the Greek word that I have translated into English. Therefore, when I mention a Greek word I show it both in the Greek alphabet and also in Roman transcription.3 3. For the most part I have used the transliteration system of the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. In brief: ῾ = “h,” η = “ê,” υ = “u” or “y,” φ = “ph,” χ = “ch,” ψ = “ps,” and ω = “ô;” other letters are transcribed by their cognate Roman letters (e.g., β = “b,” γ = “g”).
