Gemistos Pletho
“I Pomeriggi” series
H17:00-20:00
“I Pomeriggi” series
H17:00-20:00
Gemistos Pletho: Forgery and Philology
The event will be held in English and in Italian at Istituto Svizzero, Roma
Curated by Anthony Ellis, (Fellow Roma Calling, Classical Philology).
‘I Pomeriggi’ series
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Istituto Svizzero
Via Liguria 20, Rome
Free entrance
This symposium sets out to understand how and why Gemistos Pletho, one of the most famous philosophers of the Byzantine world, set about rewriting the history of religion by altering ancient texts. It explores the relationship between Pletho’s scholarly pursuits and the radical Neopaganism for which he was condemned after his death. Finally, it seeks to understand how Pletho and other scholars of the late-Byzantine world would have understood his editing of the ancient Greek historians and philosophers: as correction, censorship, or forgery?
Biographies
Raffaella Cantore teaches Greek Language and Literature at the University of Ferrara. Her research interests include the tradition of Greek historical texts, Greek lexicography, and the scholarship of the Byzantine period. She has particularly focused on the transmission of Herodotus’ Histories, especially its philological, paleographical, and codicological aspects.
Anthony Ellis is a researcher at the Institutes of Classical Philology and Historical Theology at the University of Bern. His research focuses on ancient religion and cross-cultural encounters. In Rome, he is reconstructing how Gemistos Pletho rewrote ancient historical texts and tracing Pletho’s influence on the Greek refugees of Renaissance Italy.
Fabio Pagani Catholic University of America, specializes on the history of philosophy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, especially on connections between the Byzantine east and the Italian west and the Greek manuscripts of Gemistos Pletho.
PROGRAM:
H17:00 ― Institutional greetings
Maria Böhmer, Istituto Svizzero
Anthony Ellis, Istituto Svizzero
H17:15-17:30 ― Introduction to Georgios Gemistos Pletho
H17:30-18:15 ― Fabio Pagani, Catholic University of America, Pletho and his Books
H18:15 ― Coffee break
H18:30-19:00 ― Anthony Ellis, Istituto Svizzero, Pletho on the History of Religion: Rewriting Herodotus
H19:00-19:45 ― Raffaella Cantore, University of Ferrara, Scrivere, Riscrivere, e Correggere Erodoto in età Bizantina: Pratiche editoriali sul testo delle Storie
H19:45-20:00 ― Discussion
H20:00 ― Aperitif