Editing Michael Psellos (section)

==Personality==
Psellos was universally educated and had a reputation for being one of the most learned men of his time. He prided himself on having single-handedly reintroduced to Byzantine scholarship a serious study of ancient philosophy, especially of [[Plato]]. His predilection for Plato and other pagan (often [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]]) philosophers led to doubts about the orthodoxy of his faith among some of his contemporaries, and at one point he was forced to make a public profession of faith in his defense.  He also prided himself on being a master of rhetoric, combining the wisdom of the philosopher and the persuasiveness of the rhetorician. This made him the model of a political leader and advisor. Among modern commentators, Psellos' penchant for long autobiographical digressions in his works has earned him accusations of vanity and ambition. At the same time, his political career and the contents of his ''Chronographia'' have led commentators to characterize him as obsequious and opportunistic, because of his ostensibly uncritical stance towards some of the emperors and because of the many shifts in his political loyalty over the course of his life {{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}. However, other commentators argue that there is a powerful ironic undercurrent running through his work, especially the ''Chronographia'', transmitting highly critical and subversive messages about the emperors portrayed,<ref name="refpietsch">Efthymia Pietsch: ''Die "Chronographia" des Michael Psellos: Kaisergeschichte, Autobiographie und Apologie''. Wiesbaden 2005.</ref> or even about Byzantine [[Christianity|Christian]] beliefs and morality at large.<ref name="refkaldellis">[[Anthony Kaldellis]]: ''The argument of Psellos' Chronographia.'' Boston 1999.</ref>

As mentioned above, serious questions were raised during Psellos' lifetime concerning his religious beliefs. For example, according to Byzantinist [[Anthony Kaldellis]], "In 1054 he [Psellos] was accused by his erstwhile friend, the future Patriarch John Xiphilinos, of forsaking Christ to follow Plato."<ref name="refkaldellis"/> Even stronger doubts arose concerning Psellos' student, [[John Italos]], who succeeded Psellos as Chief of the Philosophers. Italos was publicly accused of teaching such "Hellenizing" ideas as [[metempsychosis]] and the [[eternity of the world]]. Italos faced such accusations twice, and both times he confessed and recanted.<ref name="refclucas">Lowell Clucas: "The Trial of John Italos and the Crisis of Intellectual Values in Byzantium in the Eleventh Century", München 1981</ref>