The Greek Tradition As a Combat Zone: Hellenocentrism in the Work of George Trapezuntius of Crete

CHAPTER 4 The Greek Tradition as a Combat Zone: Hellenocentrism in the Work of George Trapezuntius of Crete

Greece is both the mother of the civilised world and the origin of worldwide moral decline. Its language spread the evil message of paganism all over the world, but also prepared it for the word of God. It produced evil monsters such as Plato and Theodore Gazes, but also paragons of human genius like Aristotle and Isidore of Kiev. The Greeks dwelt both on the highest peaks of civilisation and in the deepest caves of immorality. These statements do not reflect the conflicting beliefs and opinions of quar- relling Byzantines. They are the opinions of one man, George Trapezuntius of Crete.1 He was the first prominent Byzantine scholar to settle in Italy after Manuel Chrysoloras, in 1416.2 At the invitation of Francesco Barbaro he first settled in Venice, but from there moved on to Vicenza, Rome, and Naples. From his early twenties until his death in 1473 he worked as translator, teacher, writer of wide-ranging humanist texts, and prophet. His Italian life was dominated by some famous quarrels, not only with Andrea Agaso, whom he believed to be

1 About Greece, for example: “. . . Graecia, bonorum morum domicilium scientiarumque patria, militiae columen, vere in Christum pietatis certissimum specimen . . .” [the home of good customs, the fatherland of the sciences, the summit of warfare, and a model of Christian piety] (Trapezuntius 1523: fol. Tiv, with Monfasani 1984k: 406, §107). On Plato, Aristotle, and Gemistos Plethon, see below. On Isidore of Kiev, see Trapezuntius (1523: fol. Qiiv). On Alexander’s empire as part of the praeparatio evangelica, see below. On the Greeks at the top and in decline, for example: “Quare sicut apud alias gentes pauciores semper boni fuerunt, plures mali, sic apud Graecos plures pessimi omnium, pauciores sublimiore virtute quam natura hominum patitur, fuisse compertum est” (see Trapezuntius 1523: fol. Qiv, with fols. Pvr and Pviir). In his address to Pope Nicholas V (Ad defendenda pro Europa Hellesponti claustra), Trapezuntius is quite clear that the Greeks had deserved their destruction (Trapezuntius, ed. Monfasani 1984m: 437, §§10–11). 2 Monfasani (1976) provides a biography of Trapezuntius with a study of his logic and rhetoric. Monfasani (1984a) offers an overview of the 447 manuscripts that contain his work and provides editions of his works. For an overview of his life and works with an extensive bibliography of relevant sources and scholarship until 1998, see the entry of Paolo Viti in DBI s.v. “Giorgio da Trebisonda”. Additional bibliography can be found in Jonathan Harris’ entry in EGHT s.v. “George of Trebizond”. See also n. 6 below.

Guarino, but also with Aurispa and Poggio Bracciolini.3 Trapezuntius greatly contributed to the increasing knowledge of ancient Greek literature, espe- cially via his translations into Latin, but he is best known for his rhetorical magnum opus, the first systematic rhetorical handbook of the humanist age, and for his polemical comparison of Aristotle and Plato in the Aristotle-Plato controversy.4 Trapezuntius’ case is a telling example of how modern viewpoints have coloured our interpretation of the ways in which Byzantine intellectuals viewed their own relation with the Greek world. Because of his early move to Italy, his conversion to the Roman church (probably in the early 1420s), and his fluency in Latin, it has been argued that after he settled in Italy he cut ties with his fatherland and felt himself to be a Latin rather than a Greek. In this interpretation, his Greekness was a rhetorical construct deployed to attract the benevolence of his fellow Greeks.5 This impression has been fuelled by the fact that in the later years of his life, Trapezuntius addressed several dedications and treatises to Mehmet the Conqueror, inviting him to pursue world domin- ion, which contradicts Bessarion’s approach and sits uneasily with modern notions of Greek patriotism as well.6 This chapter revises the idea that ancient Greece was only of minor impor- tance in Trapezuntius’ world view. It first presents in some detail how he used the Greek identifier in various works as a social mark: to position himself in relation to others and vice versa and to motivate interpersonal behaviour and commitments. To give more substance to the argument that Trapezuntius by no means abandoned his Greekness in Italy, I will subsequently illustrate the

3 See Monfasani (1976: 109–11). The amusing suggestion that Trapezuntius fought a pugilistic battle in the theatre of Pompey (Shepherd 1837: 114) must be a misinterpretation of Valla’s Latin text (cited in Monfasani 1976: 109, n. 71). See also Cessi (1921). 4 Here as elsewhere I follow Monfasani’s (1976: 5) suggestion to call George of Trebizond George Trapezuntius of Crete, Trapezuntius for short. 5 Irmscher (1964: 362–63). 6 In the wake of John Monfasani’s pioneering monograph on Trapezuntius, his career, espe- cially his rhetoric, has received ample attention. Monfasani has enormously contributed to the accessibility of his works by not only offering many of them in critical editions, but also by locating over 400 manuscripts and editions containing his works. See apart from Monfasani (1976) on Trapezuntius’ rhetoric also more recently, in descending chronological order, Calboli Montefusco (2010, 2008, 2003), Merino Jerez (2007a, 2007b), Guerra (2004), Cox (2003), Grau (2003), Hinojo (2000), Mañas Núñez (2000), Classen (1993), D’Ascia (1989), and Monfasani (1983b). On other aspects of his work and thought see, most recently, Steiris (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009), Ruocco (2003), and A. Pontani (1992a). Abenstein (2014) offers a detailed study of Trapezuntius’ translation of Basil the Great, commissioned by Cardinal Bessarion.