[Revised entry by Eva Del Soldato on September 3, 2022. Changes to: Bibliography] Basil Bessarion (d. 1472) was, before Marsilio Ficino (1433 - 1499), the not so grey eminence responsible for the return of Plato in the Western world. Defending Plato's reputation from the attacks of the arch-Aristotelian George of Trebizond - attacks which were founded in a long anti-Platonic tradition - Bessarion introduced Christianized readings of Plato's dialogues, characterizing him as the pagan philosopher best suited to Roman theology. Bessarion's argumentative strategy not only rescued...