“ Michael Psellus the elder, a native of Andros and a pupil of Photius, who flourished in the second half of the 9th century. His study of the Alexandrine theology, as well as of profane literature, brought him under the suspicions of the orthodox, and a former pupil of his, by name Constantine, accused him in an elegiac poem of having abandoned Christianity. ”

“ He studied at Athens and Constantinople, where he became intimate with John Xiphilinus. Under Constantine Monomachus (1042–1054) he became one of the most influential men in the empire. As professor of philosophy at the newly founded academy of Constantinople he revived the cult of Plato at a time when Aristotle held the field ”