Originating as an extended review of a critical edition of the De virtutibus of Gemistos Plethon, this article takes into account many recent works on Plethon; it attempts to show how the little work On the virtues may provide access to a view of Plethon not as a crypto-advocate of paganism but as a broad-minded Orthodox believer, attempting to widen the cultural horizon of his contemporaries to include what is of value in pre-Christian thinkers.