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Ficino, Marsilio - Born near Florence in Figline 1433, died 1499 at Careggi. Marsilio Ficino was a major figure of the Italian Renaissance for his work in the revival of Platonism and Hermeticism. He was influenced by Byzantine scholars visiting Italy during the Council of Ferrara-Florence (The Council of Unity). One of these scholars was Plíthohn (Georgius Gemistus Plethon; Gr. Γεώργιος Γεμιστός Πλήθων), the pagan Platonist in the entourage of the Byzantine Emperor, Yánnis I' Palaiológos (John VIII Palaiologos; Gr. Ίωάννης Η' Παλαιολόγος). The ruler of Florence, Cosimo de' Medici, was impressed with Ficino and made him the first head of his newly created Platonic Academy, gave him a villa in Careggi, and commissioned him to begin the translation of the Platonic dialogues into Latin. This he did, and in addition to Plátohn (Plato; Gr. Πλάτων), he translated many other works such as writings of Próklos (Proclus; Gr. Πρόκλος), Porphýrios (Porphyry; Gr. Πορφύριος), Iámvikhos (Iamblichus; Gr. Ἰάμβλιχος), Plohtínos (Plotinus; Gr. Πλωτῖνος), Psællós (Psellos; Gr. Ψελλός), and the Corpus Hermiticum of Ærmís o Trismǽyistos (Hermes Trismegistus; Gr. Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος). Ficino's work played the leading role in the ensuing Platonic revival that has ramifications to this day. (source: Marsilio Ficino, edited Angela Voss, 2006, North Atlantic Books; mostly from the General Editor's Preface, pp. ix-xi by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke.)Fifth Element - 1. The fifth element, or Platonic solid, of which all the Kózmos (Cosmos; Gr. Κόσμος) is made, is the Dohdækáædron (Dodecahedron; Gr. Δωδεκάεδρον), called quintessence, the kozmic sphere, and later identified with Aithír (Aether; Gr. Αἰθήρ) [ref. Πλάτων Τίμαιος 58d]. 2. Aristotǽlis (Aristotle; Gr. Ἀριστοτέλης) called Aithír the fifth element; thus, we have the four classical elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, but with Aithír added to make five. See also Aithír and Elements, The Classical.

Fire - (Fire; Gr. Πῦρ) Fire or in ancient Greek, Pyr, is one of the classical elements See Elements, The Classical.

Firebrands - Firebrands is asked for in Orphic hymn 3 Night (Νύξ) as an incense offering, as translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis (The Orphic Hymns, 1977; The Society of Biblical Literature, p. 7). Thomas Taylor translates this same as "torches." (The Hymns of Orpheus, 1792, p. 115) The actual Greek is dalous (Gr. δαλούς), which would appear to be a form of dalós (Gr. δᾱλός, δ, [δαίω]), represented by the English word firebrands. (L&S p. 368, left column). Firebrands is defined as a piece of burning wood or other material (The New Century Dictionary of the English Language, 1927, The Century Co./Collier, 1944 edition, p. 575, left column); therefore, perhaps sandalwood, aloes-wood, Storax calamitas (black styrax), or some other fragrant wood would be appropriate as an offering. The text calls for thumíama dalous. Thumiama (θυμίαμα), is a Greek word meaning "incense" (L&S p. 809, right column, among the entries beginning with θῡμιάζω); therefore, the connotation must be to burn the wood for its fragrance.

Frankincense - Please visit this page: Frankincense.

Form = Morphi (Gr. Μορφή) See Morphi.

Freedom - Please visit this page: FREEDOM - ÆLEFTHÆRIA.

Fthinoporini Isimeria - See Phthinopohriní Isimæría.

Furies, the - See Evmænídæs.

ABBREVIATIONS: A list of abbreviations used in the glossary can be found on this page: GLOSSARY HOME PAGE