Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West in medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great work that can be called Classical.Ĭonsolation of Philosophy “A golden volume not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully.” - Edward GibbonĬonsolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius' one year imprisonment while awaiting trial, and eventual horrific execution, for the crime of treason by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. The result is a superbly accessible edition that still exercises a powerful influence on contemporary thinkers and theologians and represents a source of comfort and solace for the general reader.This early printed book has many hand-painted illustrations depicting Lady Philosophy and scenes of daily life in fifteenth-century Ghent (1485)Ĭonsolation of Philosophy ( Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD.
He has also provided an informative introduction and notes. Green's translation is quite literal in order to remain as faithful as possible to Boethius's original meaning. Green notes in the introduction, "For the reader of the Christian Middle Ages, The Consolation of Philosophy celebrated the life of the mind, or reason, and the possibility of its ultimate victory over the misfortunes and frustrations which attend fallen man's pursuit of transitory substitutes for the Supreme Good which alone can satisfy human desires." Its subject is human happiness and the possibility of achieving it in the midst of the suffering and disappointment that characterize human existence. While awaiting his fate, he wrote this dialogue in alternating prose and poetry between himself and his spiritual guardian.
Imprisoned by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, probably on trumped-up subversion charges, he was thrown into a remote prison where he was eventually executed. 480–524) was a Roman scholar, theologian, philosopher, and statesman. One of the most influential books in the history of Western thought, The Consolation of Philosophy was written in a prison cell by a condemned man.
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