The Consolation of Philosophy

The Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: De consolatione philosophiae) is a philosophical work by the Roman
statesman Boethius, written around the year 524. It has been described as the single most important and
influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, as well as the last great Western
work of the Classical Period.[1][2]

Contents
Description
Influence
Reconstruction of the Lost Songs from The Consolation of Philosophy
See also
References
Sources
External links

Description

A golden volume not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully — Edward Gibbon[3]

The Consolation of Philosophy was written in AD 523 during a one-year imprisonment Boethius served while
awaiting trial—and eventual execution–for the alleged crime of treason under the Ostrogothic King Theodoric
the Great. Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome, holding the prestigious office of magister
officiorum, and was brought down by treachery. This experience inspired the text, which reflects on how evil
can exist in a world governed by God (the problem of theodicy), and how happiness is still attainable amidst
fickle fortune, while also considering the nature of happiness and God. It was described in 1891 as "by far the
most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen."[4]

Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy. Lady Philosophy consoles
Boethius by discussing the transitory nature of fame and wealth ("no man can ever truly be secure until he has
been forsaken by Fortune"), and the ultimate superiority of things of the mind, which she calls the "one true
good". She contends that happiness comes from within, and that virtue is all that one truly has, because it is not
imperilled by the vicissitudes of fortune.

Boethius engages questions such as the nature of predestination and free will, why evil men often prosper and
good men fall into ruin, human nature, virtue, and justice. He speaks about the nature of free will and
determinism when he asks if God knows and sees all, or does man have free will. On human nature, Boethius
says that humans are essentially good and only when they give in to “wickedness” do they “sink to the level of
being an animal.” On justice, he says criminals are not to be abused, rather treated with sympathy and respect,
using the analogy of doctor and patient to illustrate the ideal relationship between prosecutor and criminal.
In the Consolation, Boethius answered religious questions without reference to Christianity, relying solely on
natural philosophy and the Classical Greek tradition. He believed in the correspondence between faith and
reason. The truths found in Christianity would be no different from the truths found in philosophy.[5] In the
words of Henry Chadwick, "If the Consolation contains nothing distinctively Christian, it is also relevant that
it contains nothing specifically pagan either...[it] is a work written by a Platonist who is also a Christian."[6]

Boethius repeats the Macrobius model of the Earth in the center of a spherical cosmos.[7]

Influence

To acquire a taste for it is almost to become naturalised in the Middle Ages — C. S. Lewis[8]

From the Carolingian epoch[9] to the end of the Middle Ages and beyond it was one of the most popular and
influential philosophical works, read by statesmen, poets, and historians, as well as by philosophers and
theologians. It is through Boethius that much of the thought of the Classical period was made available to the
Western Medieval world. It has often been said Boethius was the “last of the Romans and the first of the
Scholastics”.[2]

The philosophical message of the book fits well with the religious piety
of the Middle Ages. Readers were encouraged not to seek worldly goods
such as money and power, but to seek internalized virtues. Evil had a
purpose, to provide a lesson to help change for good; while suffering
from evil was seen as virtuous. Because God ruled the universe through
Love, prayer to God and the application of Love would lead to true
happiness.[10] The Middle Ages, with their vivid sense of an overruling
fate, found in Boethius an interpretation of life closely akin to the spirit of
Christianity. The Consolation of Philosophy stands, by its note of fatalism
and its affinities with the Christian doctrine of humility, midway between
the pagan philosophy of Seneca the Younger and the later Christian
philosophy of consolation represented by Thomas à Kempis.[11]

The book is heavily influenced by Plato and his dialogues (as was
Boethius himself).[11] Its popularity can in part be explained by its
Neoplatonic and Christian ethical messages, although current scholarly From a 1385 Italian manuscript of
research is still far from clear exactly why and how the work became so the Consolation: Miniatures of
vastly popular in the Middle Ages. Boethius teaching and in prison

Translations into the vernacular were done by famous notables, including

King Alfred (Old English), Jean de Meun (Old French), Geoffrey Chaucer (Middle English), Queen Elizabeth
I (Early Modern English), and Notker Labeo (Old High German).[12][13][14][15]

Found within the Consolation are themes that have echoed throughout the Western canon: the female figure of
wisdom that informs Dante, the ascent through the layered universe that is shared with Milton, the
reconciliation of opposing forces that find their way into Chaucer in The Knight's Tale, and the Wheel of
Fortune so popular throughout the Middle Ages.

Citations from it occur frequently in Dante's Divina Commedia. Of Boethius, Dante remarked “The blessed
soul who exposes the deceptive world to anyone who gives ear to him.”[16]
 Boethian influence can be found nearly everywhere in Geoffrey
Chaucer's poetry, e.g. in Troilus and Criseyde, The Knight's Tale, The
Clerk's Tale, The Franklin's Tale, The Parson's Tale and The Tale of
Melibee, in the character of Lady Nature in The Parliament of Fowls and
some of the shorter poems, such as Truth, The Former Age and Lak of
Stedfastnesse. Chaucer translated the work in his Boece.

The Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola used some of the text in his
choral work Canti di prigionia (1938). The Australian composer Peter
Sculthorpe quoted parts of it in his opera or music theatre work Rites of
Passage (1972–73), which was commissioned for the opening of the
Sydney Opera House but was not ready in time.

Tom Shippey in The Road to Middle-earth says how "Boethian" much

Lady Fortune with the Wheel of
Fortune in a medieval manuscript
of a work by Boccaccio; The
Consolation of Philosophy was
responsible for the popularity of
the goddess of Fortune and the
wheel of fortune in the Middle
Ages
Menippean satire, a fusion of allegorical tale, platonic dialogue, and lyrical poetry.
of the treatment of evil is in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Shippey
says that Tolkien knew well the translation of Boethius that was made by
King Alfred and he quotes some "Boethian" remarks from Frodo,
Treebeard and Elrond.[17]
Boethius and Consolatio Philosophiae are cited frequently by the main
character Ignatius J. Reilly in the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Confederacy
of Dunces (1980).
It is a prosimetrical text, meaning that it is written in alternating sections
of prose and metered verse. In the course of the text, Boethius displays a
virtuosic command of the forms of Latin poetry. It is classified as a

In the 20th century there were close to four hundred manuscripts still surviving, a testament to its
popularity.[18]

Reconstruction of the Lost Songs from The Consolation of Philosophy

Hundreds of Latin songs were recorded in neumes from the ninth century through to the thirteenth century,
including settings of the poetic passages from Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy. The music of this
song repertory had long been considered irretrievably lost because the notational signs indicated only melodic
outlines, relying on now-lapsed oral traditions to fill in the missing details. However, research conducted (http
s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-tALWHHUaE&t=146s) by Dr Sam Barrett (https://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/di
rectory/sam-barrett) at the University of Cambridge,[19] extended in collaboration with medieval music
ensemble Sequentia, has shown that principles of musical setting for this period can be identified, providing
crucial information to enable modern realisations.[20] Sequentia performed the world premiere (https://www.yo
utube.com/watch?v=PwAKPIUKAyM) of the reconstructed songs from Boethius's The Consolation of
Philosophy at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in April 2016, bringing to life music not heard in over 1,000
years; a number of the songs were subsequently recorded on the CD Boethius: Songs of Consolation. Metra
from 11th-Century Canterbury (http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/reference.aspx?id=465) (Glossa, 2018).
The detective story behind the recovery of these lost songs is told in a documentary film (https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=w-tALWHHUaE), and a website (https://boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk) launched by the University
of Cambridge in 2018 provides further details of the reconstruction process, bringing together manuscripts (htt
ps://boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk/sources/search-manuscript), reconstructions (https://boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk/recon
struction/reconstructions), and video resources (https://boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk/instruments-overview/sequentia
-videos).[21]
See also
Allegory in the Middle Ages
Stoicism
The Wheel of Fortune
Consolatio
Metres of Boethius
Girdle book
Prosimetrum

References
1. The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics), Introduction (2000)
2. Dante placed Boethius the “last of the Romans and first of the Scholastics” among the doctors
in his Paradise (see The Divine Comedy) (see also below).
3. Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
4. Catholic Encyclopedia, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/
02610b.htm). The quote is commonly seen in a number of sources, but without attribution; the
Catholic Encyclopedia article (by William Turner, 1907) is the oldest “known” citation found. In
fact the phrase is originally from Boethius, an essay (1891), by H. F. Stewart, page 107 (https://a
rchive.org/stream/boethiusanessay00stewuoft#page/107/mode/1up) (last paragraph).
5. Chadwick, Henry (1998). "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c.480-525/6)". In Edward
Craig (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge. "The Opuscula sacra regard
faith and reason as independent but parallel and compatible ways of attaining to higher
metaphysical truths, and the independent validity of logical reasoning is also an underlying
presupposition throughout De consolatione."
6. Henry Chadwick, Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy, 1990,
ISBN 0-19-826549-2
7. S.C. McCluskey, Astronomies and Cultures in Early Medieval Europe, (Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Pr., 1998), pp. 114, 123.
8. C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature,
1964, ISBN 0-521-47735-2, pg. 75
9. Gibson, Margaret T. (1982). "Boethius in the Carolingian Schools". Transactions of the Royal
Historical Society. 32: 54–56. doi:10.1017/S0080440100017333 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS
0080440100017333). ISSN 0080-4401 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0080-4401).
10. Sanderson Beck (1996).
11. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume I Ch.6.5: De Consolatione
Philosophiae (http://www.bartleby.com/211/0605.html), 1907–1921.
12. Cropp, Glynnis M. (2012-01-01). "Boethius in Medieval France: Translations of the De
consolatione philosophiae and Literary Influence" (https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/97890042
25381/B9789004225381_010.xml). A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages: 319–355.
doi:10.1163/9789004225381_010 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F9789004225381_010).
ISBN 9789004183544.
13. Relihan, Joel C. (January 2000). "Review of: Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy" (http://b
mcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-01-16.html). Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/issn/1055-7660).
14. Archives, The National. "The National Archives - Homepage" (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.
uk/education/resources/elizabeth-monarchy/elizabeths-translation-of-the-consolation-of-philos
ophy/). Retrieved 2019-02-18.
15. "The Fate of Fortune in the Early Middle Ages: The Boethian Tradition. Jerold C. Frakes".
Speculum. 66 (2): 403–405. April 1991. doi:10.2307/2864168 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2864
168). ISSN 0038-7134 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0038-7134). JSTOR 2864168 (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/2864168).
16. Dante The Divine Comedy. “blessed souls” inhabit Dante's Paradise, and appear as flames.
(see note above).
17. Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth, pg. 140, ISBN 0-395-33973-1, (1983).
18. Friedman, John (2000). Orpheus in the Middle Ages. Syracuse University Press. p. 91.
ISBN 0815628250.
19. Barrett, Sam (2013). The Melodic Tradition of Boethius' "De consolatine philosophiae" in the
Middle Ages. Kassel: Bärenreiter.
20. University of Cambridge, First performance in 1000 years: lost songs are brought back to life by
Cambridge researchers (http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/first-performance-in-1000-years-l
ost-songs-from-the-middle-ages-are-brought-back-to-life-0)
21. University of Cambridge. "Restoring Lost Songs: Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy" (https://
boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk).

Sources
Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (https://books.google.co.uk/books?
id=0te1I5u6hFEC).
Trans. Richard H. Green, (Library of the Liberal Arts), 1962. ISBN 0-02-346450-X
Trans. Joel C. Relihan, (Hackett Publishing), 2001. ISBN 0-87220-583-5
Trans. P. G. Walsh, (Oxford World's Classics), 2001. ISBN 0-19-283883-0
Trans. Victor Watts, (Penguin Classics), 2000. ISBN 0-14-044780-6
Sanderson Beck, The Consolation of Boethius (http://www.san.beck.org/Boethius.html) an
analysis and commentary. 1996.
Blackwood, Stephen (2015). The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy (http://global.oup.c
om/academic/product/the-consolation-of-boethius-as-poetic-liturgy-9780198718314;jsessionid
=F14EC59F0332F5B936CF7F76BF2F96B4?cc=us&lang=en&). Oxford Early Christian
Studies (http://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/o/oxford-early-christian-studies-oecs/?c
c=us&lang=en). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198718314.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius" (https://en.wikisource.
org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Anicius_Manlius_Severinus_Boethius). Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company..
Henry Chadwick, Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy, 1990,
ISBN 0-19-826549-2
Lewis, C.S. (1964), The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance
Literature, ISBN 0-521-47735-2.
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume I Ch.6.5: De Consolatione
Philosophiae (http://www.bartleby.com/211/0605.html), 1907–1921.

External links
The Consolation of Philosophy (https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3Aboethius%20
-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts), many translations and
commentaries from Internet Archive
Consolatio Philosophiae (http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/boethius/jkok/list_t.htm) in the
original Latin with English comments at the University of Georgetown
 Consolatio Philosophiae (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14328) from Project Gutenberg,
HTML conversion, originally translated by H. R. James, London 1897.
The Consolation of Philosophy (http://www.exclassics.com/consol/conintro.htm), Translated by:
W.V. Cooper : J.M. Dent and Company London 1902 The Temple Classics, edited by Israel
Golancz M.A. Online reading and multiple ebook formats at Ex-classics.
Medieval translations into Old English (https://archive.org/details/kingalfredsangl01unkngoog)
by Alfred the Great, Old High German (https://archive.org/details/dieschriftennot01pipegoog) by
Notker Labeo, Middle (originally Old) French (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k111272g.r=bo
ece.langFR) by Jean de Meun, and Middle English (https://archive.org/details/chaucerstransla0
0boetgoog) by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Consolation of Philosophy (https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Consolation+of+Philos
ophy&author=Boethius&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&rec
orded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public
domain audiobook at LibriVox
First Performance in 1000 years: lost songs from the Middle Ages are brought back to life (htt
p://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/first-performance-in-1000-years-lost-songs-from-the-middle-
ages-are-brought-back-to-life-0)

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