This scholarly edition of Chaucer's translation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy opens a window onto one of the great medieval dialogues between suffering and wisdom. Richly annotated with notes, manuscript evidence, textual variants, indexes, and editorial commentary, it presents Boethius as a foundational philosophical voice for Europe and a writer Chaucer deeply admired. The text also reveals Chaucer at work as a translator, comparing his English renderings with the Latin origina...

In this highly praised new translation of Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy, David R. Slavitt presents a graceful, accessible, and modern version for both longtime admirers of one of the great masterpieces of philosophical literature and those encountering it for the first time. Slavitt preserves the distinction between the alternating verse and prose sections in the Latin original, allowing us to appreciate the Menippian parallels between the discourses of literary and log...

Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free w...

Boethius was a sixth century Roman statesman and philosopher, who attained high honours under Theodoric the Ostrogoth. He fell from favour, was tried for treason, wrongly condemned and imprisoned at Ticinum (Pavia), where he wrote his renowned ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’. He was put to death in 524, to the great remorse of Theodoric and he was later revered as a saint. ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ is the last great Western work of the Classical Period and has been described ...

According to Wikipedia: "Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius,commonly called Boethius (ca. 480524 or 525 AD) was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and prominent family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls... Boethius was imprisoned and eventually executed by King Theodoric the Great, who suspected him of conspiring with the Eastern Roman Empire. While jailed, Boethius composed his Consolation of Philosophy, a philoso...

Boethius' best-known work is the "Consolations of Philosophy" written during his imprisonment -- "by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen." It is a dialogue between Philosophy and Boethius, in which the Queen of Sciences strives to console the fallen statesman. The main argument of the discourse is the transitoriness and unreality of all earthly greatness and the superior desirability of the things of the mind. There are evident traces of the influe...

Written while Boethius was in prison awaiting execution, The Consolation of Philosophy consists of a dialogue in alternating prose and verse between the author, lamenting his own sorrows, and a majestic woman, who is the incarnation of his guardian Philosophy. The woman develops a modified form of Neoplatonism and Stoicism, demonstrating the unreality of earthly fortunes, then proving that the highest good and the highest happiness are in God, and reconciling the apparent contradi...

Boethius composed the De Consolatione Philosophiae in the sixth century AD whilst awaiting death under torture, condemned on a charge of treason which he protested was manifestly unjust. Though a convinced Christian, in detailing the true end of life which is the soul's knowledge of God, he consoled himself not with Christian precepts but with the tenets of Greek philosophy. This work dominated the intellectual world of the Middle Ages; writers as diverse as Thomas Aquinas, Jean d...

The Consolation Of Philosophy Of Boethius by Boethius, trans. H.R. James.

"The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius is a timeless philosophical work that explores themes of fortune, happiness, fate, and the human condition. Written during Boethius's imprisonment in the early 6th century, this profound text blends classical philosophy with personal reflection, creating a narrative that has resonated with readers for centuries. The book is structured as a dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy, who appears to him in his cell. Through their conversation, L...

The original Latin text plus an English translation of both books. According to Wikipedia: "Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius (ca. 480524 or 525) was a Christian or pagan philosopher of the 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor. Boethius himself was consul in 510 in the kingdom of...

This file includes: The Consolation of Philosophy and Theological Tractates by Boethius (in both English and Latin), Essays of Montaigne (all 10 volumes), Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche, Rudolph Eucken A Philosophy of Life by Abel J. Jones, and The Philosophy of Despair by David Starr Jordan.