The Consolation of Philosophy

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The Consolation of Philosophy

Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric; also 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. Moreover the Consolation was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose also verse between the ailing prisoner and his ‘nurse’ Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. The Consolation was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante. Translation and introduction by Victor Watts.