On the Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue written by Boethius. Written in the year 523 AD while Boethis was in the jails of King Theodoric, it details the link between Christian and Greek philosophy.
Publisher's summary[]
Boethius composed De Consolation Philosophiae in the sixth century A.D. while awaiting death by torture, condemned on a charge of plotting against Gothic rule, which he protested as manifestly unjust. Though a Christian, Boethius details the true end of life as the soul's knowledge of God, and consoles himself with the tenets of Greek philosophy, not with Christian precepts.
Written in a form called Meippean Satire that alternates between prose and verse, Boethius' work often consists of a story told by Ovid or Horace to illustrate the philosophy being expounded. The Consolation of Philosophy dominated the intellectual world of the Middle Ages; it inspired writers as diverse Thomas Aquinas, Jean de Meun, and Dante. In England it was rendered into Old English by Alfred the Great, into Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, and later Queen Elizabeth I made her own translation. The circumstances of composition, the heroic demeanor of the author, and the Meippean texture of part prose, part verse have been a fascination for students of philosophy, literature, and religion ever since.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| On the City of God Against the Pagans | Augustine of Hippo | ~400 | Another major work of early Christian philosophy |
| The Nicomachean Ethics | Aristotle | ~351 | A philosophical work which inspired this work |
| Comedìa | Dante Alighieri | ~1321 | An epic poem possibly inspired by this dialogue |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Goodreads