The Consolation of Philosophy
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~160,000 words · 737 passages
Cite this work
- APABoethius. (n.d.). The Consolation Of Philosophy [The Consolation of Philosophy]. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/boethius/the-consolation-of-philosophy
- MLABoethius. The Consolation Of Philosophy [The Consolation of Philosophy]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/boethius/the-consolation-of-philosophy.
- ChicagoBoethius. The Consolation Of Philosophy [The Consolation of Philosophy]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/boethius/the-consolation-of-philosophy.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
In his cell, awaiting execution, a man fallen from grace is visited by Philosophy in person, who reminds him why Fortune is a wheel and where the good that no one can take from you lies.
Context and history
Written around 524 in a Pavia prison, as Boethius awaited execution by Theodoric on a charge of treason — the vertiginous fall of one of the most powerful men in the empire. It is the last great book of the ancient world and the first of the medieval: a Christian who, facing death, consoles himself with pagan reason and never once cites Scripture. It was among the most read books of the whole Middle Ages, translated by King Alfred, by Chaucer and by Queen Elizabeth I; the bridge by which classical philosophy crossed into Europe.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Fortune with her fickle hand deal out such changing lots? The hurtful penalty is due to crime, but falls upon the sinless head: depraved men rest at ease on thrones aloft, and by their unjust lot can spurn beneath their hurtful heel the necks of virtuous men. Beneath obscuring shadows lies bright virtue hid: the just man bears the unjust's infamy. They suffer not for forsworn oaths, they suffer not for crimes glozed over with their lies. But when their will is to put forth their strength, with triumph they subdue the mightiest kings whom peoples in their thousands fear. O Thou who dost weave the bonds of Nature's self, look down upon this pitiable earth! Mankind is no base part of this great work, and we are tossed on Fortune's wave. Restrain, our Guardian, the engulfing surge, and as Thou dost the unbounded heaven rule, with a like bond make true and firm these lands." (Philosophy reassures him.) (Philosophy reassures him.) While I grieved thus in long-drawn pratings, Philosophy looked on with a calm countenance, not one whit moved by my complaints. Then said she, "When I saw you in grief and in tears I knew thereby that you were unhappy and in exile, but I knew not how distant was your exile until your speech declared it. But you have not been driven so far from your home; you have wandered thence yourself: or if you would rather hold that you have been driven, you have been driven by yourself rather than by any other. No other could have done so to you. For if you recall your true native country, you know that it is not under the rule of the many-headed people, as was Athens of old, but there is one Lord, one King, who rejoices in the greater number of his subjects, not in their banishment. To be guided by his reins, to bow to his justice, is the highest liberty.…