Consolation of Philosophy [Paperback]

Boethius (Author), Joel C. Relihan (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0872205835 | ISBN-13: 978-0872205833 | Publication Date: September 2001

"Entirely faithful to Boethius' Latin; it makes the philosophy of the Consolation intelligible to students; it gives equal weight to the poetry -- in fact, Relihan's metrical translation of Boethius' metra are themselves contributions of the first moment to Boethian studies. Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and his manifold vision."-- Joseph Pucci, Brown University. Joel Relihan is Associate Professor of Classics, Wheaton College.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unjustly imprisoned and waiting to die, Boethius penned his last and greatest work, Consolation of Philosophy, an imaginary dialogue between himself and Philosophy, personified as a woman. Reminiscent of Dante in places, Boethius's fiction is an ode-to-philosophy-cum-Socratic-dialogue. Joel Relihan's skillful rendering, smoother to the modern ear than previous translations, preserves the book's heart-rending clarity and Boethius's knack for getting it just right. Listen to him on fortune: "We spin in an ever-turning circle, and it is our delight to change the bottom for the top and the top for the bottom. You may climb up if you wish, but on this condition: Don't think it an injustice when the rules of the game require you to go back down."

Consolation of Philosophy recalls the transience of the material world, the eternality of wisdom, and the life of the philosopher. Boethius was deeply influenced by the Platonist tradition, and this piece is one of the more powerful and artful defenses of a detachment that feels almost Buddhist. For anyone who's felt at odds with the world, Consolation is a reminder that the best things in life are eternal. Boethius must be right: the book is just as meaningful today as it was in the sixth century when he wrote it. --Eric de Place --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"A splendid new translation of this major work.... The wealth of supplementary aids... [are] invaluable." -- Paul Spade, Indiana University

"Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and manifold vision." -- Joseph Pucci, Brown University

"Relihan's daring translation is a welcome tool for the reader who wants to be amused, perplexed, surprised, and enlightened." -- James J. O'Donnell, University of Pennsylvania

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872205835
• ISBN-13: 978-0872205833
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remains vital after fifteen hundred years, October 3, 2004

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

The particular edition I am reviewing is the Oxford World's Classics translation by P. G. Walsh.

This is one of those classics that can catch an unsuspecting reader completely by surprise, especially if one has read many other works by near contemporaries. The circumstances under which it was composed are legendary, and lend the work a legitimacy granted to few other works. Boethius was among the foremost government officials in what was essentially the successor government to the end of the Roman Empire. Rome and much of the rest of what would later become Italy was under the control of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. A product of one of the leading Roman familes, Boethius ascended to a power of great honor and authority under Theodoric, only to be accused of treason late in the latter's life, at which point Boethius was imprisoned and condemned to death. While awaiting his fate (including whether Theodoric actually intended on carrying out the sentence), Boethius wrote this remarkable dialog between a prisoner whose situation closely resembles Boethius' and Philosophy personified as a woman. Although many topics are discussed, the heart of the dialog is the nature of true happiness.

Although few of its readers are likely to face circumstances as dire as Boethius', the work remains remarkably pertinent in an age where ideals of happiness are dictated almost entirely by our modern consumer society. Philosophy carefully explains to the prisoner that that happiness can never be found in such things as fame or power or riches and other things that are confused with the true source of happiness. For Boethius' Philosophy, happiness is ultimately rooted in the Christian God, but even for non-Christians, the lightly theological tone of the work provides much reflection on the nature of happiness in almost any kind of situation.

The Walsh edition of this work is, in my opinion, the finest readily available edition in English. The notes are marvelous, both providing overviews to each upcoming section as well as providing detailed comments on specific lines in the text. The introduction gives any new reader of the work all the context and background that he or she would need to digest the work. Best of all, the translation is exceptionally readable, and the translations of the many poems far above the average for most academic translations of verse.

I recommend this work strongly to either of two kinds of readers. First, for anyone who is a student of intellectual history the work remains for an understanding of a host of writers in the middle ages, as well as for many 19th century poets. Second, anyone interested in devotional or reflectional works, whether religious or philosophical, this remains one of the most essential works in the history of thought. By almost any standard, this is a work that demands careful reading and study.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and immediate, January 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Hardcover)

Most people don't expect medieval literature to be easy to read, let alone relevant,immediate, and moving. Yet the Consolation is all that and more. As other reviewers here point out, Boethius wrote it under great personal duress. After rising to a high position and enjoying a distinguished career, Boethius is awaiting execution and the Consolation details his gradual movement from despair, grief and anger at the hand he has been played by fortune to a remembrance of his "true nature" and that of the universe...aided at every step by Lady Philosophy. Although the arguments are often familiar to anyone versed in ancient philosophy, and the structure rhetorical, the terrible context and the passion behind the arguments make this about as immediate and real as it gets. PS The medievals thought so too...it is just about the most quoted and imitated book of the period...

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Light Among the Ever-Dimming Roman World", September 28, 2000

By 

Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Boethius was certainly a bright spot in the midst of a darkening world flooded by barbarians and intellectually on the decline. Boethius was among the many commentators and compilers of his age who endeavored to preserve the tenets of Greek Philosophy. His commentaries on the original Greek texts of Aristotle helped to pave the way for Aquinas' "Summa Theologia." So Boethius' works, though lacking originality, nevertheless made a very significant impact upon the later scholastic philosophers, and to the whole of Catholic tradition as well. Italy, during Boethius' time, was under the rule of Theoderic the Ostrogoth, who unjustly imprisoned the statesman/philosopher, falsely accussing him of treason. While waiting for his execution, Boethius wrote his "Consolation of Philosophy." The book itself is among the masterpieces of all time, and the only thing as tradgic as Boethius' untimely death is the fact that we were not able to obtain anymore works from this genius with the golden pen. Had he remained alive, it is very likely that we would have seen a sublime synthesis, in Latin, of Plato and Aristotle, not contradicting each other but complimenting one another. However, in short, this book is a small manifestation of what may have happened if he lived longer. What is interesting about this book is that it handles several different perspectives, namely that of the sorrowful Boethius and the consoling wisdom of Lady Philosophy, written both in eloquent prose and dazzling verse, which together ultimately culminates into a one of the most moving, inspiring, and thought provoking philosophical works of all time. The book is indefatigable, in that it never seems to quit opening new corridors of thought; and it is essential, because it is the philosopher's ideal breviary. It is interesting to note - and this is certainly not a negation to his Christian convictions - that while this Saint was awaiting his execution he remebered Athens, not Calvary.