Editing On the Consolation of Philosophy

{{short description|Philosophical work by Boethius}}
{{for|the book by [[Alain de Botton]] published in 2000|The Consolations of Philosophy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = The Consolation of Philosophy
| author            = [[Boethius]]
| image             = Boethius, Consolatio philosophiae (French).jpg
| caption           = Page from a 15th century French manuscript
| subject           = [[Fate]], [[Christian theology]]
| pub_date          = 524
| congress          = 
| dewey             = 082.1
| language          = [[Latin]]
| orig_lang_code    = la
| native_wikisource = De philosophiae consolatione
| wikisource        = The Consolation of Philosophy (James)
| english_pub_date  = Mid-14th century ([[Middle English]])
| translators       = {{ubl|[[Alfred the Great]]|[[Henry Rosher James]]|[[Jean de Meun]]|[[Notker Labeo]]|[[Geoffrey Chaucer]]|[[Elizabeth I]]}}
}}
{{Neoplatonism}}
'''''On the Consolation of Philosophy''''' ({{langx|la|De consolatione philosophiae}}),<ref>[[David Knowles (scholar)|Knowles, David]] (1967).  "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus",  ''[[The Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', [[Paul Edwards (philosopher)|Paul Edwards]], v. 1, p. 329.</ref> often titled as '''''The Consolation of Philosophy''''' or simply the '''''Consolation''''', is a philosophical work by the Roman philosopher [[Boethius]]. Written in 523 [[Prison literature|while he was imprisoned]] and awaiting execution by the [[Ostrogothic]] King [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]], it is often described as the last great Western work of the Classical Period. Boethius' ''Consolation'' heavily influenced the philosophy of [[late antiquity]], as well as [[Medieval]] and early [[Renaissance]] Christianity.<ref>''The Consolation of Philosophy (Oxford World's Classics)'', Introduction (2000)</ref><ref name="Dante Divine">[[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] placed Boethius the "last of the Romans and first of the Scholastics" among the doctors in his Paradise (see ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'') (see also below).</ref>

==Description==
''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' was written in AD 523 during a one-year imprisonment Boethius served while awaiting trial—and eventual execution—for the alleged crime of [[treason]] under the [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogothic]] King [[Theodoric the Great]]. Boethius was at the very heights of power in [[Ostrogothic Italy|Rome]], holding the prestigious office of ''[[magister officiorum]]'', and was brought down by treachery. This experience inspired the text, which reflects on how evil can exist in a world governed by God (an example of [[theodicy]]), and how happiness is still attainable amidst fickle fortune, while also considering the nature of happiness and God. In 1891, the academic [[Hugh Fraser Stewart]] described the work as "by far the most interesting example of [[prison literature]] the world has ever seen."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Hugh Fraser |url=https://archive.org/details/boethiusanessay00stewuoft/page/n7/mode/2up |title=Boethius, An Essay |date=1891 |publisher=William Blackwood and Sons |location=Edinburgh |page=109 |access-date=1 August 2022}}</ref>

Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and a female personification of philosophy, referred to as "Lady Philosophy". Philosophy consoles Boethius by discussing the transitory nature of wealth, fame, and power ("no man can ever truly be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune"), and the ultimate superiority of things of the mind, which she calls the "one true good". She contends that happiness comes from within, and that virtue is all that one truly has because it is not imperiled by the vicissitudes of fortune.

Boethius engages with the nature of [[predestination]] and [[free will]], the [[problem of evil]] and the "problem of desert",<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Peter |title=Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=9780199661848 |editor-last=Pasnau |editor-first=Robert |location=Oxford, UK |pages=1–22 |chapter=Boethius on the Problem of Desert |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661848.003.0001}}</ref> [[human nature]], [[virtue]], and [[justice]]. He speaks about the nature of free will and [[determinism]] when he asks whether God knows and sees all, or does man have free will. On human nature, Boethius says that humans are essentially good, and only when they give in to "wickedness" do they "sink to the level of being an animal." On justice, he says criminals are not to be abused, but rather treated with sympathy and respect, using the analogy of doctor and patient to illustrate the ideal relationship between prosecutor and criminal.

===Outline===
''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' is laid out as follows:
* '''Book I:''' Boethius laments his imprisonment before he is visited by Philosophy, personified as a woman.
* '''Book II:''' Philosophy illustrates the capricious nature of Fate by discussing the "wheel of Fortune"; she further argues that true happiness lies in the pursuit of wisdom.
* '''Book III:''' Building on the ideas laid out in the previous book, Philosophy explains how wisdom has a divine source; she also demonstrates how many earthly goods (e.g., wealth, beauty) are fleeting at best.
* '''Book IV:''' Philosophy and Boethius discuss the nature of good and evil, with Philosophy offering several explanations concerned with [[Problem of evil|evil]] events and why the wicked can never attain true happiness.
* '''Book V:''' Boethius asks Philosophy about the role [[Indeterminism#Philosophy|Chance]] plays in the order of everything. Philosophy argues that Chance is guided by [[Divine providence|Providence]]. Boethius then asks Philosophy about the compatibility of an omniscient God and [[free will]].

==Interpretation==
In the ''Consolation'', Boethius answered religious questions without reference to Christianity, relying solely on natural philosophy and the Classical [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] tradition. He believed in the correspondence between faith and reason. The truths found in Christianity would be no different from the truths found in philosophy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1998 |title=Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c.480-525/6) |encyclopedia=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |last=Chadwick |first=Henry |editor-first=Edward |editor-last=Craig |quote=The ''Opuscula sacra'' regard faith and reason as independent but parallel and compatible ways of attaining to higher metaphysical truths, and the independent validity of logical reasoning is also an underlying presupposition throughout ''De consolatione''.}}</ref> In the words of Henry Chadwick, "If the ''Consolation'' contains nothing distinctively Christian, it is also relevant that it contains nothing specifically pagan either...[it] is a work written by a Platonist who is also a Christian."<ref>Henry Chadwick, ''Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy'', 1990, {{ISBN|0-19-826549-2}}</ref>

Boethius repeats the [[Macrobius]] model of the Earth in the center of a spherical cosmos.<ref>S.C. McCluskey, ''Astronomies and Cultures in Early Medieval Europe'', (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1998), pp. 114, 123.</ref>

The philosophical message of the book fits well with the religious piety of the Middle Ages. Boethius encouraged readers not to pursue worldly goods such as money and power, but to seek internalized virtues. Evil had a purpose, to provide a lesson to help change for good; while suffering from evil was seen as virtuous. Because God ruled the universe through Love, prayer to God and the application of Love would lead to true happiness.<ref name="Beck">Sanderson Beck (1996).</ref> The Middle Ages, with their vivid sense of an overruling fate, found in Boethius an interpretation of life closely akin to the spirit of Christianity. The ''Consolation'' stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian doctrine of humility, midway between the pagan philosophy of [[Seneca the Younger]] and the later Christian philosophy of consolation represented by [[Thomas à Kempis]].<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance |title-link=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature |chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/211/0605.html |chapter=VI. Alfred and the Old English Prose of his Reign, §5. ''De Consolatione Philosophiae'' |editor-first1=A. W. |editor-last1=Ward |editor-link1=Adolphus Ward |editor-first2=A. R. |editor-last2=Waller |editor-link2=Alfred Rayney Waller |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1907 }}</ref>

The book is heavily influenced by [[Plato]] and his [[Socratic dialogue|dialogues]] (as was Boethius himself).<ref name=Cambridge/> Its popularity can in part be explained by its [[Neoplatonic]]{{Citation needed|reason=It's not at all clear that Boethius was a Neoplatonist as such|date=August 2022}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marenbon |first=John |title=Boethius |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780195134070 |location=Oxford |pages=11–13 |language=English}}</ref> and Christian ethical messages, although current scholarly research is still far from clear exactly why and how the work became so vastly popular in the Middle Ages.

==Influence==
[[Image:Fortune wheel (15c., French).jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Lady Fortune]] with [[Rota Fortunae|the Wheel of Fortune]] in a medieval manuscript of a work by [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]]]]

From the [[Carolingian]] epoch<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gibson |first=Margaret T. |year=1982 |title=Boethius in the Carolingian Schools |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |volume=32 |pages=54–56 |doi=10.1017/S0080440100017333 |issn=0080-4401}}</ref> to the end of the Middle Ages and beyond, ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' was one of the most popular and influential philosophical works, read by statesmen, poets, historians, philosophers, and theologians. It is through Boethius that much of the thought of the Classical period was made available to the Western Medieval world. It has often been said Boethius was the "[[last of the Romans]] and the first of the [[Scholasticism|Scholastics]]".<ref name="Dante Divine" />

Translations into the [[vernacular]] were done by famous notables, including [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] ([[Old English language|Old English]]), [[Jean de Meun]] ([[Old French]]), [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] ([[Middle English]]), [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]] ([[Early Modern English]]), [[Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston]] (English, 1695–1696), and [[Notker Labeo]] ([[Old High German]]).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Boethius in Medieval France: Translations of the De consolatione philosophiae and Literary Influence |encyclopedia=A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004225381/B9789004225381_010.xml |last=Cropp |first=Glynnis M. |date=1 January 2012 |author-link=Glynnis Cropp |editor-last=Kaylor |editor-first=Noel Harold |series=Brill's Companions to the Christian Tradition |volume=30 |pages=319–355 |doi=10.1163/9789004225381_010 |isbn=9789004183544 |editor-last2=Phillips |editor-first2=Philip Edward}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Relihan |first=Joel C. |date=January 2000 |title=Review of: Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-01-16.html |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Archives - Homepage |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/elizabeth-monarchy/elizabeths-translation-of-the-consolation-of-philosophy/ |access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 1991 |title=The Fate of Fortune in the Early Middle Ages: The Boethian Tradition. Jerold C. Frakes |journal=Speculum |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=403–405 |doi=10.2307/2864168 |issn=0038-7134 |jstor=2864168}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Notker (Labeo) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGh4uwEACAAJ |title=Boethius, "De consolatione philosophiae": Consolation, Book I and II |date=1986 |publisher=M. Niemeyer |language=la}}</ref> Other English translators include George Colville (1556), Henry Rosher (H. J.) James (1897), Walter John (W. J.) Sedgefield (1899), and Richard H. Green (1962). Boethius's ''Consolation of Philosophy'' was translated into Italian by Alberto della Piagentina (1332), Anselmo Tanso (Milan, 1520), [[Lodovico Domenichi]] (Florence, 1550), [[Benedetto Varchi]] (Florence, 1551), [[Cosimo Bartoli]] (Florence, 1551) and [[Tommaso Tamburini]] (Palermo, 1657).

Found within the ''Consolation'' are themes that have echoed throughout the Western canon: the female figure of wisdom that informs Dante, the ascent through the layered universe that is shared with Milton, the reconciliation of opposing forces that find their way into Chaucer in ''[[The Knight's Tale]]'', and the Wheel of Fortune so popular throughout the Middle Ages.

Citations from it occur frequently in [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy|Divina Commedia]]''. Of Boethius, Dante remarked: "The blessed soul who exposes the deceptive world to anyone who gives ear to him."<ref>Dante, ''The Divine Comedy''. "Blessed souls" inhabit Dante's Paradise, and appear as flames. (See the note above.)</ref>

Boethian influence can be found nearly everywhere in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s poetry, e.g. in ''[[Troilus and Criseyde]]'', ''[[The Knight's Tale]]'', ''[[The Clerk's Tale]]'', ''[[The Franklin's Tale]]'', ''[[The Parson's Tale]]'' and ''[[The Tale of Melibee]]'', in the character of Lady Nature in ''[[The Parliament of Fowls]]'' and some of the shorter poems, such as ''Truth'', ''The Former Age'' and ''Lak of Stedfastnesse''. Chaucer translated the work in his ''[[Boece (Chaucer)|Boece]]''.

The Italian composer [[Luigi Dallapiccola]] used some of the text in his choral work ''[[Canti di prigionia]]'' (1938). The Australian composer [[Peter Sculthorpe]] quoted parts of it in his opera or music theatre work ''[[Rites of Passage (Sculthorpe)|Rites of Passage]]'' (1972–73), which was commissioned for the opening of the [[Sydney Opera House]] but was not ready in time.

[[Tom Shippey]] in ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'' says how "Boethian" much of the treatment of evil is in [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. Shippey says that Tolkien knew well the translation of Boethius that was made by King Alfred and he quotes some "Boethian" remarks from [[Frodo]], [[Treebeard]], and [[Elrond]].<ref>Tom Shippey, ''The Road to Middle-earth'', pg. 140, {{ISBN|0-395-33973-1}}, (1983).</ref>

[[Image:Consolation of philosophy 1385 boethius images.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Miniatures of Boethius teaching and in prison from a 1385 Italian manuscript]]

Boethius and ''Consolatio Philosophiae'' are cited frequently by the main character Ignatius J. Reilly in the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning ''[[A Confederacy of Dunces]]'' (1980).

It is a [[prosimetrum|prosimetrical]] text, meaning that it is written in alternating sections of [[prose]] and metered [[Meter (poetry)|verse]]. In the course of the text, Boethius displays a virtuosic command of the forms of [[Latin poetry]]. It is classified as a [[Menippean satire]], a fusion of [[allegory|allegorical]] tale, [[platonic dialogue]], and lyrical poetry.

Edward Gibbon described the work as "a golden volume not unworthy of the leisure of [[Plato]] or [[Cicero|Tully]]."<ref>[[Edward Gibbon]]'s ''[[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''</ref>

In the 20th century, there were close to four hundred manuscripts still surviving, a testament to its popularity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Friedman |first=John |title=Orpheus in the Middle Ages |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0815628250 |pages=91}}</ref>

Of the work, [[C. S. Lewis]] wrote: "To acquire a taste for it is almost to become naturalised in the Middle Ages."<ref>C. S. Lewis, ''The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature'', 1964, {{ISBN|0-521-47735-2}}, pg. 75</ref>

In 2024, under the high patronage of the European Parliament, the Italian composer [[Mirco De Stefani]] published ''Cori di Boezio'', for twelve male voices a cappella, on seven poems from ''De Consolatione Philosophiae'', in the 15th centenary of the work.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Mirco |last=De Stefani |title=Follina e le sorgenti d'Europa. Cori di Boezio. Da sette carmi del De Consolatione Philosophiae di Severino Boezio. Nei 1500 anni dell'opera. Per 12 voci maschili a cappella |publisher=Canova |year=2024 |isbn=978-88-8409-333-2}}</ref>

===Reconstruction of lost songs===
Hundreds of Latin songs were recorded in [[neume]]s from the ninth century through to the thirteenth century, including settings of the poetic passages from Boethius's ''The Consolation of Philosophy''. The music of this song repertory had long been considered irretrievably lost because the notational signs indicated only melodic outlines, relying on now-lapsed oral traditions to fill in the missing details. However, research conducted by Sam Barrett at the [[University of Cambridge]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=Sam |title=The Melodic Tradition of Boethius' "De consolatine philosophiae" in the Middle Ages |publisher=Bärenreiter |year=2013 |location=Kassel}}</ref> extended in collaboration with Medieval music ensemble [[Sequentia (music group)|Sequentia]], has shown that principles of musical setting for this period can be identified, providing crucial information to enable modern realisations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2016 |title=First performance in 1,000 years: 'lost' songs from the Middle Ages are brought back to life |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/first-performance-in-1000-years-lost-songs-from-the-middle-ages-are-brought-back-to-life-0 |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=University of Cambridge |language=en}}</ref> Sequentia performed the world premiere of the reconstructed songs from Boethius's ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' at [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], in April 2016, bringing to life music not heard in over 1,000 years; a number of the songs were subsequently recorded on the CD ''Boethius: Songs of Consolation. Metra from 11th-Century Canterbury'' (Glossa, 2018). The detective story behind the recovery of these lost songs is told in a documentary film, and a website launched by the University of Cambridge in 2018 provides further details of the reconstruction process, bringing together manuscripts, reconstructions, and video resources.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Restoring Lost Songs: Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy |url=https://boethius.mus.cam.ac.uk}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Allegory in the Middle Ages]]
* [[Consolatio]]
* [[Girdle book]]
* ''[[The Old English Boethius|Metres of Boethius]]''
* [[Prosimetrum]]
* [[Stoicism]]
* [[Rota Fortunae|The Wheel of Fortune]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Blackwood |first=Stephen |title=The ''Consolation'' of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy |date=2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780198718314 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-consolation-of-boethius-as-poetic-liturgy-9780198718314?cc=us&lang=en&|series=Oxford Early Christian Studies |author-link=Stephen J. Blackwood}}
* Boethius, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0te1I5u6hFEC ''The Consolation of Philosophy''].
** [https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A28543.0001.001 Tr. Anonymous] (London, James Flesher), 1664, Early English Books Online Collections.
** [https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A28549.0001.001 Tr. lover of truth and virtue] (Oxford, H. Hall) 1674, Early English Books Online Collections.
** [https://name.umdl.umich.edu/a28548.0001.001 Tr.] [[Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston]], (London, J.D.) 1695, Early English Books Online Collections.
** [https://archive.org/details/bim%20eighteenth-century%20de-consolatione-philoso%20boethius-anicius-manliu%201785/page/n2/mode/1up?view=theater Tr. Philip Ridpath] (London) 1785 [[Internet Archive]].
** [https://archive.org/details/consolationofphi00boetiala/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater Tr. Henry Rosher James], (London, Elliot Stock) 1897, [[Internet Archive]].
** Tr. Walter John Sedgefield (Oxford), [https://archive.org/details/kingalfredsolde02alfrgoog/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater 1899], [https://archive.org/details/KingAlfredsfBoethius/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater 1900], [[Internet Archive]].
** [https://archive.org/details/consolationofphi029292mbp/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater Tr. Wilbraham Villiers (W. V.) Cooper] (Carlton House, NY & Aldine House London) 1902, [[Internet Archive]].
** [https://archive.org/details/theologicaltract00boetuoft/page/n2/mode/1up?view=theater Tr.] [[Edward Kennard Rand]] (R. & R. Clark, Limited)  1918, 1953, Loeb Classical Library, [[Internet Archive]]. 
** Tr. Richard H. Green, (Library of the Liberal Arts), 1962. {{ISBN|0-02-346450-X}}
** Tr. [[Victor Watts]], (Penguin Classics), 2000. {{ISBN|0-14-044780-6}}
** Tr. Joel C. Relihan, (Hackett Publishing), 2001. {{ISBN|0-87220-583-5}}
** Tr. P. G. Walsh, (Oxford World's Classics), 2001. {{ISBN|0-19-283883-0}}
* [[Charles Norris Cochrane|Cochrane, Charles Norris]]., ''[[Christianity and Classical Culture]]'', 1940, {{ISBN| 978-0865974135}}.
* [[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]], ''Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy'', 1990, {{ISBN|0-19-826549-2}}
* {{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius}}.
* {{Citation |last=Lewis |first=C.S. |title=The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature |year=1964 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-47735-2 |author-link=C. S. Lewis}}.
* Relihan, Joel C., ''Ancient Menippean Satire'', 1993, {{ISBN| 978-0801845246}}
* Relihan, Joel C., ''The Prisoner's Philosophy: Life and Death in Boethius's Consolation, '' 2007, {{ISBN|978-0872205833}}.
* Sanderson Beck, [http://www.san.beck.org/Boethius.html ''The Consolation of Boethius''] an analysis and commentary. 1996.
* ''[[The Cambridge History of English and American Literature]]'', [http://www.bartleby.com/211/0605.html Volume I Ch.6.5: ''De Consolatione Philosophiae''], 1907–1921.

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy}}
{{Wikisourcelang|en|The Consolation of Philosophy|''The Consolation of Philosophy''}}
{{Wikisourcelang|la|De philosophiae consolatione|''De philosophiae consolatione''}}
{{Commons category|Consolation of Philosophy}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/boethius/the-consolation-of-philosophy/h-r-james}}
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14328 ''Consolatio Philosophiae''] from [[Project Gutenberg]], HTML conversion, originally translated by H. R. James, London 1897.
* [http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/boethius/jkok/list_t.htm ''Consolatio Philosophiae''] in the original Latin with English comments at the University of Georgetown
* [http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/first-performance-in-1000-years-lost-songs-from-the-middle-ages-are-brought-back-to-life-0 ''First Performance in 1000 years: lost songs from the Middle Ages are brought back to life'']
* Medieval translations into [https://archive.org/details/kingalfredsangl01unkngoog Old English] by [[Alfred the Great]], [https://archive.org/details/dieschriftennot01pipegoog Old High German] by [[Notker Labeo]], [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k111272g.r=boece.langFR Middle (originally Old) French] by [[Jean de Meun]], and [https://archive.org/details/chaucerstransla00boetgoog Middle English] by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]
* {{librivox book | title=The Consolation of Philosophy | author=Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius}}
* [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3Aboethius%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts ''The Consolation of Philosophy''], many translations and commentaries from [[Internet Archive]]
* [http://www.exclassics.com/consol/conintro.htm ''The Consolation of Philosophy''], Translated by: W.V. Cooper : J.M. Dent and Company London 1902 The Temple Classics, edited by Israel Golancz M.A. Online reading and multiple ebook formats at Ex-classics.

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[[Category:524]]
[[Category:6th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Christian apologetic works]]
[[Category:Dialogues]]
[[Category:Prose texts in Latin]]
[[Category:Medieval philosophical literature]]
[[Category:Prison writings]]
[[Category:Theodicy]]
[[Category:Visionary literature]]