The consolation of philosophy book 16/23/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Philosophy promises Boethius that she will heal his misery, and tells him that the “cure” he needs is truth. Philosophy declares that the wise have always been persecuted “by the forces of evil” for their beliefs, and that now the “wicked and unprincipled men” who control Rome are doing the same to Boethius, who is honest and virtuous. Weeping, Boethius sings that Philosophy’s reappearance in his life is like sunlight peering out of the sky after a thunderstorm. She reveals herself to be Philosophy and reminds Boethius that he used to be her attentive student, but that he has since forgotten the wisdom and happiness he gained from her. She wears a beautiful but neglected dress, which has been “torn by the hands of marauders” and has the letters Pi (Π) and Theta (Θ) woven into the hemline. But an “awe-inspiring” female figure suddenly shows up and kicks the Muses out of his room. Having spent his life working in the highest echelons of government in Rome, he is miserable at the misfortune that has brought him to his current predicament.īoethius calls on the Muses, the Greek goddesses of the creative arts, to help him write poetry that adequately captures his despair. Written in sections of alternating prose and poetry, The Consolation of Philosophy begins with Boethius describing the conditions in which he actually wrote the book in the year 524: he is sitting in a prison cell awaiting execution for a crime he did not commit. ![]()
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