Addiction and the Reinterpretation of Desire in Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy

William J. Bouwsma influentially argued, in 1975, that “[t]he two ideological poles between which Renaissance humanism oscillated may be roughly labelled ‘Stoicism’ and ‘Augustinianism.’” He suggested that white individual humanists might, at different times, favour some version of one over some version of the other, their intellectual allegiances were nonetheless fundamentally divided between the two. An unacknowledged possibility in Bouwsma’s essay is that humanist texts might interplay the two—knowingly or unselfconsciously. Stoical elements and Augustinianism can be seen to co-exist in Boethius’ The Consolation of Philosophy, a notable precedent, perhaps. Further, they can be seen to co-exist in More’s Fortune Verses, which are at once a sophisticated contribution to the literature of Fortune and an example (most likely a self-conscious one) of Stoicism’s literary cohabitation with Augustinianism.

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Boethius and Dialogue: Literary Method in The Consolation of Philosophy

The American Journal of Philology ◽

10.2307/294684 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 108 (3) ◽

pp. 544

Author(s):

James A. Arieti ◽

Seth Lerer

Keyword(s):

Consolation Of Philosophy

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Cicero: On Fate

10.3828/liverpool/9780856684760.001.0001 ◽

1992 ◽

Author(s):

R.W. Sharples

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Free Will ◽

English Translation ◽

Western Europe ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Latin Text ◽

Greek Philosophy ◽

Philosophical Issue ◽

Latin Culture ◽

Consolation Of Philosophy

Cicero and Boethius did more than anyone else to transmit the insights of Greek philosophy to the Latin culture of Western Europe, which has played so influential a part in our civilisation to this day. Cicero's treatise On Fate (De Fato), though surviving only in a fragmentary and mutilated state, records contributions to the discussion of a central philosophical issue, that of free will and determinism, which are comparable in importance to those of twentieth-century philosophers and indeed sometimes anticipate them. Study of the treatise has been hindered by the lack of a combined Latin text and English translation based on a clear understanding of the arguments; this edition is intended to meet this need. The last book of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy (Philosophiae Consolationis) is linked with Cicero's treatise by its theme, the relation of divine foreknowledge to human freedom. The book presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.

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Tale and Parable: Theorizing Fictions in the Old English Boethius

PMLA ◽

10.1632/s0030812921000249 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 136 (3) ◽

pp. 340-355

Author(s):

Jennifer A. Lorden

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

English Language ◽

Ninth Century ◽

Sixth Century ◽

English Writing ◽

Classical Myth ◽

History Of ◽

Consolation Of Philosophy ◽

First Time ◽

Fictional Story

AbstractScholarship has often considered the concept of fiction a modern phenomenon. But the Old English Boethius teaches us that medieval people could certainly tell that a fictional story was a lie, although it was hard for them to explain why it was all right that it was a lie—this is the problem the Old English Boethius addresses for the first time in the history of the English language. In translating Boethius's sixth-century Consolation of Philosophy, the ninth-century Old English Boethius offers explanatory comments on its source's narrative exempla drawn from classical myth. While some of these comments explain stories unfamiliar to early medieval English audiences, others consider how such “false stories” may be read and experienced by those properly prepared to encounter them. In so doing, the Old English Boethius must adopt and adapt a terminology for fiction that is unique in the extant corpus of Old English writing.

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Troilus and Criseyde and the ‘Parfit Blisse of Love’

Critical Survey ◽

10.3167/cs.2018.300204 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 51-73

Author(s):

Simone Fryer-Bovair

Keyword(s):

Romantic Love ◽

Critical Discussion ◽

Troilus And Criseyde ◽

Consolation Of Philosophy ◽

The Relationship

This article examines Chaucer’s response to Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy in Troilus and Criseyde. I argue that Chaucer responds to a tension that he perceives in Boethius’s Consolation regarding the relationship between this world and the divine, in particular the value to be placed on romantic love. This tension is at the heart of the most recent critical discussion of Boethius’s text. I consider the morally improving qualities of romantic love and suggest that Chaucer envisages a version of romantic love that is a bridge between this world and the divine, rather than a divide.

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