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consolatio philosophiae

Latin Phrases
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The consolation of philosophy; the title of Boethius's masterwork, and the idea that philosophical reasoning provides comfort in adversity.

Detailed Definition
Consolatio philosophiae refers to Boethius's sixth-century work written while awaiting execution, in which Philosophy personified consoles him with arguments about fortune, the good, and Providence. The work became one of the most widely read texts of the medieval period and profoundly influenced poetry in Latin and the vernacular. In verse, the consolatio tradition shapes any poem that uses meditation, argument, or philosophical reflection to transform grief into understanding and acceptance.
Example
Example in poetry:
Boethius wrote the Consolatio philosophiae while awaiting execution — making it the supreme example of the genre and the most extreme test of philosophical consolation; Chaucer translated the Consolatio philosophiae and it pervades his poetry, particularly Troilus and Criseyde, where the wheel of Fortune is the dominant image; Milton's "Lycidas" draws on the consolatio philosophiae tradition, moving through grief to philosophical and theological consolation before arriving at the Christian hope of resurrection; A student writing an elegy might structure it according to the consolatio philosophiae model — beginning in grief, passing through philosophical meditation, and arriving at a form of acceptance or reframing; Tennyson's "In Memoriam" is the Victorian equivalent of consolatio philosophiae — 133 cantos of philosophical and spiritual wrestling with grief gradually producing, if not resolution, then at least accommodation
Additional Notes
Consolatio philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy) was written by Boethius in 524 CE while he awaited execution, having been condemned on charges of treason. The work is a prosimetrum — alternating prose sections and verse sections — in which the personified Lady Philosophy visits Boethius in prison and consoles him through philosophical argument. Students should note that the work became one of the most widely read texts in the medieval period: Chaucer, Alfred the Great, and Queen Elizabeth I all translated it. The consolatio genre it represents — using philosophical argument to transform grief or distress — runs through the entire elegiac tradition. Related terms include the prosimetrum form, the personification allegory, the wheel of Fortune (fortuna's rota, which is the central image of Boethius's argument), and the genre of the philosophical dialogue.
Also Known As
consolation of philosophy the consolation of philosophy Boethius's consolation
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