The Consolation of Boethius
by Sanderson Beck
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was born
into a Christian aristocratic family, learned
Greek and translated many works into Latin,
wrote books on arithmetic, geometry, music,
and theology, became Consul of Rome under
King Theodoric in 510, had the honor of his
two sons becoming joint Consuls in 522 when
they were chosen by Theodoric and the eastern
Emperor Justin, after which he was selected
for the high position of magister officiorum,
when suddenly he was accused of treason for
defending the Roman Senate and the falsely
accused Albinus and put in prison in 523
by Theodoric's command. In the context of
this situation of his drastic fall from the
heights of fortune, Boethius wrote while
in prison the Consolation of Philosophy.
After about a year's time in which the work
was completed, he was brutally executed.
The chronicle Anonymous Valesii states in
articles 85-87:
The king began to show anger against the
Romans whenever there was opportunity. Cyprian,
who was then Referendarius and afterwards
Count of the Sacred Largesses and Master
of Offices, driven by greed, laid an information
against Albinus the Patrician that he had
sent letters to the Emperor Justin hostile
to Theodoric's rule. Upon being summoned
before the Court, Albinus denied the accusation
and then Boethius the Patrician, who was
Master of Offices, said in the King's presence:
"False is the information of Cyprian,
but if Albinus did it, both I and the whole
Senate did it with one accord. It is false,
my lord, Oh King. " Then Cyprian with
hesitation brought forward false witnesses
not only against Albinus but also against
his defender Boethius. But the King was laying
a trap for the Romans and seeking how he
might kill them; he put more confidence in
the false witnesses than in the Senators.
Then Albinus and Boethius were taken into
custody to the baptistery of the Church.
But the King summoned Eusebius, Prefect of
the city of Ticenum, and without giving Boethius
a hearing, passed sentence upon him. The
King soon afterwards caused him to be killed
on the Calventian territory where he was
held in custody. He was tortured for a very
long time by a cord that was twisted round
his forehead so that his eyes started from
his head. Then at last amidst his torments
he was killed with a club. 1
Something of Boethius' and his father-in-law
Symmachus' characters and the consequences
of Theodoric's action are described in the
History of the Wars V, i, by the Byzantine
historian Procopius who lived at the time
of their death.
Theodoric reigned thirty-even years and after
having inspired terror in all his enemies
died leaving among his subjects a keen sense
of regret at his loss. And he died in the
following manner.
Symmachus and Boethius his son-in-law, both
of noble and ancient lineage, were leading
men of the Roman Senate and had been Consuls.
Their practice of philosophy, their unsurpassed
devotion to justice, their use of their wealth
to relieve the distress of many strangers
as well as citizens, and the great fame they
thus attained caused men of worthless character
to envy them. And when these laid false information
against them to Theodoric, he believed them
and put Symmachus and Boethius to death on
the charge of plotting a revolution, and
confiscated their property. And when Theodoric
was dining a few days afterwards his servants
placed before him the head of a large fish.
This seemed to Theodoric to be the head of
Symmachus newly slain. Indeed with its teeth
set in its lower lip, and its eyes looking
at him in a dreadful frenzied stare, it had
a most threatening appearance. Greatly alarmed
at this extraordinary portent and shivering
with cold, Theodoric hastened to his bed,
and bidding his servants pile clothes upon
him he rested a while. But later he revealed
all that had happened to his physician Elpidius
and wept for his sin against Symmachus and
Boethius. Then having lamented and felt great
sorrow for the calamity, he died not long
afterwards---this being the first and last
act of injustice he had committed against
his subjects---and the reason of it was that
he had not, in the case of these two men,
made the thorough examination he as accustomed
to make before passing judgment. 2
Boethius' contribution and skill in translating
Greek works into Latin is implied by Cassiodorus
in a letter to him in the name of Theodoric
in which he also requests a sundial.
In your translations Pythagoras the musician,
Ptolemy the astronomer, are read by the Italians;
Nicomachus the arithmetician, Euclid the
geometer, are heard by the Ausonians; Plato
the theologian and Aristotle the logician
dispute in Roman voice; nay, you have given
back the mechanician Archimedes in Latin
to the Sicilians. And whatever disciplines
or arts the eloquence of the Greeks has taught
through various men, Rome has received on
your authority alone in the speech of the
fatherland. These you have rendered clear
with such luminous words and marked with
such propriety of expression that anyone
who had learned them both might have preferred
your work. 3
Boethius wrote in one of his own books that
his goal was to translate and make commentaries
on all of Plato and Aristotle to show their
essential agreement, but due to his early
death only some of the Aristotle was he able
to pass on to the Western world which for
seven centuries had very little other knowledge
than his work on logic. If we take the view
of Boethius' Philosophy we could say that
by Providence and his fate he had to write
without the use of his library his own version
of philosophy. He wisely used his own circumstances
of exalted fortune contrasted with wretched
misfortune to show the transcendental character
of Philosophy over the changeable nature
of the human world. In doing so he gave to
the Middle Ages the Consolation of Philosophy
from a Christian which shows by philosophical
reasoning and divine intelligence the highest
good to which all things move in spite of
and beyond the trials and tribulations of
temporal fortune. While barbarians were gradually
civilizing western Europe and many Christians
were retreating into monasteries, the spirit
of the times produced the Consolation of
Philosophy so that they could understand
that fortune was a changeable illusion and
that they could go within to find the highest
good and realize that they were moving in
that divine direction.
Boethius' Consolation was destined to become
one of the most popular books of the Medieval
period. In the twentieth century Schepss
and Engelbrecht recorded that there is close
to four hundred manuscripts. This is more
than the very popular Roman de la Rose and
Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia. Beginning
in 1471 the Consolation was printed apparently
at Savigliano and followed with editions
at Nuremberg, Toulouse, Cologne, Louvain,
Ghent, Lyons, Venice, Basel, Strassburg,
and other places. The translations through
the ages are numerous and often accompanied
by commentaries and occasionally charts and
diagrams. 4 English translations were done
personally by such notable people as King
Alfred, Chaucer, and Queen Elizabeth I. Dante
called Boethius, "The blessed soul who
exposes the deceptive world to anyone who
gives ear to him."
In looking at the Consolation of Philosophy
from the viewpoints of history and education,
two important questions arise. Why was Boethius'
work read so much for so long, and what did
it have to teach these people? And secondly,
why has the work been so ignored in recent
times? To answer these we must examine the
message of the book.
Boethius is bewailing his fate in prison
after his fall from fortune, when Philosophy
makes her appearance in a gown made of her
own hands which shows a Pi on the lower border
and Theta on the upper with rungs in between
to how one may ascend from the Practical
to the Theoretical or divine (Theos ). Boethius
complains of his unjust sufferings, and Philosophy
promises to cure him using a gentler means
until he is ready for the sharper remedy.
She uses a dialectical method to determine
his disease, for the Philosophy of Plato
stated that the remedy for the ignorance
of not knowing is teaching while the remedy
for the double ignorance of thinking that
one knows when one does not is therapy. When
questioned as to the guidance of the universe,
Boethius responds that he does know that
God overlooks His work, but he does not know
how the universe is governed or to what end.
Philosophy seems surprised to find that he
who knows the beginning of all things should
not know their end. Boethius is able to remember
that he is a man, which he defines as an
animal, reasoning and mortal. This Philosophy
diagnoses as the chief cause of his sickness,
that he has forgotten who he is, what the
aim and end of all things is, and how the
universe is guided; but thanks to the "Giver
of all health," he still has a "true
knowledge of the hand that guides the universe,"
and "from this tiny spark the fire of
life shall forthwith shine upon you."5
The gentler remedy begins as Philosophy shows
how changeable Fortune herself owes Boethius
nothing just because she has withdrawn what
she had loaned to him. This does not really
console him, and Philosophy indicates that
"these are not the remedies for your
sickness, but in some sort are the applications
for your grief which chafes against its cure."6
Philosophy suggests that it is his attitude
which makes things appear wretched while
the one who endures all with a calm mind
finds oneself blessed. She chides him, "Why,
then, O mortal men, do you seek that happiness
outside, which lies within yourselves?"7
She teaches him that happiness is found by
mastering oneself, which fortune can never
take away.
Philosophy discusses the various desires
of men for riches, gems, beautiful clothes,
servants, which are really only good in themselves
and do not actually extend their goodness
to their possessor. All other things of God
are satisfied by their own intrinsic good;
only human who should be above other creatures
lowers themselves to seek value in worthless
things. Yet humans unlike animals have the
ability to know themselves. Philosophy shows
the vicissitudes of power, position, and
fame, and how they have no intrinsic good
since they are often used for evil. Philosophy
now suggests that Boethius let Fortune and
her friends depart for he has found his most
precious friends, as she reveals that it
is through Love that the natural and human
forces of the universe are guided:
"All these are firmly bound by Love,
which rules both earth and sea, and has its
empire in the heavens too. If Love should
slacken its hold, all mutual love would change
to war; and these would strive to undo the
scheme which now their glorious movements
carry out with trust and accord. By Love
are peoples too kept bound together by a
treaty which they may not break. Love binds
with pure affection the sacred tie of wedlock,
and speaks its bidding to all trusty friends.
O happy race of mortals if your hearts are
ruled as is the universe, by Love."8
Now Boethius has received the greatest comfort
and is eager for the sharper remedy. Philosophy
indicates her transcendental awareness and
causative relationship to Boethius' mind
when she says, "I knew it when you laid
hold upon my word in silent attention, and
I was waiting for that frame of mind in you,
or more truly, I brought it about in you."9
Philosophy is leading him to the true happiness
of which his soul dreams, but first must
show it in a picture of words "so that,
when that picture is perfect and you turn
your eyes to the other side, you may recognize
the form of true happiness."10
Philosophy reveals the true goal of humans
as "the highest good" whereas people
usually only seek partial aspects of the
good:
The trouble of the many and various aims
of mortal men bring them much care, and herein
they go forward by different paths but strive
to reach one end, which is happiness. And
that good is that, to which if any person
attain, one can desire nothing further. It
is that highest of all good things, and it
embraces in itself all good things; if any
good is lacking , it cannot be the highest
good, since then there is left outside it
something which can be desired Therefore
happiness is a state which is made perfect
by the union of all good things. This end
all people seek to reach, as I said, though
by different paths. For there is implanted
by nature in human minds a desire for the
true good; but error leads them astray towards
false goods by wrong paths. 11
Then Philosophy shows the vanity of riches,
honorable positions, political power, fame,
noble birth, desires of the flesh, and how
they lead people astray from what is their
true good. Through dialectic it is determined
that the highest good includes happiness,
satisfaction, power, glory, and veneration.
As Philosophy's pupil Plato in his Timaeus
suggests always calling upon God at the beginning
of any enterprise, Philosophy and Boethius
agree to call upon the Father of all in order
to be able to find out what is the highest
good. The prayer concludes:
Grant them, O Father that this mind of ours
may rise to Your throne of majesty; grant
us to reach that fount of good. Grant that
we may so find light that we may set on You
unblinded eyes; cast You from there the heavy
clouds of this material world. Shine forth
upon us in Your own true glory. You are the
bright and peaceful rest of all Your children
that worship You. To see You clearly is the
limit of our aim. You are our beginning,
our progress our guide, our way, our end.
12
In examining the relationship between God,
the good, and happiness in this light it
is found "that the highest Deity must
be full of the highest, the perfect good.
But as we have laid down that true happiness
is perfect good, it must be that true happiness
is situated in His Divinity."13 God
as the fountain-head of all things has not
received Its good from outside, but it is
the essence that comes from It. God rules
the universe for the highest good, and all
things move toward that good according to
their own will be being obedient to the helmsman
of good.
Book IV discuses the question that if God
is good, then what is evil and where does
it come from since it can't come from God.
Philosophy shows how those who are good are
strong because everyone seeks the good, and
the ability to attain it is evidence of power
while the evil are weak because they have
not attained it. Those who are called evil
are not capable of all, because they have
limited themselves by their desire to a partial
reality, and thus do not attain happiness
or the highest good. From God's viewpoint
everything is really good, because those
who are called evil and who suffer punishment
for their actions are really receiving the
correction that is good for them, and good
actions even in spite of adversity receive
their reward in the strength of virtue which
is a lasting good. Philosophy explains to
Boethius that whereas Fate is the order of
temporal things, these are a result of Providence
where they are "unified in the intelligence
of the mind of God."14
When Boethius wonders about chance, Philosophy
declares that there is no such thing since
God controls everything in order. Boethius
then questions about free will. Philosophy
states that the reasoning of human nature
indicates freedom of judgment. Boethius cannot
reconcile God's omniscience with human free
will and gives a long argument over this
common perplexity. If God knows what is going
to happen, then how can human choice be free
since it appears to be predestined. To answer
this Philosophy must go beyond human reason
to divine intelligence and explains how something
can be known without the knowledge being
the cause of it. In sum God knows what will
happen because It is aware of all the possibilities
of human free choice no matter which ones
are takes. I liken this to an ant crawling
up a tree . God is the tree and a human is
the ant who chooses which route of branches
to follow. God is able to know beyond the
fleeting temporal dimension through the consciousness
of the Eternal Present from which vantage
point one can see all the past, the present,
and future possibilities and probabilities,
so once the choice is made God knows the
results. "It is constant in preceding
and embracing by one glance all your changes.
And God does not receive this ever-present
grasp of all things and vision of the present
at the occurrence of future events, but from
Its own peculiar directness."15
The conclusion is that human free will is
validated, that life is ethical in that there
is the responsibility of accepting the consequence
of actions, that prayer is efficacious because
God does constantly act in the world through
Providence, and that the highest good is
worth striving for because it is the only
true happiness.
Thus, therefore, mortal humans have their
freedom of judgment intact. And since their
wills are freed from all binding necessity,
laws do not set rewards or punishments unjustly.
God is ever the constant foreknowing overseer,
and the ever-present eternity of Its sight
moves in harmony with the future nature of
our actions, as it dispenses rewards to the
good, and punishments to the bad. Hopes are
not vainly put in God, nor prayers in vain
offered: if these are right, they cannot
but be answered. Turn therefore from vice:
ensue virtue: raise your soul to upright
hopes: send up on high your prayers from
this earth. If you would be honest, great
is the necessity enjoined upon your goodness,
since all you do is done before the eyes
of an all-seeing Judge. 16
Thus the piety of the Medieval times was
given the philosophical reasoning for its
faith. They were encouraged to seek the intrinsic
good rather than worldly goals. Evil was
seen to be a corrective lesson while suffering
from wrong was virtuous. Since God rules
the universe through Love, prayer to the
source of all good was found to lead to true
happiness. How often do historians look back
to see what artifacts they can find to judge
an epoch of humanity by its extrinsic wealth?
Who can say that this inward period of humanity
did not prepare the way for the productiveness
of the Renaissance like a person quiets one's
consciousness in contemplation and prayer
before creating a great work of art or literature
or science? The Middle Ages were difficult
times politically and economically, but who
can estimate how much happiness they inwardly
received from the Consolation of Philosophy?
In our own times the build-up of extrinsic
products and wealth has become so burdensome
that we are polluting ourselves with its
waste. Yet a shortage of food and economic
difficulties are bringing a change of fortune
to many people. The good in this is that
it is awakening people to their responsibility.
Many people are suffering from the disease
of materialism and will be realizing their
lack of happiness. This is just a personal
point of view, but it seems to me that the
cure i soon going to be applied through therapy
and teaching as people realize that divine
Love does rule the universe and that they
can live in harmony through this consciousness
of Love, that the ever constant goal is the
highest good and that by asking God for the
highest good of all concerned continuous
blessings are experienced. In times of adversity
consolation from Philosophy is much appreciated.
Notes
1. Barrett, Boethius, pp. 58-59.
2. Ibid., pp. 59-60.
3. Patch, The Tradition of Boethius, p. 2.
4. Ibid., pp. 22, 26, 27.
5. Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, I,
p. 18.
6. Ibid., II, p. 24.
7. Ibid., II, p. 28.
8. Ibid., II, pp. 40-41.
9. Ibid., III, p. 42.
10. Ibid., III, p. 42.
11. Ibid., III, p. 43.
12. Ibid., III, p. 60.
13. Ibid., III, p. 61.
14. Ibid., IV, p. 91.
15. Ibid., V, p. 119.
16. Ibid., V, p. 120.
Copyright 1996 by Sanderson Beck
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