Bøker av Boethius

The Consolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius' one-year imprisonment. He examines how evil can exist in a world governed by God and how happiness is still attainable amidst fickle fortune, and considers the nature of happiness.

A vivid and accessible new translation of essential selections from Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy—a moving classic about facing life’s worst events with courage and hopeWhat do you do when your life has fallen apart? Fifteen hundred years ago, a Roman nobleman named Boethius (ca. 480–524 CE) asked this question as he was sitting in a prison cell waiting to die, accused—probably unjustly—of treason. Boethius had been a rich and powerful man with all a person could want in life, but now he had lost everything. Shaken, he wondered how such terrible misfortune could have happened to him and why life was so unfair. When Philosophy herself appears in his cell and confronts Boethius, the conversation that follows between the two on the nature of evil and why humans suffer is as powerful and inspiring today as it was to its first readers. In How to Endure Hardship, Philip Freeman presents a lively modern translation of essential selections from Boethius’s classic, complete with an introduction and the original Latin on facing pages.This translation vividly captures Boethius’s journey from bitterness and anger to reconciliation and peace, showing how ancient philosophy, especially Stoicism, can help readers deal with adversity in their own lives. The book reveals the qualities that have made The Consolation of Philosophy one of the most popular and influential works of classical and world literature, and an inspiration to countless writers, including Thomas Aquinas, Dante, and Chaucer.

Born in the late 5th century AD, Boethius was a Roman statesman and philosopher who would come into the service of the Ostrogothic ruler of Italy, Theodoric the Great. Ultimately he would rise to the position of magister officiorum, the head of all the government and court services. In 523 AD he would find himself accused of treasonous correspondence with Justin I, a charge that would land him in prison and ultimately lead to his execution. During Boethius's year-long imprisonment leading up to his execution he wrote "The Consolation of Philosophy," a work that would become regarded as one of the most important and influential works from medieval times. "The Consolation of Philosophy" is a classical exposition of human nature as Boethius reflects on the treacherous betrayal that led to his fall from favor with his lord. In it he ponders the universal question of Theodicy, or why a benevolent and all powerful God allows evil to manifest in the world, and on the transitory nature of fortune. Meant to provide himself with some solace in the face of his fated execution, Boethius' "The Consolation of Philosophy" is a work that has provided spiritual guidance to those in despair ever since its first appearance. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

The Old English Boethius is an Old English translation / adaptation of the sixth-century Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, dating from between c. 880 and 950. Boethius's work is prosimetrical, alternating between prose and verse, and one of the two surviving manuscripts of the Old English translation renders the poems as Old English alliterative verse: these verse translations are known as the Metres of Boethius. NOTE: While Introduction and notes are in modern English, and a glossary is also included, the book does not contain a translation into modern English of the text of Consolation of Philosophy.