Boethius

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will focus on Boethius’ most famous work, the Consolatio Philosophiae. Written in the early sixth century by a Roman senator facing execution, the Consolatio is a profound philosophical meditation on human nature that straddles the divide between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its influence on later literature would be hard to overstate, and its authorial voice, calmly rational in the face of great adversity, has brought comfort to generations. Composed in alternating prose and poetry, the Consolatio has a multifaceted quality that encompasses many genres from autobiography to epic. The text will be read in the original Latin.