Written while Boethius was in prison awaiting execution, 'The Consolation of Philosophy' consists of a dialogue in alternating prose and verse between the author, lamenting his own sorrows, and a majestic woman, who is the incarnation of his guardian Philosophy. The woman develops a modified form of Neo-Platonism and Stoicism, demonstrating the unreality of earthly fortunes, then proving that the highest good and the highest happiness are in God, and reconciling the apparent contradictions concerning the existence of everything.
This newly revised edition includes a lengthy introduction and detailed page notes by classical scholar H. R. James.