#consolation of philosophy

[fealtypledger]

Le Livre de Boece de Consolacion, Book IV

Boethius, Harley 4338 Illuminated Manuscript

[lilithsaintcrow]

"Because these aural traditions died out in the 12th century, it has often been thought impossible to reconstruct ‘lost’ music from this era – precisely because the pitches are unknown."

An Ancient Philosophical Song Reconstructed and Played for the First Time in 1,000 Years

Above and below, you can watch musicians perform 'Songs of Consolation,' a 1,000-year-old song set 'to the poetic portions of Roman philosop

[kayrastune]

Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy

[lionofchaeronea]

Checking off another item on my list of "Works I should have read long ago" by reading Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy (De consolatione philosophiae), the great work of spiritual self-healing that in many respects marks the transition from the classical to the medieval worlds. I'm developing more and more of an interest in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages*, and Boethius is powerful evidence that the great classical heritage didn't simply evanesce into nothingness when Rome fell to the "barbarians".

*Assuming one can clearly distinguish between the two periods, which is highly debatable. One must always be careful about imposing modern notions of periodization onto the past; it's unlikely that the average Italian peasant woke up one day and said "Huh. April 12. We must be medieval by now."

[pilibdc]

Currently Reading

The Consolation of Philosophy by Anicius Boethius.

I discovered this book while reading A Confederacy of Dunces. The main character is constantly referencing it and even lends out his copy. So I naturally decided to investigate

[saint-rouge]

It is not that a man of virtue is honoured because of high office, but rather that the office is honoured because of his virtue.

Boethius

[pineapplem00n]

Please I need to share this with people. For medieval lit class we are reading Consolation of Philosophy, so I blacked out and made this meme.