Boethius'sConsolation of Philosophyand the Greco-Roman Consolatory Tradition

Abstract

The scholarship on the literary genre of Boethius'sConsolation of Philosophy(henceforthConsolatio) proposes a surprising interpretation: theConsolatiois not a consolation in spite of its title and overt goal. Typically, scholars of the consolatory genre simply note that theConsolatioshould not be considered together with ancient and medieval consolations. Scholars of theConsolatio, however, offer specific reasons as to why Boethius's text is not a consolation. One is stylistic: some interpreters (Curley, Dronke, Marenbon, Pabst, Payne, Relihan) argue that the prosimetric style in which theConsolatiois written is typical of a “Menippean satire” and does not befit a consolation. The content of theConsolatiois also considered to be at odds with the consolatory genre: Boethius's text is interpreted as promising a consolation that either is not delivered (Payne, Relihan) or is only partially achieved (Marenbon). Finally, some scholars (O'Daly, Gruber, Rand, Reiss, Shanzer) hold that because theConsolatiopresents features that are typical of several literary genres (i.e., Menippean satire, philosophical dialogue, exhortation to philosophy, etc.) it is impossible to classify Boethius's last work as belonging exclusively to one genre or another — the text should, thus, be regarded as an “eclectic” work.