The Consolation Of Philosophy By Boethius Analysis

Socrates and Boethius – two men that have left an everlasting footprint in the world of philosophy. They seem to be similar in their experiences of injustice, but we learn how very different their outlooks are while they are facing imprisonment and execution. Little did they know, their experiences would forever change how philosophy would be conceived in the years ahead.

The theme of fate and fortune in Romeo and Juliet is shown by the line ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’. The word, ‘star-cross’d’ portray that the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, will meet because the stars are aligned for them. This shows that fate is a concept in Shakespeare's play. Fortune was a big part of the Elizabethan world and was believed to be the main controlling force in life. From zodiac signs to the wheel of Fortune, Elizabethan’s believed in fate and the

When I think of the concept of “evil,” I think of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy stated:

Over the centuries, the concept of fate is constantly being changed to adapt to our current way of living. In modern times the concept of fate is usually connected to the themes of love and romance. However the ancient Greeks recognized fate as an inescapable reality that shaped their lives. The famous playwright, Sophocles, adopts the idea of fate in his plays to control the character’s actions. In both plays, “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, the writer uses the concept of fate to show human’s inability to conquer the will of the gods.

Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control. In “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, tells us about a tragic hero (Oedipus) in which his life is predetermined by fate, because he is deprived of free will. The first act of fate on Oedipus was him being saved by a shepherd when his parents (Queen Jocasta and King Laius) left him in the mountains to die, he then met and killed his father without knowing who he was, and last, he married Queen Jocasta, later realizing that she was his mother. Every action that Oedipus took to prevent his fate, would soon be the ultimate downfall, not only for himself, but for his family and the people of Thebes.

Propitiously book one heralds the discourse, surrounding primarily what is involved in the pursuit of happiness, innocuously conferring a multifarious picture. Albeit, before we propound on this it is worth mentioning that the cause of this topic is the caricature of old age and its typical correlation with misery depravity. First, Cephalus gives us the view that it is one's good character that promulgates happiness and not age related; but this is challenged in light of Socrates who appends that it is due to the rise of his opulence that he has this view. To conclude it would seem at appropriate level that ones virtue is in part a factor but not an ultimate factor; for it remains scanty that one could truly say that they are happy if they

Fortune cannot be trusted: “who may truste on Fortune any throwe?” (The Monk’s Tale, 2136), “For whan men trusteth hire, thane wol she faille” (The Monk’s Tale, 2765) because she is also changeable: she can favour one person one day, and turn her tail the day after. The Monk tells the story of Alexander in saying “Fortune him made the heir of hire honour” (2643) at the beginning, and stating at the end “Thy sis Fortune hath turned into aas / And yet for thee ne weep she nevere a teere” (2661-62). Her ceaseless change can be sumned up into one single sentence: “Fortune was first freen, and sitthe foo” (2723).

While philosophy provides a path for humans to contemplate how the world works, it ultimately provides Boethius consolation indirectly by pointing to Christianity. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius defines a human as, “A rational and mortal creature” however, Lady Philosophy implies he is missing something and declares, “Now I know the other, in fact the greatest, cause of your disease: you no longer know what you are.” She believes that Boethius is in so much distress not primarily because of the difficult situation he’s facing in prison, but because he has forgotten in part what it means to be human, “A rational and mortal creature” created by good and loving God in His image. After her diagnosis, Lady Philosophy begins to cure Boethius through reason and dialogue, but ultimately strives to restore his relationship with God as the root of his dilemma comes from a lack of faith in God. Similar to a doctor referring a patient to a specialist, Lady Philosophy shows Boethius that he needs to turn to God in his despair in order to receive full consolation. As such, Lady Philosophy’s remedy consists of her using reason and philosophy to point out that Boethius the answers to the questions he has is derived from an understanding of God. In Book 3, Lady Philosophy asks, “What do you think we should do when we are looking for the foundation of the highest Good?” to which Boethius replies, “We should call upon the Father of all things. If we leave this out, we can’t make a proper beginning of our work.” Here marks the point, in the middle of the novel, where Boethius begins to turn to God for him in his dire situation. At this point, he is beginning to understand that God is source of all good and blessedness, rather than abiding in material goods and earthly views of happiness such as fame and wealth. For the rest of the book, God comes up more frequently in their dialogue and the conversation shifts to a more faith based discussion.

Sophocles states that “Fate has terrible power. You cannot escape it by wealth or war. No fort will keep it out, no ships outrun it.” Fate derives from a Latin word, fatum, meaning that one’s future is predetermined. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles unfolds the misfortune of a noble king who searches for knowledge. Evidently, Greek heroes like Oedipus are destined to rule, but are also bound to fall, therefore, he cannot alter his own fate. This tragic play proves that the power of fate is indeed stronger than one’s free will. Despite his attempts to fight his destiny, Oedipus can never outrun his fate. Regardless of his parents’ desperation to evade the predicted outcome, fate guides his journey for knowledge, leading to his destruction.

In Book II, Lady Philosophy is continuing to gently lead Boethius to the cure for his sorrows. Book II is her “gentle” discussion of fortune, and how we esteem it as fickle. Her discussion is gentle in that she begins with rhetoric and music, though eventually moving toward direct argument/proposition. When delving into the more "harsh" treatment, Lady Philosophy persists in reminding Boethius of what gifts he has: his adoptive father, his wife, his sons, etc. She advises Boethius that bad fortune is actually even better than only knowing good fortune, for only if we know the bad, can we fully understand and appreciate the good. Overall, she does not feel Boethius should complain about losing his good fortune, for she does not believe in any positive effects of good fortune. In fact, she finds misfortune to be better. For instance, bad fortune reveals Boethius' true friends.

It might seem at first glance that the role of fate in the play is crucial to its outcome. Certainly many of the characters blame fate/destiny for what happens to them, and the language of the play does at times encourage the audience to view the events as dominated by fate. Romeo for example describes himself as 'fortune's fool', and the prologue seems to follow his judgement in its pronunciation of the couple as 'a pair of star cross'd lovers'. The play is full of ominous lines which take various forms. Firstly, there is the kind of comment by the speaker that all is not well, such as in Act 1, Scene 4 when Romeo and Mercutio discuss Romeo's dream in which he has had a premonition that

	Throughout his life, Aurelius was never able to be happy being an emperor. Even though he had money and privileges, and was royalty, he never became tranquil, or at peace with himself, with these material riches. It is evident when a person reads Meditations that Aurelius would much rather have lived the quite life of a philosopher than the public life of an emperor. He always wished that, at some point in his life, maybe when the wars were over, he would have some time to actively pursue philosophy. He never received that opportunity. However, he did, in the midst of all the wars he fought in, find the time to write down his thoughts into a

Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an essential part in Oedipus’ destruction. This story describes the suffering of Oedipus as a result of a misfortune of which he has no control over. Oedipus is a play that demonstrates how a person’s life can either be destined to take a certain path or be based on the decisions a person makes throughout their life. There are no oracles or prophecies that can determine how an individual’s life turns out to be, but according to Sophocles the gods cursed Oedipus even before he was born. This is a tragic event of a conflict between the powerful gods, his blindness, a man’s inability to change his destiny and his intelligence.

Fortune is associated with the goddess Fortuna from Roman mythology in both Hamlet and The Prince. Fortuna is the Roman goddess of luck, fate, and fortune. Fortuna is referred to in a sexual manner by both Shakespeare and Machiavelli. In Hamlet she is referred to as a strumpet:

In this paper, I will discuss Aristotle’s and Boethius’ (Through Lady Philosophy) views on fortune, reflected in the Book 1 of the Nicomachean Ethics and Book 4 of The Consolation of Philosophy. Furthermore, I will present and analyze their arguments, present the conclusion, and make a claim about which ancient philosopher makes the best argument. I will talk about Lady Philosophy’s conclusion that all fortune is capable of benefiting a person, and Aristotle’s inference that even a good and virtuous individual can be affected and harmed by very unfortunate events, by examining their arguments. Moreover, I will conclude and argue that Philosophy’s argument successfully establishes the conclusion.