by Robert » April 6th, 2005, 1:00 pm
I have read Book I, which I read some years back and am recalling the text to my memory. A couple of things right off I see in the opening. One, Bothius, by characterizing Philosophy as a woman, seems to imply that it is a soothing, beautiful, attractive nature. But, by the same token, he tells us Philosophy has wisdom and authority by such passages as...in her right hand she carried books (wisdom) and in her left a sceptre (authority).
Another thing I noticed was, and a bit of real history, the author was thrown in prison for some treason against the Goths (who had just recently taken hold of this region of the Roman empire) by hiding documents, I presume, that would have condemned the Roman senate. thus, he was labeled one 'Hoping for the freedom of Rome'.
But, in spite of all this, he was not in the wrong. The Goths were just trumping up charges as a means of consolidating their power and hold on Rome. In other words, Boethius felt as if he had followed the guidance of Philosophy (wisdom and GOd's authority), but was left high and dry. And, he also retells the plight of other philosophers persecuted by the state, like Socrates and Seneca. All of whom lost.
In the midst of this, I find Philosophy's answer to his despair very interesting. First, she tells him to remmeber that it may not be the season of his fortune. In other words, he may have to wait, as if waiting for autumn, to reap the benefits of following God's guidance through Philosophy.
But, I think the most significant piece of advice that Philosophy offers is to remember who he is. She seems to be saying to Boethius that his despair is not spawned from his perceived misfortune (the imprisonment, his property seized by the Goths, etc.), but from a disconnect he has received between himself and his mind. He is only focusing on the outer conditions of his life, which are not respective objects to the soul. Rather, if he were to look deeper within himself and find that calm peace that is 'beyond' the physical world, he will see God's purpose, if but faintly, and will not despair.
[I am] Freudian Viennese by night, by day [I am] Marxian Muscovite
--Robert Frost--