The Consolation of Philosophy: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Consolation of Philosophy, credited to Boethius, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Consolation of Philosphy by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, translated by H.R. James, in the public domain. The LibriVox catalog page for this work lists the LibriVox readers. Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West in medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great work that can be called Classical. Consolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius' one year imprisonment while awaiting trial, and eventual horrific execution, for the crime of treason by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. It was from this experience he was inspired to write a philosophical book from prison reflecting on how a lord's favor could change so quickly and why friends would turn against him. It has been described as 'by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen.' The Consolation of Philosophy stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian doctrine of humility, midway between the heathen philosophy of Seneca the Younger and the later Christian philosophy of consolation represented by Thomas Aquinas. - The book is heavily influenced by Plato and his dialogues (as was Boethius himself). (Summary from Wikipedia) For more information on LibriVox, or to volunteer, please see: http://librivox.org/

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Consolation of Philosophy
• Author credits: Boethius
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 41
• Listed recording duration: 5:13:04

Catalogue topics

• philosophy

Opening tracks: first 24 of 41

1. 01 - Preface and Proem — 7:22
2. 02 - Book I, Song I: Boethius' Complaint, and section I — 4:58
3. 03 - Book I, Song II: His Depondency, and section II — 2:54
4. 04 - Book I, Song III: The Mists Dispelled, and section III — 4:09
5. 05 - Book I, Song IV: Nothing Can Subdue Virtue, and section IV — 16:22
6. 06 - Book I, Song V: Boethius' Prayer, and Section V — 6:26
7. 07 - Book I, Song VI: All Things Have Their Needful Order, and Section VI — 5:54
8. 08 - Book I, Song VII: The Perturbations of Passion — 1:24
9. 09 - Book II, Section I, and Song I: Fortune's Malice — 6:19
10. 10 - Book II, Section II, and Song II: Man's Covetousness — 5:15
11. 11 - Book II, Section III, and Song III: All Passes — 5:41
12. 12 - Book II, Section IV, and Song IV: The Golden Mean — 8:25
13. 13 - Book II: Section V, and Song V: The Former Age — 11:35
14. 14 - Book II, Section VI, and Song VI: Nero's Infamy — 6:52
15. 15 - Book II Section VII, and Song VII: Glory May Not Last — 7:10
16. 16 - Book II Section VIII, and Song VIII: Love Is Lord of All — 3:40
17. 17 - Book III, Section I, and Song I: The Thorns of Error — 2:44
18. 18 - Book III, Section II, and Song II: The Bent of Nature — 9:20
19. 19 - Book III, Section III, and Song III: The Insatiableness of Avarice — 5:21
20. 20 - Book III, Section IV, and Song IV: Disgrace of Honours Conferred by a Tyrant — 4:28
21. 21 - Book III, Section V, and Song V: Self-Mastery — 3:47
22. 22 - Book III, Section VI, and Song VI: True Nobility — 3:16
23. 23 - Book III, Song VII: Pleasure's Sting, and section VII — 2:28
24. 24 - Book III, Song VIII: Human Folly, and section VIII — 5:05

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.