'
The Consolation of Philosophy, by Anicius Manlius Severinus
Boethius (ca. 480-584), written in prison while he awaited
execution by Theodoric, ruler of Rome, was the most popular and
influential philosophical work, especially among laymen, from the
sixth to the eighteenth centuries. Chaucer translated it into
English, as did King Alfred before him, and Queen Elizabeth I a
couple of centuries after him. It deeply influenced Chaucer's work,
especially in the Knight's Tale and Troilus and Criseyda; see
the introduction to Boece in the Riverside Chaucer (pp.
395-97). Boethius was author of a number of other popular and authoritative
works; including translations and commentaries on a variety of
topics. Chaucer was aware of some of these works; in the Nun's
Priest's Tale, Boethius' treatise on music, De musica, is
cited (VII.3294). For good introductory materials and a complete translation, see
the edition in the admirable
University of Virginia e-text series. The edition is by
James J. O'Donnell, of the University of Pennsylvania.
For brief selections of particular interest to the student of
Chaucer see the following: For a better modern translation of Boethius, see
The Consolation of Philosophy, translated, with introd. and
notes, by Richard H. Green
(No. 86 in the Macmillan Library of Liberal Arts, originally published by
Bobbs-Merrill). For a useful study of Chaucer's translation see
Tim William Machan, Techniques of Translation : Chaucer's Boece
(Norman, Okla., Pilgrim Books, c1985).
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