Description
Book SynopsisEntirely faithful to Boethius'' Latin; Relihan''s translation makes the philosophy of the Consolation intelligible to readers; it gives equal weight to the poetry--in fact, Relihan''s metrical translation of Boethius'' metro are themselves contributions of the first moment to Boethian studies. Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and his manifold vision. --Joseph Pucci, Brown University
Trade ReviewRelihan's edition of the
Consolation offers both student and scholar a felicitous text, expertly translated from the original Latin, richly supplemented throughout with a critical apparatus, and generously embellished with explanatory notes for each prose and metric portion; he offers an Introduction of clear-sighted analysis, and an inclusive, text-referential glossary. Relihan's translation should now be the standard text for classroom use. . . . Relihan has performed a great service in his translation by attempting to translate the 'meters' with the sensibility of a poet as well as a Latinist, and it has made his version of Consolation that much more committed, it seems, to the intent of the original, and definitely a more compelling read. Relihan, as he himself states, has done '. . . what has not been done before in the long history of translation of
Consolation into English, . . . [to] reproduce through English accents the rhythms and meters of the original poems' (xxviii). . . . The poetic sections of
Consolation are not mere interludes but deliberate transitions in tenor and signification. By offering an English text that echoes the Latin in form, Relihan is offering the student of
Consolation an English text that echoes the Latin in meaning as well. It is an offer neither scholar nor student should refuse. --June-Ann Greeley,
New England Classical JournalThis book offers a splendid new translation of the Consolatio Philosophiae that makes the philosophy of the text accessible to both the beginning student and to the Latin scholar. Any student interested in the transition in late antiquity from the pagan to the Christian worlds should own this volume. --Victoria Jordan, The Classical Outlook
