Boethius 
The Consolation of Philosophy of Boethius 

Boethius’ best-known work is the ’Consolations of Philosophy’ written during his imprisonment — ’by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen.’ It is a dialogue between Philosophy and Boethius, in which the Queen of Sciences strives to console the fallen statesman. The main argument of the discourse is the transitoriness and unreality of all earthly greatness and the superior desirability of the things of the mind. There are evident traces of the influence of the Neo-Platonists, especially of Proclus, and little, if anything, that can be said to reflect Christian influences.