Review in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Joel Relihan's The Prisoner's Philosophy. Life and Death in Boethius's Consolation by John Casey at Northeastern Illinois University:
The present text argues, in particular, that the Consolation is a decidedly Christian work that "dramatizes" the limits of pagan philosophy and that it belongs to a Platonic tradition (stretching back to the Crito)
which culminates in 12th Century Christian Platonism (ix). Relihan
defends this thesis (1) by "intensive appeal to the details of plot and
structure," (2) by careful attention to the other traditions and texts
visible in it; (3) and by reference to the subsequent interpretive
tradition. For those readers who see the Consolation as a collection of interesting philosophical arguments wrapped up in the narrative of Boethius's last days, The Prisoner's Philosophy will prove to be both a revelation and a challenge.
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