Uhlfelder, Myra L. The Consolation of Philosophy as Cosmic Image (0866985271)
In this study, Uhlfelder (recently deceased) argues convincingly that, in portraying his literary persona as an
exemplum of man in his quest for self-knowledge, Boethius has made the whole
Consolatio a cosmic image representing man as microcosm. The mental faculties of
sensus, imaginatio, ratio, and
intellegentia are arranged as a proportion suggesting both Plato’s famous “divided line” at the end of Book 6 of the
Republic and, at the same time, the four elements of the physical cosmos which, according to the Platonic
Timaeus, are connected with one another so as to form a geometrical proportion. The philosophical argument of the
Consolatio in books II through V comprises another cosmic image with III. M.9 at its exact center; in addition, the other three cosmic depictions, revolving as concentric circles around III. M.9, may be viewed as forming an image of cosmic order. In its structure, then, Boethius’ work is an anagogic
eikon which formally depicts its content.
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