Influence of Boethius on Troilus and CriseydeAround 524, the Christian philosopher Boethius awaited his death. During the last phase of his life, he composed one of the most influential writings of the medieval period: The Consolation of Philosophy. C.S. Lewis says of the work, “To acquire a taste for it is almost like naturalizing oneself in the Middle Ages” (Lewis 75). Over 800 years later, Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the most revered authors in the English language, took inspiration from Boethius to compose his best work, Troilus and Criseyde. The most important Boethian influence that Chaucer draws out is the intensity of something being increased or decreased. from the knowledge of its opposite. Boethius' main discussion of this concept is in books three and four where he addresses the problem of evil. The question at hand is, “How can evil exist in a world with an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God?” If God is omnipotent, is there anything that is impossible for him? If God is good, can God commit evil? After much discussion, Boethius concludes that evil is a lack of good and those who commit evil lack something. He writes, “therefore it is clear that those who are capable of evil are capable of less” (Boethius 110). He continues: “Therefore the power to do evil is not an object of desire” (110). So “the power to do evil” is a lack of the “power to do good”. Boethius can only know what evil is when he first understands how to determine good. Chaucer defines the problem this way: “Every thing is known for what it is by its opposite” (Chaucer 14). Chaucer's main examples of this phenomenon concern the sweetness of joy and the bitterness of suffering. First, sweetness becomes sweeter when one has tasted the bitterness of suffering. “And now the sweetness seems sweeter, because the bitterness has been experienced” (79). When one experiences extreme bitterness, the slightest fading of that suffering leads to ecstasy. On the other hand, bitterness is all the more bitter when one has tasted the sweetness of pleasure. Pandarus says, "Of all the acute adversities of fortune, the worst kind of misfortune is this: for a man to have experienced good times and remember them when they are past" (86-87). If you have enjoyed a high degree of sweetness, a lower degree of sweetness will not be as satisfying. This line of thought seems to come directly from Boethius.