
Tori reverentia.
Reverence for the marital bed
Tanta fuit multis sacri reverentia lecti,
Ut dicas nullo concubuisse toro.
Nam post somniferae surgentes munia noctis,
Mane recens pressos obvolüere locos,
Indicio ne essent vestigia corporis, atque
Connubio reliquis maior adesset honos.
Candaules pereat forma deceptus amatae
Coniugis, audet enim prostituisse Gygi.[1]
Quantò nos, gerimus qui Christi nomina, castos
Atque verecundos convenit esse magis?
Many have had such reverence for the sacred bed that you would think they had never slept on a couch. For, arising after the offices of sleep-bringing night, when dawn is fresh and new, they roll over the places where they have lain, that the prints of their bodies should not remain as proof, and that other men should have more respect for the institution of marriage. Let Candaules go to destruction, deceived by the beauty of his beloved wife, for he dares to prostitute her to Gyges. How much more chaste and respectful does it behoove us, who bear the name of Christ, to be?
1. Candaules, King of Lydia (8th/7th-century BC), was too proud of his wife and flaunted her in front of his officer, Gyges, daring him to view her naked. When he did she was enraged and demanded he be executed or take the throne from her husband, which he did. Herodotus, The Histories, 1.7-14. The wife is not named, though in some sources she is called Nyssia.
Related Emblems
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held backwards (+ holding something) [31A2514(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm or hand held in front of the body (+ holding something) [31A2516(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bed with tester [41A7612] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bedroom [41A23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- candle [41B31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- candlestick [41B313] Search | Browse Iconclass
- canopy, baldachin [41A4231] Search | Browse Iconclass
- chamber-pot [31A611] Search | Browse Iconclass
- closed door [41A3221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- covering up a bed (+ variant) [42F33(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dog [34B11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- drawing, pulling something [31A2747] Search | Browse Iconclass
- getting up from bed [31B171] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking over the shoulder [31A247] Search | Browse Iconclass
- one leg in front of the other, walking position (+ standing) [31A26211(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- open hearth, fire-place [41B21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sheet [41A7633] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- 'Castità', 'Pudicitia', 'Vergogna honesta' (Ripa) [33C8120] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dawn [24A11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Gyges and King Candaules behind the door of the bedchamber witness the queen undressing [98B(GYGES)211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Honesty; 'Honestà' (Ripa) [57A61] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Honour, Glory; 'Ampiezza della Gloria', 'Gloria', 'Gloria de prencipi', 'Gloria & Honore', 'Honore', 'Sublimatà della Gloria' (Ripa) [59B31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- marriage, married couple, 'matrimonium' [42D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Mortality, Extinction of Life [58BB1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- representants of the Church (Christians in general, laymen, monks, etc.) in strife with each other or with opponents [57B211P4] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Respect, Reverence, Esteem (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57B2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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