
REMEDIA IN ARDUO MALA
in prono esse.
Remedies are hard, damage is easy

Aetheriis postquam deiecit sedibus Aten,
Iupiter[1] heu vexat quām mala noxa viros.
Evolat haec pedibus celer & pernicibus alis,
Intactumque nihil casibus esse sinit.
Ergo litae proles Iovis hanc comitantur euntem,[2]
Sarcture quicquid fecerit illa mali.
Sed quia segnipedes strabe[3] lassaeque senecta,
Nihil nisi post longo tempore restituunt.[4]
Once Jupiter had cast Ate down from the heavenly abode, what an evil bane thereafter assailed poor man! Ate flies out fleet of foot with fast-beating wing and leaves nothing untouched by mishap. So Jove’s daughters, the Litae, accompany her as she goes, to mend whatever ill she has brought about. But they are slow-footed, poor of sight and weary with age, and so they restore nothing until later, after long passage of time.
1. ‘Jupiter had cast Ate down’. See Homer, Iliad 19. 125ff.
2. ‘the Litae accompany her’. See Homer, Iliad 9.502ff. Ate means ‘Mischief’, Litae, ‘Prayers’. Ate was cast out of Olympus to bring harm to mankind, a personification of humans being led astray. The Litae were a personification of prayers offered in repentance.
3. Textual variant: luscae.
4. The woodcut is puzzling. Possibly the monster is supposed to represent Ate; in later editions she appears as a harpy-like figure. The Litae feature, in later editions, as old women. The old man presumably represents the suffering of mankind.
Related Emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- animals (+ wings of an animal) [25F(+342)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dragon (large fabulous serpent, sometimes with wings and legs) [25FF422] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- monsters ~ birds - AA - female (+ legs, wings, etc.) [31AA453(+3)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- old man [31D16] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown [41D211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head-gear [41D221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- walking-stick, staff [41D263] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- walking - AA - female human figure [31AA2711] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Slow Motion (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51MM1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Viciousness, Naughtiness (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57AA6(+4):54D4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Revenge, Requital, Retaliation; 'Vendetta' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57AA741(+4):54DD4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Jupiter seizes Ate by her hair and hurls her down from Olympus, possibly because of the delayed birth of Hercules (+ variant) [92B143(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- other lesser deities of Heaven ~ destiny, fate, adversity: Litae [92G7(LITAE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.

CAPTIVUS OB GULAM.
Caught by greed
Regnator poenus, & mensae corrosor[1] herilis,
Ostrea mus summis vidit hiulca labris.
Quîs teneram opponens[2] barbam falsa ossa momordit
Illa recluserunt[3] tacta repente domum.
Depraensum & tetro tenuerunt carcere furem,
Semet in obscurum qui dederat tumulum.[4]
A mouse, king of the pantry, nibbler at the master’s table, saw oysters with their shells just slightly open. Applying his sensitive whiskers, he nibbled the deceptive bone. The oysters, when touched, suddenly slammed shut their house and held the thief, caught red-handed, in a noisome prison, a thief who had put himself into a lightless tomb.
Related Emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- rodents: mouse (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught) [25F26(MOUSE)(+621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rodents: mouse (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught) [25F26(RAT)(+621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- mouse trap [34D111] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Gluttony, Intemperance, 'Gula'; 'Gola', 'Ingordigia', 'Ingordigia overo Aviditā', 'Voracitā' (Ripa) ~ personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sins [11N35] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rodents: mouse (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught) [25F26(MOUSE)(+621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- molluscs (+ shell, snail-shell etc.) [25F72(+36)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- molluscs: oyster (+ animal with prey) [25F72(OYSTER)(+452)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- law and jurisprudence (+ imprisonment) [44G(+56)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Intemperance, Immoderation (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54AA43(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.