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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E6r]

ELOQUENTIA FORTITU-
dine praestantior.[1]

Eloquence superior to strength

Figure of Hercules with a chain attached to his tongue leading men.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Arcum leva tenet, rigidam fert dextera clavam,
Contegit & Nemees corpora nuda leo.
Herculis haec igitur facies? non convenit illud,
Quod vetus & senio tempora cana gerit.
Quid quod lingua illi levibus traiecta cathenis,
Queîs fissa facileîs allicit aure viros.
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E6v]An ne quod Alciden lingua non robore Galli,
Praestantem populis iura dedisse ferunt.
Cedunt arma togae,[2] & quamvis durissima corda,
Eloquio pollens ad sua vota trahit.

His left hand holds a bow, his right hand a stout club, the lion of Nemea clothes his bare body. So this is a figure of Hercules. But he is old and his temples grizzled with age - that does not fit. What of the fact that his tongue has light chains passing through it, which are attached to men’s pierced ears, and by them he draws them unresisting along? The reason is surely that the Gauls say that Alceus’ descendant excelled in eloquence rather than might and gave laws to the nations. - Weapons yield to the arts of peace, and even the hardest of hearts the skilled speaker can lead where he will.

Notes:

1.  This epigram is closely based on Lucian’s essay, The Gallic Hercules.

2.  Cf. Cicero’s notorious line, Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea linguae, ‘Let weapons yield to the arts of peace, let laurels yield to eloquence’ (quoted in Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 11.1.24).

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  • ears [31A2213] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Europeans (with NAME) [32B311(FRENCHMEN)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • 'litterae', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ literature; 'Lettere' (Ripa) [48C90] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Power of Eloquence; 'Forza sottoposta all'Eloquenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D31(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I3r p133]

Eloquence vaut mieux que
force.[1]

XCIII.

L’arc en la main, en l’autre la massue,
Peau de Lyon estant cy apperceuë,
Pour Hercules me fait ce vieillard croire:
Mais ce qu’il a marqué de si grand’, gloire,
Que mener gents enchainés à sa langue,
Entendre veut, qu’il fit tant bien harangue,
Que les François, pour ses dits de merveilles,

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I3v p134]

A man stands in a loin cloth. He holds a club in one hand and a bow in the other. Strings come from his face and join him to a group of nearby men.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Furent ainsi que pris par les oreilles.
Si donc il a par loix & ordonnances
Rangé les gents, plustost que par vaillances,
Dira lon pas (comme c’est verité)
Que l’espee a lieu aux livres quitté?
Et qu’un dur coeur par sages mieux se range,
Que gros effort son aspresté ne change?
Pource Hercules n’usa pas de grand’ force:
Et si chacun de le suyvre s’efforce.

commentaires.

Il descrit icy un homme, qui en sa senestre a son arc,
& en sa dextre sa masse ferree, & une peau de Lion
pour toute couverture. C’est donc icy l’effigie d’Her-
cules. Mais ses cheveux blancs, ny ces chainettes, qui
sont attachees à sa langue d’un costé, & de l’autre
sont attachees aux oreilles de plusieurs personnes: celà,
dis-je, ne s’accorde pas à la forme qu’on peint coustu-
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I4r p135] mierement Hercules. Ces cheveux blancs, & ces chai-
nettes signifient, qu’Hercules, de quelques grands for-
ces qu’il fust doué, ne mit pas sous sa puissance tant
de peuples farouches, comme feroit un jeune homme,
par sa force & par ses armes, mais bien les dompta-il
par sa singuliere eloquence, & par son insigne pru-
dence, qui accompagne ordinairement les vieillards
& experimentés. Les armes souvent quittent la place
à la longue robbe: & bien souvent les plus fascheuses
guerres sont appaisees & esteinctes par un beau par-
ler, & par un docte discours. La longue robbe est
souvent prise pour la paix, comme aussi c’estoit l’ha-
bit ordinaire des Rommains lors qu’ils n’avoyent
point de guerre.

Notes:

1.  This epigram is closely based on Lucian’s essay, The Gallic Hercules.

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  • 'litterae', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ literature; 'Lettere' (Ripa) [48C90] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Power of Eloquence; 'Forza sottoposta all'Eloquenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D31(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosit� dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virt� del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass

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