Link to an image of this page [A7r p13]
In victoriam dolo partam.
On victory won by guile.
Aiacis tumulum lacrymis ego perluo virtus,
Heu misera albentes dilacerata comas.
Scilicet hoc restabat adhuc, ut iudice graeco[1]
Vincerer, & caussa stet potiore dolus.[2]
I, Virtue, bedew with tears the tomb of Ajax, tearing, alas, in my grief my whitening hairs. This was all it needed - that I should be worsted with a Greek as judge, and that guile should appear to have the better cause.
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Link to an image of this page [C8r f20r]
Nec quaestioni quidem cedendum.
Do not yield even to torture.
Emblema xiii.
Cecropia effictam quam cernis in arce Leaenam,
Harmodii (an nescis hospes?) amica fuit.
Sic animum placuit monstrare viraginis acrem
More ferae, nomen vel quia tale tulit.
Quòd fidibus contorta, suo non prodidit ullum
Indicio, elinguem reddidit Iphicrates. [1]
This lioness that you see represented on the Athenian citadel was Harmodius’ lover - stranger, you must know the story. This was how they decided to proclaim the brave woman’s fierce spirit, by representing her as a lioness. Besides, her name was Lioness too. Tortured on the rack, she betrayed no-one by her evidence, and so Iphicrates represented the beast without a tongue.
Link to an image of this page [C8v f20v]
PAtientia plusquam virilis, summáque cruciatuum
perpessio in muliercula fidem tenacem & con-
stantem arguit. Ea Leaena fuit, scortum Harmodii
& Aristogitonis, nobilium adolescentum, qui cùm
adorti essent tyrannos de medio tollere, idque con-
silium successu caruisset, capta Leaena, & torta fidi-
culis, ut consilia iuvenum proderet, tenax propositi
mulier, nihil patefecit, tandémque mediis in tor-
mentis animam exhalavit. Itaque Athenienses, ut
facti memoria perduraret ad posteros, non tanquam
scorto, statuam erexerunt sub effigie Leaenae elin-
guis. Leaenae quidem, vel ut id animal haberetur
pro fortitudinis symbolo[2]: vel ut indicaretur Leae-
nae nomen: elinguis verò, quia consilium iuvenum,
etiam ad extremum torta non prodidisset. Historiam
referunt Pausanias, Athaeneus, Plinius, Gellius, alii.
Link to an image of this page [D1r f21r]
QU’IL NE FAUT CEDER,
mesme à la torture.
LA Lyonne, passant, que tu vois dans le fort
D’Athenes eslevee, & au commun rapport,
Du preux Harmodius represente l’amie:
Qui pour avoir esté courageuse en sa vie,
Ou bien qu’elle porta (peust bien estre) ce nom,
En obtint puis-apres un immortel renom:
Et parce qu’elle fut és torments deschiree,
Travaillee en son corps, & de mort asseuree,
Toutefois de sa bouche un seul mot ne sortit,
Partant Iphicrates[3] point de langue n’y fit.
ICy est representee une constance[4] plusque
virile, & une tresgrand’ patience emmy les
tormens en une pauvre femmelette tres-fi-
delle & constante. Son nom estoit Leaena,
entretenuë par Harmodius & Aristogiton,
jeunes gentils-hommes, lesquels s’estans mis
en devoir de mettre à mort les tyrans, & que
le conseil fut sans effet, elle apprehendee,
fut mise à la question, affin de tirer quelque
chose d’elle du complot fait par les jeunes
hommes: mais elle de bonne retentive ne
voulut jamais rien dire, de maniere qu’en Link to an image of this page [D1v f21v]fin elle rendit l’ame emmy les grans tormens.
A ceste occasion les Atheniens, affin de per-
petuer la memoire de ce faict, luy dresserent
une statue (mais non comme à une putain)
souz l’effigie d’une Lyonne sans langue. La
Lyonne pouvoit estre pour marque d’un
coeur haut & grand: ou pour designer le nom
de Leaena: l’animal estoit sans langue, d’au-
tant qu’elle ne revela le secret de ces jeunes
gens, quoy qu’elle fut gehennee & deschiree
par tout son corps. L’histoire est rapportee
par Pausanias, Athenee, Pline, Aulu-Gelle
& autres.
1. Corrected from the Errata
2. Corrected from the Errata
3. Corrected from the Errata
4. Harmodius and Aristogeiton conspired to kill Hipparchus, the brother of the Athenian tyrant Hippias. Harmodius was killed, Aristogeiton arrested and tortured. Also tortured was Leaena (‘Lioness’) a courtesan, beloved of Harmodius, as she too was suspected of being in the conspiracy. She however revealed nothing. After the fall of Hippias, the two men were treated as tyrannicides and bronze statues were erected in their honour (509 BC). To avoid appearing to honour a courtesan, the Athenians had Leaena represented by Iphicrates (or Amphicrates) as a lioness without a tongue, indicating both her name and the reason for remembering her. See Pliny, Natural History 34.19.72; Plutarch, De garrulitate 505E.
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