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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [A8r p15]

In Avaros, vel quibus melior con-
ditio ab extraneis offertur.[1]

On the avaricious; or being treated better by strangers.

Figure of a child playing a lute astride a dolphin
[Click on image to enlarge]

Delphini insidens vada caerula sulcat Arion[2],
Hocque aures mulcet, frenat & ora sono:
Quām sit avari hominis, non tam mens dira ferarum est,
Quique viris rapimur, piscibus eripimur.

Astride a dolphin, Arion cleaves the dark blue waves, and with this song charms the creature’s ears and muzzles its mouth: “The mind of wild beasts is not so savage as that of greedy man. We who are savaged by men are saved by fish”.

Notes:

1.  All subsequent Wechel editions have a different picture depicting Arion’s suffering at human hands as well as his rescue by the dolphin.

2.  The crew of the ship on which the celebrated musician Arion was travelling, after robbing him, prepared to throw him overboard. He persuaded them to allow him to play his lyre for the last time. Then, after invoking the gods, he jumped into the sea, whereupon a music-loving dolphin conveyed him to land. See Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 16.19.

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Section: FIDES (Good faith). View all emblems in this section.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B1r p17]

Silentium.

Silence

Man in robes with a cap sitting at a desk with an open book, holding a finger to his lips
[Click on image to enlarge]

Cųm tacet: haud quicquam differt sapientibus amens.
Stultitiae est index linguaque, voxque suae.
Ergo premat labias: digitoque silentia signet:
Et sese Pharium vertat in Harpocratem[1].

When he is silent, the fool differs no whit from the wise. It is tongue and voice that betray his stupidity. Let him therefore put his finger to his lips and so mark silence, and turn himself into Egyptian Harpocrates.

Notes:

1.  Harpocrates, also known as Horus, was the son of the Egyptian divinity Isis. He avenged the murder of his father Osiris by Set/Typhon. He is often represented as an infant with his finger held to his mouth as a sign of silence and economy of words. See Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 68.

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  • Wisdom; 'Sapienza', 'Sapienza humana', 'Sapienza vera' (Ripa) [52A51] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Ignorance; 'Ignoranza', 'Ignoranza di tutte le cose', 'Ignoranza in un ricco senza lettere' (Ripa) [52AA5] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa) [52AA51] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Taciturnity; 'Secretezza', 'Secretezza overo Taciturnitā' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52DD3(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass

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