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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B4v p24]

Potentissimus affectus Amor.

Love, the all-powerful emotion

Blindfolded Cupid in a chariot drawn by lions
[Click on image to enlarge]

Aspice ut invictus vires auriga leonis
Expressus gemma pusio vincat Amor.
Utque manu hac scuticam teneat, hac flectat habenas:
Utque sit in pueri plurimus ore decor.[1]
Dira lues procul esto, feram qui vincere talem
Est potis, à nobis temperet an ne manus? [2]

Look - here’s Love the lad, carved on a gem. See how he rides triumphant in his chariot and subdues the lion’s might. How in one hand he holds a lash, with the other he guides the reins, and on his countenance rests the loveliness of youth. - Dread pestilence keep far away. Would one who has the power to conquer such a beast keep his hands from us?

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B5r p25]

Amour affection trespuissante.

Pensez a ce petit chartier,
Qui sceit mettre au joug les Lyons,
Nous pourra il point chastier,
Et ouvrer sur ce que voulions?
Noz cueurs dont fault que allieurs plions:
Car sil est puissant pour telz bestes,
Pensez vous que nous en allions,
Sans quil nous lie cueurs & testes?

Notes:

1.  In some editions, this sequence of subjunctives is changed to indicative.

2.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.221, an epigram about a seal carved with a representation of Eros driving a chariot drawn by lions.

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  • plague [31A4621] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • ornaments, jewels [41D266] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generositàdell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of con [54A7(+4):56F2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • 'Forza d'amore, Forza d'amore si nell'acqua come in terra' (Ripa) [56F2515] Search | Browse Iconclass

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Section: PRUDENTIA (Wisdom). View all emblems in this section.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B3v p22]

Νῆφε καὶ μέμνησ’ἀπιστεῖν. ἄρθρα ταῦτατῶν
φρενῶν. Sobriè vivendum: & non
temerè credendum.

Live soberly; do not believe readily, these are the sinews of the mind. Live soberly; do not believe readily.

A hand in the sky with an eye on its palm above some leafy plants
[Click on image to enlarge]

Ne credas ne (Epicharmus ait[1]) non sobrius esto,
Hi nervi, humanae membraque mentis erunt:
Ecce oculata manus[2] credens id quod videt. Ecce
Pulegium, antiquae sobrietatis olus,
Quo turbam ostenso sedaverit Heraclitus,[3]
Mulxerit & tumida seditione gravem.

Don’t give easy credence; don’t be intemperate. So said Epicharmus, and these maxims will prove the sinews and limbs of man’s mind. See here a hand with an eye, believing what it can see. See the pennyroyal, the plant of ancient soberness. By showing it, Heraclitus calmed the mob and milked it when heavy with bursting sedition

Notes:

1.  Epicharmus ait, ‘So said Epicharmus’. The saying is quoted in Polybius, The Histories, 18.40.

2.  oculata manus, ‘a hand with an eye’. See Plautus, Asinaria, 202: ‘our hands always have eyes - seeing is believing for them’; Erasmus, Adagia, 73 (Oculatae manus).

3.  turbam...sedaverit Heraclitus, ‘Heraclitus calmed the mob’. For this incident concerning the sixth-century BC philosopher Heraclitus, see Plutarch, De garrulitate, 511C: when faced with a discordant mob, Heraclitus said nothing but took a cup of cold water, sprinkled on barley-meal and stirred it with a sprig of pennyroyal. Pennyroyal represents modest fare, contentment and control. Cf. Emblem 185 ([A51a185]), line 8. Heraclitus lived on a diet of herbs. For his pessimistic view of life see Emblem 150 ([A51a150]).

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  • Precaution (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52A24(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa) [52AA51] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Carefulness, Diligence; 'Diligenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Temperance, Moderation; 'Misura' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A43(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • male persons from classical history (with NAME) representations to which the NAME of a person from classical history may be attached [98B(EPICHARMUS)3] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • (story of) Heraclitus, the philosopher representations to which the NAME of a person from classical history may be attached [98B(HERACLITUS)3] Search | Browse Iconclass

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