Link to an image of this page [N7v p206]
In vitam humanam.
On human life
XCVI.
Plus solito humanae nunc defle incommoda vitae,
Heraclite, scatet pluribus illa malis.
Tu rursus, si quando aliàs, extolle cachinnum
Democrite, illa magis ludicra facta fuit.
Intereà haec cernens meditor, qua denique tecum
Fine fleam, aut tecum quomodò splene iocer.[1]
Weep now, Heraclitus, even more than you did, for the ills of human life. It teems with far more woes. And you, Democritus, if ever you laughed before, raise your cackle now. Life has become more of a joke. Meanwhile, seeing all this, I consider just how far I can weep with you, how laugh bitterly with you.
Link to an image of this page [N8r p207]
De la vie humaine.
XCVI.
Plores plus que onques tu ne feis
Heraclite, il en est saison.
Les gens sont en tous maulx confis,
Vertus n’ont ca bas plus maison.
Democrite ris, tu as raison.
Car chascun veult fol demourer:
Tandis penseray la choison,
Si je debvray rire, ou plorer.
1. This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.148. For Heraclitus, cf. [A50a016]. For the contrast between the despairing tears of Heraclitus (who withdrew from human society) and the sardonic laughter of Democritus when faced with the folly of men, see, among many sources, e.g. Juvenal, Satires 10, 28ff.
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- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- young versus old age; young and old [31D5] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- Mirth, Hilarity (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56B11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- Democritus, while meditating amidst books and bones, receives his friend Hippocrates, sent by the inhabitants of Abdera, who were anxious about their philosopher's health [98B(DEMOCRITUS)51] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [E6r]
ELOQUENTIA FORTITU-
dine praestantior.[1]
Eloquence superior to strength
Arcum leva tenet, rigidam fert dextera clavam,
Contegit & Nemees corpora nuda leo.
Herculis haec igitur facies? non convenit illud,
Quòd vetus & senio tempora cana gerit.
Quid quod lingua illi levibus traiecta cathenis,
Quîs fissa facili allicit aure viros.
Link to an image of this page [E6v]An ne quod Alcyden 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, by which he draws men along with ready ears pierced? 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.
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