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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [H6v p124]

Que mas puede la eloquençia que
la fortaleza.

TERCETOS.

En la siniestra el arco descubre,
Y la derecha tien’ la clava dura,
Y la piel d’el leon su cuerpo cubre.
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [H7r p125] Luego esta es la facion de Hercules pura
Mas no le quadra aquello que està cano,
Como hombre ya de edad vieja y madura.
Mas que querrà dezir que està el anciano
La lengua con cadenas trespasada
Con que lleva tras si à el vulgo insano?
Es por que Alcides con lengua acordada  [M]
A los pueblos Françeses componia
Mas que por fortaleza aventajada.[1]
Las armas con la paz no ayan porfia
Pues aun à los muy duros coraçones
Doma con buen hablar sabiduria.[2]

[Marginalia - link to text]Hercules.

Notes:

1.  The original Spanish has a question mark here.

2.  This verse is based on Lucian’s essay, The Gallic Hercules.


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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

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  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.

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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