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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N1v p194]

Eloquentia Fortitudine prae-
stantior.[1]

Eloquence superior to strength

Figure holding a bow and a club attached to a group of men by a string from his tongue to their ears.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Arcum laeva 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,
Queis fissa facileis allicit aure viros?
Anné quòd Alciden 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, which are attached to men’s pierced ears, and by them he draws them unresisting along? 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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  • extinct, 'historical' peoples (with NAME) [32B2(GAULS)] 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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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [M3v p182]

ἀντέρως, id est, amor virtutis.[1]

Anteros, that is, love of virtue

LXXXI.

Cupid sitting on the ground holding garlands but minus his bow and arrows.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Dic ubi sunt incurvi arcus? ubi tela Cupido?
Mollia queis iuvenum figere corda soles.[2]
Fax ubi tristis? ubi pennae? tres unde corollas
Fert manus? unde aliam tempora cincta gerunt?
Haud mihi vulgari est hospes cum Cypride quicquam,
Ulla voluptatis nos neque forma tulit.
Sed puris hominum succendo mentibus ignes
Disciplinae, animos astraque ad alta traho.
Quatuor eque ipsa texo virtute corollas,[3]
Quarum quae Sophiae est, tempora prima tegit.

Tell me, where are your arching bows, where your arrows, Cupid, the shafts which you use to pierce the tender hearts of the young? Where is your hurtful torch, where your wings? Why does your hand hold three garlands? Why do your temples wear a fourth? - Stranger, I have nothing to do with common Venus, nor did any pleasurable shape bring me forth. I light the fires of learning in the pure minds of men and draw their thoughts to the stars on high. I weave four garlands out of virtue’s self and the chief of these, the garland of Wisdom, wreathes my temples.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [M4r p183]

Widerlieb, das ist, lieb der tugent.

LXXXI.

Cupido wo ist dein geschoß,
Fackel, flugel, wie stest so ploß?
Was hast drey krentz an arm geklaupt,
Mit dem vierdten geziert dein haupt?
Ja, ich bin nit fraw Venus kind,
Gar frembd von schandlichs wollusts gsind,
Furnemlich mit vier kunsten guet
Erzindt ich den frumen yr gmuet.
Und schenck in auch der krentzle vier,
Doch hat weyßheyt die hoechste zier.

Notes:

1.  In the first Wechel edition in 1534, the figure of Anteros wrongly had wings which were subsequently removed.

2.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 16.201.

3.  ‘I weave four garlands out of virtue’s self’, a reference to the four cardinal virtues, justice, temperance, courage and wisdom.

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