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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [k6v p156]

In vitam humanam.

On human life

XCVI.

Two men sitting at a table, one crying, the other laughing.
[Click on image to enlarge]

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.
Interea haec cernens meditor, qua denique tecum
Fine fleam, aut tecum quomodo 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  Link to an image of this page  [k7r p157]

COMMENTARIA.

Heraclitus philosophis fuit Ephesius. li-
bros composuit de industria adeò obscuros
ut vix à quoquam etiam doctissimo intelligi
potuerint, ideoque tenebricosus cognomina-
tus fuit. Is praesertim domum egrediens sem-
per plorabat, sibi enim omnia mundana non
nisi miseriae videbantur & angustiae. Alter
erat Democritus ex Tracia, in omni philoso-
phiae genere peritissimus qui tandem (teste
Cicerone lib. 5. Tusculanae quaestionum) semetipsum ob-
caecavit ut promptiores & subtiliores delibe-
rationes haberet, ad investiganda naturae se-
creta. Hic omnes hominum actus tanquam
ineptias & ludicra continuò ridebat, de quo
etiam Gellius lib. 10. cap. 17. & horum meminit
Cicero lib. 4. de Academicis. Sed nunc ô He-
raclite luge & defle humanae vitae incommo-
da acriùs, hoc enim nostro tempore longè
pluribus quàm unquam anteà malis & mise-
riis scatet. Imò tu Democrite nunc ex-
tolle risum in cachinnum usque:
Mundus etenim ridiculus
magis, multumque
ineptior fa-
ctus est.

Notes:

1.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.148. For Heraclitus, cf. [A56a252]. 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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CONSILIO ET VIRTUTE CHI-
meram superari id est fortiores
& deceptores.

Wisdom and courage defeat Chimaera (i.e. the powerful and deceivers).

Bellerophon ut fortis eques superare chimeram, [M]
Et licii potuit sternere monstra soli.[1]
Sic tu pegasei vectus petis aethera pennis,
Consilioque animi[2] monstra superba domas.

Bellerophon, that bold horseman, was able to overcome the Chimaera and lay low the monsters of the Lycian land. You likewise, borne on wings of Pegasus, seek the high heavens and, by the counsel of reason, tame proud monsters.

[Marginalia - link to text]Vide Fulgentium in Mithalogiis lib. 3. in principio.

Notes:

1.  The King of Lycia imposed on Bellerophon, among other tasks, that of killing the Chimaera, a fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, serpent’s tail and goat’s body. He achieved this last with the aid of the winged horse Pegasus, which Athena, goddess of wisdom, helped him to catch.

2.  ‘by the counsel of reason’. The name Bellerophon was interpreted by some as ‘bringer of counsel’. The Chimaera symbolised various uncontrolled passions.

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    • mis-shapen animals; monsters [25F9] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • chimera (lion/goat/snake); 'Chimera' (Ripa) (+ fighting animals; aggressive relations) [25FF232(+751)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • fabulous animals ~ hoofed animals (with NAME) [25FF24(WINGED HORSE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Counsel; 'Consiglio' (Ripa) [52E3] 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) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A7(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Virtuousness; 'Amor di Virtù', 'Attione virtuosa', 'Guida sicura de' veri honori', 'Virtù', 'Virtù insuperabile' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57A6(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Cheat, Deceit; 'Fraude', 'Inganno' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57AA621(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • historical person (with NAME) [61B2(FULGENTIUS, FABIUS PLANCIADES)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Pegasus, the winged horse [93D1] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Bellerophon, flying on Pegasus' back, kills the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster, with arrows or a spear [94S32] Search | Browse Iconclass

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