
Consilio & virtute Chimaeram superari,
hoc est, fortiores & deceptores.
Wisdom and courage defeat Chimaera (i.e. the powerful and deceivers).
EMBLEMA XIIII.
Bellerophon ut fortis eques superare Chimaeram.
Et Lycii potuit sternere monstra soli:[1]
Sic tu Pegaseis 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.
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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- chimera (lion/goat/snake); 'Chimera' (Ripa) (+ fighting animals; aggressive relations) [25FF232(+751)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fabulous animals ~ hoofed animals: winged horse (+ postures, positions of animal(s)) [25FF24(WINGED HORSE)(+753)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- low hill country [25H114] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- rotating, twisting (movement of the human body) [31A2753] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flying (+ variant) [31A2762(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward - AA - both arms or hands (+ holding something) [31AA2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- casting weapons: spear [45C11(SPEAR)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horseman [46C131] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rowing-boat, canoe, etc. [46C232] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- offspring, companion(s), train etc. of Echidna [92I7492] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- Bellerophon, flying on Pegasus' back, kills the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster, with arrows or a spear [94S32] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
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