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In nothos.
Bastards
XXVI.
Herculeos spurii semper celebretis honores:
Nam vestri princeps ordinis ille fuit.[1]
Nec prius esse deus potuit,[2] quàm sugeret infans
Lac, sibi quod fraudis nescia Iuno dabat.[3]
Bastards, you should always celebrate the honours of Hercules, for he was the chief of your line. He could not become a god until as a babe he sucked the milk which Juno was giving him, unaware that she was being tricked.
1. Hercules was fathered by Jupiter on Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon of Thebes, and became his father’s favourite. Juno, wife of Jupiter, in jealousy pursued Hercules with implacable hatred.
2. After all his Labours (see previous emblem) and other exploits, Hercules, by the will of Jupiter, was received among the gods. See e.g. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 9.156ff; Cicero, De officiis, 3.25.
3. For the story of Juno tricked by Jupiter into suckling the loathed Hercules see Pausanias, 9.25.2. This divine milk apparently counteracted Hercules’ illegitimate birth which otherwise disqualified him for heaven. See Erasmus, Adagia, 2070 (Ad Cynosarges).
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- wet-nurse (+ variant) [42A311(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- illegitimate child, bastard [42B360] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hercules is found by Juno and Minerva; the latter puts him on Juno's breast (+ variant) [94L1211(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Hercules; Hercules as patron [94L7] Search | Browse Iconclass
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