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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N7v p206]

Eloquentia fortitudine prae-
stantior.[1]

Eloquence superior to strength

XCIII.

Figure of Hercules with a chain attached to his tongue leading to men's 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 facili allicit aure viros?
An ne 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, 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.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N8r p207]

Wolredung get vor gewalt.

XCIII.

Hye stet Hercules, nach beschayd
Der pfeyl, kolben, und Lewen klayd:
Doch ist er graw, und gar zu alt,
Auch durch sein zung ein ketten gmalt,
Damit er zeuht ein hauffen leut,
Mich wundert was doch das bedeut:
Die Franzosen glauben gar vest,
Wie Hercules nit sey gewest
So gar starck, wie man ruembt sein macht,
Sonder hab undersich gebracht
All welt mit red, und zungen mild,
Malen im drumb ein soelich bild.
Hie bey siht man, das wort mit witz
Thuen mer, dan aller waffen spitz,
Und ist keins menschen gmuet so herdt,
Das lieblich reden nit bekert.

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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  • 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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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E6v]

IN RECEPTATORES
siccariorum.

Those who harbour cut-throats

Deer with a man's face being attacked by dogs
[Click on image to enlarge]

Latronum furumque manus tibi scaeva[1] per urbem,
It comes, & diris cincta cohors gladiis.
Atque ita te mentis generosum prodige censes,
Quod tua complureîs allicit olla malos.
En novus Actaeon qui postquam cornua sumpsit,
In praedam canibus se dedit ipse suis.[2]

An evil-minded band of ruffians and thieves accompanies you about the city, a gang of supporters armed with lethal swords. And so, you wastrel, you consider yourself a fine lordly fellow because your cooking pot draws in crowds of scoundrels. - Here’s a fresh Actaeon - he, after he grew his horns, became the prey of his own hunting dogs.

Notes:

1.  Scaeva, ‘evil-minded’. The capital letter in later editions suggests that the Latin word could be taken as a proper name in the vocative case, i.e addressing one Scaeva.

2.  For the story of Actaeon turned into a stag and killed by his own hounds, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138ff. Similarly, the hangers-on will destroy the one who has fed them.

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