Link to an image of this page [B6r]
INVIOLABILES TELO Cupidinis.
Immune to Cupid’s dart
Ne dirus te vincat amor, neu foemina mentem
Diripiat magicis artibus ulla tuam.
Link to an image of this page [B6v]Bacchica avis praesto tibi motacilla paretur,
Quam quadriradiam circuli in orbe loces.
Ore crucem & cauda, & geminis ut complicet alis,[1]
Tale amuletum carminis omnis erit.
Dicitur hoc Veneris signo Pegasaeus Iason,
Phasiacis laedi non potuisse dolis.[2]
To prevent merciless love overcoming you, to prevent any woman plundering your mind with magic arts, provide yourself with a wagtail, bird of Bacchus. Place it spread four ways within the sphere of a circle, so that it forms the arms of a cross with its beak, tail and paired wings. Such a thing will be an amulet against all magic spells. Through this figure, the gift of Venus, it is said that Jason of Pagasae became immune to the wiles of Phasis.
1. These lines describe the rhombos, a device used in casting love-spells. The bird usually employed was a wryneck, associated with Bacchus, possibly because of its dappled markings. (Cf. the dappled fawns associated with the god.) The wagtail seems to have been confused with the wryneck in folk belief.
2. Pagasa (or Pagasae) was the place in Thessaly where the ship Argo was built, in which the Argonauts, led by Jason, sailed to Colchis in the region round the river Phasis to fetch the Golden Fleece. In this and in other tasks imposed on them by the king of Phasis they were helped by the sorceress Medea, daughter of the king. Instructed by Venus, Jason used the rhombos to cause Medea to fall in love with him and so use her spells to help, not harm, him. See Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.216ff.
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- other birds (with NAME) (+ postures, positions of animal(s)) [25F39(WAGTAIL)(+53)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- other birds (with NAME) (+ animal with forelegs stretched sidewards) [25F39(WAGTAIL)(+553)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea [25H2322] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Bacchus (with NAME) [92L18(WAGTAIL)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- witchcraft, sorcery [13B] Search | Browse Iconclass
- amulet, talisman [13C31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- circle (~ planimetry, geometry) [49D36] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Protection; 'Custodia', 'Difesa contra nimici, malefici & venefici', 'Difesa contra pericoli', 'Riparo da i tradimenti' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54E42(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (personifications and symbolic representations of) Love; 'Amore (secondo Seneca)' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Venus (Aphrodite) [92C4] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Cupid (with NAME) [92D18(DART)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Jason and Medea at the altar of Hecate (or Diana): Medea gives him a magic herb or ointment [94A43] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Jason [95A(JASON)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [F3v p86]
Non tibi, sed religioni.
Not for you but for religion
XXXV.
Isidis effigiem tardus gestabat asellus,
Pando verenda dorso habens mysteria.
Obvius ergo Deam quisquis reverenter adorat,
Piasque genibus concipit flexis preces.
Ast asinus tantum praestari credit honorem
Sibi, & intumescit admodùm superbiens,
Donec eum flagris compescens dixit agaso,
Non es Deus tu aselle, sed Deum vehis.[1]
An ass with dragging feet was carrying an image of Isis, bearing reverend mysteries on its sagging back. So all who met him reverently offered worship to the goddess and recited pious prayers on bended knee. The ass however took it that all this honour was offered to himself, and began to swagger along swollen with pride - until his driver, reducing him with blows, said, ‘You are not god, my little ass, you are carrying god’.
Link to an image of this page [F4r p87]
Nit dier, sonder der geystlicheyt.
XXXV.
Ein Esel trueg eins haylgen bild,
Vor dem sich nayget yederman,
Des ward der Esel stoltz und wild,
Maint im selbs wurd die ehr gethan,
O schelm, ich solt dich leren gan,
Sein maister sagt, und schlagen vol:
Nit dich, den haylgen bett man an,
Ein unglert pfaff verstet es wol.
1. See Aesop, Fables 266; Erasmus, Adagia 1104, Asinus portans mysteria.
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- worship and devotion (in general) ~ Egyptian religion [12C21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Egyptian religion [12CC132(ISIS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- statues, paintings, etc. ~ objects of worship (Egyptian religion) - CC - in the open air [12CC63] Search | Browse Iconclass
- kneeling on both knees (+ saluting, showing reverence) [31A2331(+911)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm raised upward (+ holding something) [31A2511(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward [31A2512] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hands with finger-tips against each other [31A25231] Search | Browse Iconclass
- kneeling figure - AA - female human figure (+ saluting, showing reverence) [31AA233(+911)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking upwards (+ saluting, showing reverence) [31B6211(+911)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ six persons) [31D14(+76)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- baring the head, lifting one's hat [33A11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ men's clothes) [41D211(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ women's clothes) [41D211(+82)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head-gear (+ men's clothes) [41D221(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gear for legs and feet (+ men's clothes) [41D233(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ass, donkey [46C13142] Search | Browse Iconclass
- saddle [46C131614] Search | Browse Iconclass
- whip [46C1463] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- saints [11H] Search | Browse Iconclass
- allegorical representations ~ religion; 'Religione', 'Religione de SS. Mauritio e Lazaro', 'Religione vera christiana' (Ripa) [11P12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- functionaries and dignitaries ~ Protestant churches [11P341] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Misuse, Misemployment (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54BB11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Arrogance; 'Arroganza' (Ripa) [57AA644] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Honour, Glory; 'Ampiezza della Gloria', 'Gloria', 'Gloria de prencipi', 'Gloria & Honore', 'Honore', 'Sublimatà ¤ella Gloria' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [59B31(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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