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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [k4r p151]

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 quòd lingua illi levibus traiecta catenis.
Queis fissa facileis allicit aure viros?
Anne 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, which are attached to men’s pierced ears, and by them he draws them unresisting along? 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.

COMMENTARIA.

Describit pictam hîc imaginem, quae arcum
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [k4v p152]sinistra, dextra verò ferream Clavam tenet,
indutaque pelle Leonis ex Nemea (regio est
Arcadiae, in cuius quadam sylva Hercules in-
gentem occidit Leonem, eius deinde pelle
vestiebatur, ut apud Theocritum lib. 21.) Hercu-
lis igitur est figura, sed non convenit cani-
cies, nec cathena illa: quae sibi lingua haeret:
leviter autem auriculas plurium virorum te-
net. Hoc autem significatur fortissimum Alcidem
(id est, Herculem sic dictum à Graeco nomi-
ne ἀλκὴ quod est robur) iura dedisse & sub-
egisse feroces populos, non ut iuvenis forti-
tudine seu armis, sed instar senis prudentis,
eloquentia sua singulari. Cedunt arma togae,
id est, bella interdum aspera eloquentiae vi &
persuasione docta faciliùs dirimuntur & se-
dantur, toga enim pro pace accipitur, nam
huiusmodi habitu utebantur prisci Romani
praesertim pacis tempore. Disertus denique
poterit vel durissimos etiam homines & fe-
rocissimos eloquentia citius quàm ro-
bore & violentia, in suam senten-
tiam trahere ut de Her-
cule habetur apud
Xenophon-
tem.

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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  • extinct, 'historical' peoples (with NAME) [32B2(GAULS)] 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 generosit� dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virt� 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  [N8v p208]

In receptatores sicariorum.[1]

Those who harbour cut-throats

XCIIII.

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

Latronum furumque manus tibi Scaeva[2] per urbem
It comes, & diris cincta cohors gladiis.
Atque ita te mentis generosum prodige censes,
Quòd tua complureis allicit olla malos.
En novus Actaeon, qui postquàm cornua sumpsit,
In praedam canibus se dedit ipse suis.[3]

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.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [O1r p209]

Wider auffenthalter der todschleger.

XCIIII.

Trotzlich gewaffend dich belaydt
Moerder und dieb ein grosse rot,
Das achst du dich stoltz und gemayd,
Das du soelch nerst von deinem brot:
Sich fal nit in Actaeons not,
Den in eins hyrschen gstalt verkert
Sein aygen hunnd bissen zu tod,
Wer schelmen nert, ist unglucks werd.

Notes:

1.  Before the 1536 edition, Wechel editions used an earlier version of the woodcut in which the horns were more like a goat than a deer’s antlers.

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

3.  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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