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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [h5v p122]

Amor virtutis alium Cupidi-
nem superans.

Anteros, Love of Virtue, conquering the other Love.

LXXII.

Cupid, in tears, bound to a pillar by another figure of Love, his bow and arrows burning in the background.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Aligerum aligeroque inimicum pinxit Amori,
Arcu arcum, atque ignes igne domans Nemesis:[1]
Ut quae aliis fecit patiatur, at hic puer olim
Intrepidus gestans tela,[2] miser lacrymat:
Ter spuit inque sinus imos[3] (res mira) crematur
Igne ignis, furias odit Amoris Amor.

Nemesis has fashioned a form with wings, a foe to Love with his wings, subduing bow with bow and flames with flame, so that Love may suffer what he has done to others. But this boy, once so bold when he was carrying his arrows, now weeps in misery and has spat three times low on his breast. A wondrous thing - fire is being burned with fire, Love is loathing the frenzies of Love.

COMMENTARIA.

Duo finguntur Cupidines, honestus scilicet
& turpis, quorum prior ex Venere & Iove, al-
ter verò ex Herebo & Nocte nati dicuntur, ut
collegit Perottus ex Cicerone, de natura Deo
rum. Inde Nemesis Dea, ultrix malefactorum
atque de felicitate superbientium, de qua suprà
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [h6r p123]Emblemate 13.[4] pinxit amorem virtutis, etiam
aligerum, inimicum alterius depravati Cupi-
dinis similiter alati, paribus armis arcu & igne
iniquum illum vincens, ut qui olim audax &
temerarius tela gerebat, nunc alligatus miser
plorat, eiusque facies conspuitur, nimirum ut
ipsemet ea patiatur quae olim aliis facere con-
sueverat, sic denique (res admirabilis) ignis
igne crematur, & amor insanias odit amoris.
Virtus enim vitiis inimica semper & contra-
ria, eisque tandem praeeminet: ut elegantissimè
Crinitus lib. 1. poëmatum in epigrammate
exhortationis ad virtutem.

Notes:

1.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 16.251. The punishment of Cupid (Amor) for the hurt he inflicts on men is a common theme in Hellenistic Greek poetry and art. This punishment is often carried out by Nemesis, goddess of retribution. Cupid’s arrows and torch are taken from him and destroyed, and he himself is bound, beaten, burned, and pricked with his own arrows.

2.  ‘when he was carrying his arrows’. The corresponding line of the Greek text reads γευσάμενος βελέων, ‘getting a taste of the arrows’, and Alciato probably wrote here gustans tela, ‘tasting the arrows’, though this reading is not attested in the editions. Velius’ translation of the same poem in Selecta epigrammata reads expertus spicula, ‘experiencing the darts’.

3.  ‘has spat three times low on his breast’. This is a charm to avert the anger of Nemesis for some overbold thought or action. See Erasmus, Adagia 594, In tuum ipsius sinum inspue.

4.  See [A56a013]

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