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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [n3r p197]

In nothos.

Bastards

XXVI.

Herculeos spurii semper celebretis honores:
Nam vestri princeps ordinis ille fuit.[1]
Nec prius esse deus potuit,[2] quām 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.

Notes:

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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    Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [n5r p201]

    Buxus.

    The box-tree

    XXXIX.

    Perpetuō viridis, crispoque cacumine buxus.
    Unde est disparibus fistula facta modis,[1]
    Deliciis apta est teneris, & amantibus arbor.
    Pallor inest illi, pallet & omnis amans. [2]

    The box-tree is evergreen, with crinkly shoots. From it was made the pipe with its variously pitched notes. It is a tree appropriate to tender delights and to lovers. Box-wood is pale and so is every lover.

    Notes:

    1.  For pipes of boxwood, see e.g. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4.30.

    2.  pallet et omnis amans, ‘pale...is every lover’. The lover should affect pallor and emaciation, as these will soften the lady’s heart; see Ovid, Ars Amatoria, 1.729ff.


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