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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E7r]

IN VITAM HUMANAM.

On human life

Two men sitting at a table, one crying, the other laughing.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E7v]

Plus solito humanae nunc defle incomoda vitae
Heraclite, scatet pluribus illa malis.
Tu rursus, si quando alias extolle[1] cachinnum,
Democrite, illa magis ludicra facta fuit.
Interea haec cernens meditor, qua denique tecum.
Fine fleam, aut tecum quomodo splene iocer.[2]

Weep now, Heraclitus, even more than you did, for the ills of human life. It teems with far more woes. And you, Democritus, if ever you laughed before, raise your cackle now. Life has become more of a joke. Meanwhile, seeing all this, I consider just how far I can weep with you, how laugh bitterly with you.

Notes:

1.  Corrected from the Errata, and also corrected by hand in this copy.

2.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.148. For Heraclitus, cf. [A50a016]. For the contrast between the despairing tears of Heraclitus (who withdrew from human society) and the sardonic laughter of Democritus when faced with the folly of men, see, among many sources, e.g. Juvenal, Satires 10, 28ff.

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Section: SCIENCE. View all emblems in this section.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [P3r p229]

Eloquence est plus excellente que force.[1]

Probleme.

Hercules wearing a lion skin and carrying a club and bow, leading a group of men with ropes attached to his tongue and their ears.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Masse en main dextre, en senestre arc cornu,
Et du Lyon la peau couvrant corps nu,
C’est d’Hercules la forme, Mais tel art
Pas ne convient: qu’il soit chaulve, & vieillard.
La langue aussi de chainetes persée,
D’ond par l’oreille attraict gent, non forcée,
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [P3v p230] Est ce pourtant que par faconde voix,
(Et non par force) aulx peuples donna loix?
Armes font place aux lettres. Car des coeurs
(Tant soient ilz durs) Eloquens sont vinqueurs.

C’est la description Lucianicque de Hercu-
les le Francois, Par laquelle estoit figuré.
que Hercules avoit tant de peuples mis en son
obeissance, & tant de monstres, & tyrans
surmontéz par vive eloquence, & savoir le
gitime, & constitution de justes loix, Toutes
lesquelles choses les Grecz hont depuys de-
guisée [=deguisées] en faictz d’armes, & appropriées à
leur Hercules Grec, filz d’Alcmena.

Notes:

1.  This epigram is closely based on Lucian’s essay, The Gallic Hercules.

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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 generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass

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