
EMBLEMA CLVII.
Avaritia.
Avarice
Heu miser in mediis sitiens stat Tantalus undis,
Et poma esuriens proxima habere nequit.
Nomine mutato de te id dicetur avare,
Qui, quasi non habeas, non frueris quod habes.[1]
Alas, poor Tantalus stands thirsting in the midst of waters, nor can he, for all his hunger, get the fruit close by. Miser, change the name and this will apply to you, since you get no more enjoyment out of what you have than if you didn’t have it.

Das CLVII.
Geitigkeit.
Der arm Tantal mitten im Seh
Steht, und dürst in doch immer meh
Die Opffel im auch vorm Maul hangn
Und thut in doch nach essen blangn
Das wirt von dir Geitzger gsagt recht
So man nur den namn endert schlecht
Dann daß du Gut hast und brauchts nit
Ist eben als hettst nit ein dit.
1. quasi non habeas, non frueris quod habes: ‘you get no more enjoyment out of what you have than if you didn’t have it’. Cf. Tam deest avaro quod habet quam quod non habet, ‘the miser is deprived of what he has as much as what he has not’, a well-known proverb of Publilius Syrus, quoted e.g. in Quintilian, Institutio oratoria, 8.5.5. See Erasmus, Adagia, 1514 (Tantali poenae).
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Relating to the text:
- Covetousness; 'Avaritia' (Ripa) ~ personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sins [11N34] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees: apple-tree (+ bearing fruit) [25G3(APPLE-TREE)(+34)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lake [25H214] Search | Browse Iconclass
- thirst [41C129] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Advantage [54F14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Wealth, Opulence; 'Opulenza', 'Richezza' (Ripa) [55B1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity; 'Cupidità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55CC11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Tantalus, suffering eternal hunger and thirst [9.30E+82] Search | Browse Iconclass
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