IUPITER AEQUUS.

THE FAIRNESS OF JUPITER:

Iuppiter, & iuno certarunt, utra voluptas
Sit maior, coitus foeminei, ánne maris?
Utrumque expertus iudex de lite iocosa,
Protulit (ut verum est) pro Iove Tiresias.
Saeva sed huic ultrix Iuno usum lucis ademit.
Iuppiter ast aequus scire futura dedit.
Haec est Iustitiae divinae Επικαία, rependat
Corporis ut damnum dotibus ingenii.
Sensibus externis nam qui ferè destituuntur:
His animi virtus acrior esse solet.

Jupiter and Juno once quarrelled over whose pleasure in sex is greater, the woman’s in sex, or the man’s. Tiresias, having experienced both, decided in favour (truly, indeed) of Jove; but vengeful Juno stripped him of his sight. Jupiter, however, in fairness gave him knowledge of things to come. This is the fairness of divine justice, which pays back the body’s harm with gifts of the spirit. For it is usual, if a man should be stripped more or less of his external senses, the powers of his soul are greater.