25. For what
grandeur—if you look at the truth without any prejudice4751
| 4751
Lit., “and without any favour,” gratificatione. |
—is there
in these images
4752
| 4752
Lit., “what great thing have these images in
them.” |
of which
they speak, that the men of old should have had reason to
hope and
think that, by beholding them, the vices of men could be
subdued, and
their
morals and
wicked ways brought under restraint?
4753
| 4753
So the ms., first four edd., Elm., Hild.,
and Oehler, reading mores et maleficia, corrected in the
others a maleficio—“morals withheld from
wickedness.” |
The reaping-
hook, for example,
which was assigned to Saturn,
4754
was it to inspire
mortals with
fear,
that they should be willing to
live peacefully, and to abandon their
malicious inclinations? Janus, with double face, or that spiked
key by which he has been distinguished;
Jupiter, cloaked and bearded,
and holding in his right
hand a piece of
wood shaped like a
thunderbolt; the cestus of Juno,
4755
| 4755
The reference is probably to some statue or picture of Juno
represented as girt with the girdle of Venus. (Il., xiv.
214). |
or the
maiden lurking under a
soldier’s
helmet; the mother of the gods, with her timbrel; the
Muses, with their
pipes and psalteries; Mercury, the winged slayer of
Argus; Æsculapius, with his
staff; Ceres, with huge breasts, or
the drinking
cup swinging in Liber’s right
hand; Mulciber, with
his workman s
dress; or Fortune, with her
horn full of apples,
figs, or
autumnal fruits; Diana, with half-covered thighs, or Venus naked,
exciting to lustful desire; Anubis, with his dog’s face; or
Priapus, of less importance
4756
than his own genitals:
were
these expected to make men afraid?E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
