Emblem 14

Emblem 14

Democritus and Heraclitus

In vitam humanamLatin

On human life

Interpretation: Heraclitus et Democritus (On human life)
Interpretation (German): Optimismus und Pessimismus

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within an ornamental woodcut border, two bearded men in long robes and caps sit on the ground in a landscape beneath a tree at the right. The man on the left throws up both hands, mouth open as if laughing or exclaiming, one finger raised. The man on the right leans forward, resting his head on his hand and covering his face as if weeping, an open book on his lap and a closed box or casket on the ground beside him. Hills and a cloudy sky fill the background.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

THE wicked worlde, so false and full of crime, Did alwaies mooue HERACLITVS to weepe, The fadinge ioyes, and follies of that time, DEMOCRITVS did driue to laughter deepe, Thus heynous sinne, and follie did procure Theise famous men, suche passions to indure. What if they liude, and shoulde behoulde this age Which ouerflowes, with swellinge seas of sinne: Where fooles, by swarmes, doe presse vppon the stage, With hellishe Impes, that like haue neuer binne: I thinke this sighte, shoulde hasten their decaye: Then helpe vs God, and Sathans furie staie.

TranslationAI-generated

The wicked world, so false and full of crime, always moved Heraclitus to weep; the fading joys and follies of that time drove Democritus to deep laughter. Thus heinous sin and folly caused these famous men to endure such passions. What if they lived and should behold this age, which overflows with swelling seas of sin, where fools by swarms press upon the stage, with hellish imps whose like have never been? I think this sight should hasten their decay. Then help us, God, and stay Satan's fury.

CommentaryAI-generated

3 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)

De his, Seneca lib. De Tranquillitate vitæ.

Concerning these men, see Seneca, book On the Tranquillity of Life.

Horatius.

Horace.

Damnosa quid non imminuit dies? Ætas parentum peior auis tulit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem.

What has destructive time not diminished? The age of our parents, worse than that of our grandparents, bore us, more worthless still, soon to produce an offspring yet more vicious.

Iconclass

11A23 God's perfections

11K(SATAN) devil(s) and demons: Satan

11N10

25G13 groups of plants (herbs)

25G3(+21) trees (+ stem, trunk)

25H1124 boulder, stone

25H114 low hill country

26A clouds

31A2352 sitting on an elevation

31A244 head bent forward; bowing

31AA2511 arm raised upward - AA - both arms or hands

31A25552 index finger forwards, pointing, indicating

31AA2531 hand(s) bent towards the head - AA - both arms or hands

31A25344 wiping away tears

31A2621(+53) one leg in front of the other (+ sitting)

31B6214 weeping

31B62321 laughing

31D14 adult man

31D16 old man

31D5 young versus old age; young and old

32A30

33A610 'Ajuto', 'Soccorso' (Ripa)

41D211(+81) dress, gown (+ men's clothes)

41D221(+81) head-gear (+ men's clothes)

41D233(+81) gear for legs and feet (+ men's clothes)

41D261 handkerchief

49M32 book

56B11(+4) Mirth, Hilarity (+ emblematical representation of concept)

56BB1(+4) Pain, Sorrow, Sadness; 'Dolore', 'Dolore di Zeusi' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

58B21(+4) Human Life; 'Vita humana', 'Vita inquieta', 'Vita e l'animo' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(IN VITAM HUMANAM) proverbs, sayings, etc. (IN VITAM HUMANAM)

98B(HERACLITUS)51 Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher, and Democritus, the laughing philosopher

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.

49M32 bookmedium

The correlate simply denotes a 'book', matching the open book lying on the weeping man's lap.

11N1 Vice, Evil, Sin; 'Peccato' (Ripa)low

The correlate 'Vice, Evil, Sin' loosely matches the commentary's theme of each generation becoming more vicious than the last, though no personification of Vice is depicted.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.

III viii 59 Ut nunc sunt homines – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's closing argument — that the present age overflows with sin and folly far beyond what Heraclitus and Democritus saw — is precisely the use Erasmus assigns to this adage, for lamenting that 'the morals of your time are continually declining from the standards of your elders'; Whitney's Horatian tag (Odes 3.6, 'Aetas parentum peior avis...') makes the same point.

I ii 58 Mandrabuli more res succedit – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus' adage for things that 'day by day get worse' matches the appended Horace quotation on successive generations growing ever more vicious, which supplies the emblem's rationale for why the weeping and laughing philosophers would be even more moved today.

IV viii 51 Novi nummi – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus' adage on each new issue of coinage being more debased, illustrated by Plautus' prologue on the ever more worthless (nequiores) new comedies brought upon the stage, echoes the emblem's 'fooles, by swarmes, doe presse vppon the stage' and Horace's 'nos nequiores'.

II iii 48 Homo bulla – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus' long meditation 'on human life' — its emptiness, folly and misery, drawn from Lucian's Charon where the gods look down on mankind — supplies the commonplace background to the motto 'In vitam humanam' and to the two philosophers' contemplation of the vanity of human affairs.