Emblem 16

Emblem 16

Pygmies attack the sleeping Hercules

Quod potes, tentaLatin

Try what you can.

Interpretation: Pigmies and Hercules (Try what thou canst)
Interpretation (German): Vermessenheit

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within an ornamental woodcut border, a bearded, muscular man (Hercules) lies asleep on the ground, half-wrapped in a lion's skin, his head resting on his arm and a club beside him. Swarming around his body are numerous tiny dwarf-like soldiers armed with swords, spears, shields and helmets; several climb over his legs and torso while others advance from the right. On the hillside in the background two more small figures with raised sword and shield approach. A cloudy sky fills the upper part of the scene.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

WHILE, HERCVLES, with mightie clubbe in hande In Lyons skinne did sleepe, and take his ease: About him straighte approch'de the Pigmeis bande, And for to kill this conquerour assaies, But foolishe dwarffes? theire force was all to smalle, For when he wak'de, like gnattes hee crush'd them all. This warneth vs, that nothinge paste our strengthe Wee shoulde attempte: nor anie worke pretende, Aboue our power: lest that with shame at lengthe Wee weakelinges prooue, and fainte before the ende. The pore, that striue with mightie, this doth blame: And sottes, that seeke the learned to defame.

TranslationAI-generated

While Hercules, with his mighty club in hand, slept in the lion's skin and took his ease, the band of Pygmies straightway approached him and attempted to kill this conqueror; but foolish dwarves! their force was far too small, for when he woke he crushed them all like gnats. This warns us that we should attempt nothing beyond our strength, nor undertake any work above our power, lest at length we prove weaklings with shame and faint before the end. This blames the poor who strive with the mighty, and fools who seek to defame the learned.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Hi homunciones extremas Ægypti partes inhabitant agricolationi dediti, Subinde cum gruibus bellum gerunt. Plinius lib. 7. cap. 2. & Aul. Gellius lib. 9. cap. 4.

These little men inhabit the farthest parts of Egypt, devoted to farming; from time to time they wage war with the cranes. Pliny, book 7, chapter 2, and Aulus Gellius, book 9, chapter 4.

Propertius. Turpe est quod nequeas capiti submittere pondus, Et pressum inflexo mox dare terga genu.

Propertius. It is shameful to put upon your head a weight you cannot bear, and, overwhelmed, soon to turn your back with knee bent.

Iconclass

25F23(LION)(+351) beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion (+ skin, fleece, hide, fur, leather)

25H1124 boulder, stone

25H113 (high) hill

26A clouds

31A2352 sitting on an elevation

31A2511(+933) arm raised upward (+ holding something)

31A2512(+933) arm stretched forward (+ holding something)

31A2515(+933) arm held downwards (+ holding something)

31A534 beard

31BB13 sleeping on the ground - BB - out of doors

31B90

31D14(+78) adult man (+ eight persons)

32B37 Pygmy peoples (in legend, literature, and ethnography)

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

41D91 man (showing himself) undressed, quasi-nude

45C12(CLUB) weapons for striking a blow: club

45C13(SWORD) hacking and thrusting weapons: sword

45C19(SHIELD) protective weapons: shield

46A230

51EE11(+4) Restriction, Limitation (+ emblematical representation of concept)

54A33(+4) Skill, Ability; 'Artificio', 'Prontezza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

54A82(+4) Audacity, Temerity; 'Audacia' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(QUOD POTES, TENTA) proverbs, sayings, etc. (QUOD POTES, TENTA)

94L4124 Hercules falls asleep after having slain Antaeus, and is attacked by a swarm of pygmies (Philostratus, Imagines II 22)

94L8(CLUB) attributes of Hercules: club

94L8(LION'S SKIN) attributes of Hercules: lion's skin

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

94L4124 Hercules falls asleep after having slain Antaeus, and is attacked by a swarm of pygmies (Philostratus, Imagines II 22)high

The correlate 'Hercules falls asleep... and is attacked by a swarm of pygmies' matches exactly the sleeping lion-skinned hero swarmed by tiny armed soldiers.

94L8(CLUB) attributes of Hercules: clubhigh

'Attributes of Hercules: club' fits the club lying beside the sleeping Hercules, which with the lion's skin identifies him.

31A4221 pygmies, midgetshigh

'Pygmies, midgets' describes the numerous tiny dwarf-like human figures swarming over the hero's body.

32B37 Pygmy peoples (in legend, literature, and ethnography)medium

'Pygmy peoples (in legend, literature, and ethnography)' matches the commentary's account of the little men of farthest Egypt who farm and war with cranes, citing Pliny and Aulus Gellius.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

IV i 90 Pygmaeorum acrothinia Colosso adaptare – essay quotehigh

The emblem's Latin commentary on the Pygmies ('Hi homunciones extremas Ægypti partes inhabitant agricolationi dediti, subinde cum gruibus bellum gerunt') reproduces almost verbatim Erasmus's own words in this adage's essay: 'Est autem gens extremas Aegypti partes inhabitans, agricolationi dedita, bellum subinde gerens cum gruibus.' The adage's point (fitting tiny pygmy spoils to a Colossus) also matches the pygmies-versus-Hercules image.

I iii 49 Hinnulus leonem – essay quotehigh

The closing couplet ('The pore, that striue with mightie, this doth blame: And sottes, that seeke the learned to defame') renders Erasmus's application in this essay: 'quoties fit ut longe inferior lacessat potentiorem, aut multis partibus indoctior certet cum eruditissimo.' The picture of dwarfs attacking the lion-skinned Hercules is the visual equivalent of the fawn challenging the lion.

II iv 79 Ne caprea contra leonem – thematic inventiomedium

The adage's lesson — 'if you are weak, do not contend with one much stronger than yourself' — is precisely the moral of the Pygmies' futile assault on Hercules and of the motto 'Quod potes, tenta.'

I vi 92 Intra tuam pelliculam te contine – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus explains this adage as a warning 'not to forget our condition and attempt what is beyond our powers,' which is verbally close to the subscriptio's 'nothinge paste our strengthe wee shoulde attempte: nor anie worke pretende, aboue our power.'

I iii 66 Induitis me leonis exuvium – thematic inventiomedium

Said of 'those who undertake a work beyond their means, and who bear themselves with more pride than their rank warrants,' with the Herculean lion-skin and club as its explicit imagery — the same imagery and the same moral as the emblem.

IV i 95 Clavam extorque Herculi – thematic inventiolow

The proverb mocks anyone who tries to wrest something from a far mightier possessor, figured through Hercules and his club; the woodcut shows dwarfs assailing the sleeping Hercules with his club lying beside him.

I x 7 Impossibilia captas – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus's essay cites the maxim that one should not attempt what is beyond one's powers and observes 'the limit in all things,' matching the emblem's injunction not to undertake work above one's strength.

IV vii 82 Mortuo leoni et lepores insultant – thematic inventiolow

The image of contemptible little creatures daring to assail a lion only when it cannot retaliate parallels the Pygmies attacking Hercules in the lion's skin while he sleeps — and their rout when he wakes.