of a blood-red color, which could be seen at the point where the hand was reattached.

Finally, many authors have recorded instances where a whole person was transformed into various things beyond the natural order. Eusebius the Jesuit mentions the case of a man living in the city of Parocha who swore a false oath upon the sacred corporals, praying that he be turned into stone if he were lying; he was immediately transformed into a rock, retaining his exact posture and form, and he remains there to this day as a sight for all to see. This is not to mention the story of Lot’s wife, who was transformed into a pillar of salt as recorded in the Holy Bible, and countless other examples of this kind found in the works of Surius and other authors.

Mythological Matters

Poets, both Greek and Latin, have imagined certain men to be hundred-handed, such as Briareus and Gyges; indeed, even Homer himself referred to the Sun as *hekatoncheira*, or "hundred-handed." However, an interpreter of Hesiod has argued that Briareus should be understood as representing the season of spring, since this time of year overflows with a great abundance of herbs, flowers, and foliage. Similarly, he explained Gyges of the hundred hands as a symbol of winter, because of the many things gathered together during that season. Homer quite rightly called the Sun hundred-handed as well, because of the innumerable duties it performs every day. The same interpreter of Hesiod relates that the Cyclopes—those one-eyed men—were invented by the poets because they were said to deal with lightning bolts generated in the air. Since the air is situated in the middle, he claims this gave rise to the fable that each Cyclops was adorned with only a single eye in the center of his forehead.

Fables also tell us that Achilles was invulnerable except for his heels, because those parts were covered by his mother’s hand while he was being dipped in the waters of the Styx and thus were not wetted by the water. They wrote that he died from a wound in that very spot. Through this story, they wished to suggest that even a man who is strong and brave in the face of misfortune can sometimes succumb to wanton allurements in such a way that he brings about his own manifest destruction.

There is also a ridiculous fable about Prometheus and the creation of humanity. It is said that Prometheus, by the command of Jupiter, fashioned both humans and beasts. However, seeing that the beasts far outnumbered the humans, Jupiter ordered Prometheus to destroy some of the animals and turn them into people. While he was carrying out his master's command, it happened that many people emerged who had a human form but the mind of a wild beast. This fable was invented to describe those people who wander the world filled with inhuman cruelty.

To these we can add many noteworthy fables from Abstemius. First, he tells of a woman who, after being beaten many times by her husband, pretended to be dead. Holding her breath, she lay on the ground to strike terror into her husband's heart. But the husband, who was well aware of women’s tricks, is said to have remarked that a dead beast ought to be skinned; seizing his wife's foot, he began to move his sword as if to peel away the skin, whereupon the woman immediately "recovered" from her feigned fainting spell. This story teaches that a wise man’s defenses are not easily breached by feminine snares.

Since we have fallen into a discussion of the wicked nature of women, it will not be out of place to recount another fable from the same author concerning a demon so troublesome to a man that no amount of skill could drive it away. Finally, someone promised to give the demon a wife; upon hearing this, the demon cried out, "Do not entangle me in the bonds of marriage, for I am leaving this instant!" The fable warns that nothing is more miserable than a wicked wife.

Abstemius also illustrated the female mind through another story involving a father who tried to soothe his daughter’s grief with gentle words while her husband was on his deathbed. He promised her another, more handsome young man in marriage who would easily take the place of her first husband. But the woman, overcome with sorrow, not only refused to listen to her father’s words but also condemned the untimely mention of another husband. Yet, as soon as the husband breathed his last, while still wet with tears, she asked her father if that young man he had recently promised her as a husband was around. From this fable we can perceive