# History of Monsters. 157

Having explained these hieroglyphs of vices, we must now move quickly to the remaining ones. In representing Time, Saturn was shown devouring his children, since time is said to be the devourer of all things. Among the Egyptians, a man devouring the hours is also observed, signifying a person who calculates time, since hour by hour different types of nourishment are supplied to the human race. The hieroglyph for Eternity, however, was a picture of a man lifting a new moon with his right hand. The head of a household was expressed by the figure of a man with eyes in both the front and back of his head. The image of a bastard was a boy throwing pebbles into a crowd, for someone might say to him: "Take care that you do not strike your own father." The hieroglyph of a wife was Venus treading upon a tortoise, for it is a woman’s duty both to keep silent and to guard the home. An icon of a man joining his right hand to another's showed a man defeated in war. The hieroglyph of a mercenary soldier was the picture of a butcher slaughtering cattle; for a soldier slaughters men in the hope of profit, according to that well-known verse: "There is no faith or piety in men who follow the camps." But among others, the hieroglyph of a Judge was remarkable: in it, Apollo led the Graces with one hand, while in the other he carried a bow and arrows. Mercury depicted with a rooster indicated a merchant, for Mercury (Hermes) was so named as if he were "the one caring for merchandise" (*merces*); the figure of a rooster was added because it makes men watchful by waking them. Finally, the image of the youth Narcissus denoted calamity, while a woman sitting upon a ball signified the instability of fortune.

When a young man was painted carrying a banner over his head, it was the hieroglyph for the intellect, which is always busy with some scheme. Likewise, a man holding a libation bowl in his right hand and an ear of grain and a poppy in his left signified a good outcome; for those who live off the fruits of their own lands easily find sleep. Furthermore, Valeriano writes that the figure of a man placing the back of his knee over his other knee designates an impediment; for according to Pliny, the ancients believed that this gesture delayed childbirth and hindered every action. The moderation of all things was signified by the figure of a woman holding a cubit-measure and a bridle, since among the Romans, the goddess Nemesis was once painted with a bridle and this measure, as if nothing should be done without restraint and measure. Finally, a man depicted between two women—one of whom pulls him toward her while the other calls him back from a distance—designated Utility and Honor. To conclude, for the hieroglyph of Italy, they employ the icon of a crowned woman sitting upon a globe with a scepter in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left. And let these things suffice concerning hieroglyphs.

# PROBLEMS

Many propositions in the form of inquiries are circulated regarding man. For the present, however, the more important ones concerning age, bodily parts, sexual union, learning, and diseases present themselves for examination.

Regarding bodily parts, they first investigate why the hair and beard of the sick and the elderly grow more than those of the healthy and the young. Some learnedly respond that the sick and the elderly abound more in waste-like superfluities than the healthy and the young; because their natural heat is weaker, it is less able to consume and dissipate them. Next, they ask why nature bestowed a small mouth upon man but a very large one upon other animals. The common answer is that man acquired a mouth from nature for eating, breathing, and speech, whereas other animals use their mouths not only for eating and breathing but also for the protection of their lives. They also inquire why man alone possesses hands, while other animals do not. They respond that beasts, lacking intellect, have no need of a hand; for the hand is called the "organ of organs" because it executes the commands of the human intellect. A question also arises concerning the width of the human chest, whereas beasts are provided with a narrow chest