# History of Monsters, page 165

him impenetrable to swords, yet she did not foresee that he would eventually perish from a wound to his heel. For this reason, the author seems to argue that if even a goddess like Thetis was not cautious enough in providing protection to keep her son Achilles safe from impending wounds, mere mortals will be far less capable of doing so. Finally, Paolo Giovio, though without a motto, presents the figure of a woman in elegant, royal dress, accompanied by an image of a courtly boy cleaning the royal garments with brushes. He claimed this was the symbolic device of a certain Prince who believed Italy was ruled by his whim, yet failed to notice that he was only attracting the refuse of the clothes to himself.

SAYINGS AND APOPHTHEGMS

The various thoughts of men distinguished by their integrity and learning, concerning the virtues, vices, and the general misery of human life, are to be recorded here. Regarding the virtues, we have these words from the Gospel of John: Pilate said to Jesus, "Do you not speak to me? Do you not know I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you?" Then Jesus replied, "You would have no power against me at all, unless it were given to you from above." From this, we gather that human power is worth nothing unless it is granted from on high.

Saint Augustine, according to Possidius, when asked why he did not wish to live with his sister, replied: "The women who live with my sister are not my sisters."

Likewise, Abbot Bion, when sent to his sister by Saint Anthony, entered her home with his eyes closed and then immediately departed. When she cried out and invited him to stay, he said: "It was only right, and you have seen me as you desired." When the wife of a Tribune was burning with a desire to see John the Hermit, the Tribune invited the righteous man, as Marulus reported. But he replied: "I will by no means do that, but I promise that I will appear to her in her sleep; for the sight of a woman can bring great danger to the soul."

Similarly, we have an account from Surius that while the monk Sabas was traveling with a companion, they encountered a beautiful young woman. After she had passed, Sabas, testing his companion's character, asked: "What did she seem like to you? To me, she certainly seemed one-eyed." The companion disagreed, as he had looked at her quite closely. Then Sabas said: "Have you never read, 'let her not catch you with her glances'?"

Solomon also once declared that a virtuous and modest woman is called her husband's crown.

Scipio Africanus, as recorded by Plutarch, used to say that the fiercest horses should be handed over to trainers so that they might afterwards be handled more easily; likewise, men unbridled by prosperity should be led into the circle of reason so that, having seen the fragility of human affairs and the vanity of fortune, they might be rendered more moderate. Musonius, according to Stobaeus, when describing man, used to say: "Man alone of all those dwelling on earth is the Image of God, and possesses similar virtues; for in God nothing more excellent can be imagined than Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance."

Erasmus suggested that as men grow old, they should live in such a way as to provide a right standard of behavior for the youth, since the best path to old age is education. In former times, the elderly were heaped with great honors; for this reason, none but the old entered the Senate, as Ovid indicated in this manner: "The senate-house was not open then except after late years, and the Senate has the gentle name of age." Consequently, a certain man traveling to Lacedaemon, when he saw the honor with which the elderly were treated, is said to have uttered these words: "It is profitable to grow old in Sparta alone."

When the wife of Philon was asked in a gathering of many women why she alone among so many did not wear gold ornaments, she cleverly replied: "A husband is ornament enough for a wife." Finally, when the Cyprians had fought unsuccessfully against Astyages, King of the Medes, the Cyprian women went out to meet those fleeing into the city; baring their bellies, they said: "Where are you fleeing, you cowards? Do you not know that you cannot enter back in here, from where you once emerged by the law of nature?" From this, we may gather that men are sometimes encouraged by women.