170 Ulisse Aldrovandi

...live. "Shame resides in the eyes," as Aristotle observes, since we feel shame for those things that are seen. Indeed, the gaze either generates or renews a sense of shame; for this reason, children cover their eyes when they are embarrassed. Plato records that Socrates, when about to speak of love, covered his eyes out of modesty. It was for this same reason that the poets imagined Cupid to be blind—because he is utterly shameless. This aligns with Cicero's assertion that a letter does not blush, as it lacks eyes. Similarly, we observe that people who lack sight are often strangers to modesty. Finally, Ovid asserted that night, being blind, is devoid of shame. "My right eye is twitching" is a phrase we use when we hope to see something we long for. It seems to stem from a certain superstition among women, who wish to divine the future from the itching of a limb. In our own age, people say jokingly that their right ear is ringing, meaning that they have been mentioned elsewhere with praise.

Pliny confirms this, stating that it was once believed that if someone was being praised in their absence, their right ear would ring, whereas if they were being disparaged, it would be the left. "It pertains more to the eyes than the bladder" was a saying used by Varro regarding matters of pleasure rather than profit. In this context, the "bladder" is used to mean profit, since the ancients used pig and ox bladders as pouches and receptacles for money. "The eyes of Atreus" is a phrase used to describe severity, as Atreus was introduced in tragedies with grim and fierce eyes.

Several proverbs stem from blindness and visual defects. For instance, a "man without eyes" refers to someone blind; this is used when, in correcting one word, another of equal force is substituted. "To hatch an eye" is said if a matter succeeds according to one's wishes that could not possibly have succeeded otherwise; thus, the old man in Plautus said, "Hatch an eye, if I give it." "A blind man's prescription" is a common saying for something absurd—namely, when the person prescribing does not understand what they are saying. A "man blind in ears and mind" is a description of someone truly stupid. Stobaeus records the saying, "What use has a blind man for a mirror?" This is much like asking what need an unlearned man has for books. "To act with closed eyes" refers specifically to those who do not reflect before they act. Finally, "A bleary eye cannot bear the rays of the sun" can apply to men of dull wit who are unable to grasp the mysteries of any particular field.

Next come the eyebrows, from which two common proverbs have emerged: "to raise the eyebrow" and "to lower the eyebrow." The first is said of the arrogant and proud, whom we even call "supercilious." Indeed, the eyebrow itself is sometimes used as a synonym for haughtiness. Conversely, the eyebrow is "lowered" when pride is curbed. Since a part of the soul shines through the eyebrows, we use them to signal both assent and refusal. Seneca spoke of the "Censorial eyebrow" to describe exceptional gravity and grim severity. In Rome, the office of the Censors lasted five years, and they held such authority that they could remove Senators from their positions, take horses away from knights, and brand commoners with infamy.

The nose also provides us with adages. We say, for example, "to hang something from the nose" when someone is being mocked in a deceptive way; thus, those who cleverly trick others are called "nasute" or "well-nosed." A person "of wiped nostrils" is a phrase used for someone of sharp judgment.

Below the nose lies the mouth, which is not without its own adages. We say "to put pre-chewed food in the mouth" when someone explains a matter with the utmost diligence in teaching. This metaphor is taken from nurses who place pre-chewed food into the mouths of infants who do not yet have teeth. "To smear the mouth" is said when words are given as a trick and someone is being mocked. Nonius Marcellus believes this adage originates from an ancient type of game in which the faces of those sleeping were painted. "To have no mouth" refers to someone impudent, since the mouth denotes modesty. A "spitting mouth" refers to those who are trying to get rid of something; Valerian wrote that we usually spit on that which we abhor. A man is called a "mouth of twelve springs" if he possesses magnificent eloquence—a metaphor taken from a certain Athenian fountain that poured out a great volume of water through twelve spouts.

Many things are commonly said about the tongue, which must be enumerated here. Those who only threaten the enemy in a marvelous fashion when they are in safety are said to "wage war with the tongue." Hesychius calls such people *γλωσσαλπιδας* (tongue-trumpeters), because they use the tongue instead of weapons. A "friend by the tongue" is the name given to one who offers help only in words, since...