History of Monsters. 289

There is no shortage of images representing Apollo. The ancients sometimes depicted him as a man with a beautiful face, golden hair, and dressed in a cloak of purple woven with gold, holding a shield in his right hand and a torch in his left. Elsewhere, among the Achaeans, Apollo was depicted as a naked man, though with his feet covered, pressing one of them down upon a bull's skull. Furthermore, among the Spartans, Apollo was shown as a human figure distinguished by four hands and as many ears. By this icon they signified wisdom—of which Apollo is said to be the symbol—which no one can acquire for themselves except through listening to many things and performing many works. Likewise, among others, Apollo was fashioned wearing a helmet and standing thirty cubits tall, with a bow and spear, although Cartari believes these attributes pertain more to the characteristics of Mars.

Although the image of a man holding a bow and about to strike a lizard with an arrow represents Apollo—specifically as the Sun—this is because, as Cartari argued, the Sun, by drying the earth with its rays, does not permit such small creatures to be generated from rot. Just so, the figure of a man pressing a mouse with his foot signifies Apollo, or the Sun; for the Sun, resisting the rot of the earth with its rays, prevents the generation of mice. When a man was depicted with one side of his head shaved and the right side covered in hair, this was understood as an image of the Sun; for the hair denoted the part of the year with longer days, and the shaved part of the head, according to Cartari, manifested the shorter winter days.

However, Valeriano, with a picture of a man with an erect phallus and a basket upon his head, represents Osiris, or the Sun: indeed, by the image of the erect member, he indicates that generation comes from the Sun, and by the figure of the basket, the benefit of nourishment. Alternatively, according to Cartari, a naked man adorned with two horns and appearing as if about to strike someone with an arrow signifies Jupiter, or rather the Sun, diffusing its rays onto the earth. Finally, a naked man upon a square stone, with a face resembling the head of a lion and holding a bull’s horn in each hand, represents the Sun, whom the Persians worshipped under the name Mithras.

Since the ancients reported that Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona, born in the same birth as Diana (or the Moon)—and for that reason called her Phoebe, the sister of Phoebus—it is only right that after considering the iconography of Phoebus, the Sun, we move to the iconography of Phoebe. Cartari, along with the ancients, designates the Moon as a naked man with the head of a hawk, receiving light from the Sun, since the hawk was said to be a symbol of the Sun. Elsewhere, the same author demonstrates this same Moon through the image of a naked man with the head of a ram, because when the Moon is joined with the Sun in the sign of Aries, she exerts a greater influence of moisture.

But, according to the mind of Hesiod's commentator, Phoebe is shown by the image of a three-headed person, called the Moon in the Heavens, Diana on Earth, and Proserpina in the underworld. Alternatively, this image denotes the present, past, and future time, and among the Latins, it explains the triple division of the month into Kalends, Nones, and Ides. Others use this same icon to represent Geryon, while still others assert this figure is a symbol of Spain—either because, as Valeriano notes, the Geryons originated in Spain, or because Spain appears to be divided into three parts. Otherwise, the figure of a three-headed man filled with many eyes and hands represents one who utilizes the counsel and labor of many in conducting his affairs.

Those who wish to see the iconography of Mercury should turn to Cartari, who displays a beautiful head covered by a cap encircled by two serpent figures. Although the same author paints Mercury as a naked youth covered by a cap equipped with two wings, whose lower parts end in a square stone; for by that square figure, the ancients suggested that Mercury was the inventor of Grammar, Music, Geometry, and Wrestling, while the common image of Mercury is represented by the figure of a youth with a caduceus and winged sandals on his feet.

A man in armor equipped with a spear and a whip—sometimes on horseback and sometimes in a chariot drawn by horses—signifies the god Mars. But it should be noted that a depiction of Fame beating her wings precedes the image of Mars, and likewise, Mars's chariot is imagined to be drawn by four fire-breathing horses.

Let us pass from the icon of Mars to the effigy of Cupid, since he was believed to be the son of Mars and Venus. Eustathius sometimes portrayed Cupid by delineating a naked boy with winged feet atop a golden chariot, with a lit torch in his right hand and a bow in his left; he places the figure of a naked sword on either side, and around the image, countless nations