History of Monsters. 334

IMAGES

Some assert that those monstrous images of the pagans were real, through which they attempted to express the *Semones* or *Semihemones*—that is, "half-men." This is because in the old tongue, a man was called a *Hemo*. These beings appeared to be monstrous because they were composed partly of human members and partly of the members of wild beasts. However, this should by no means be asserted as fact, for antiquity called these half-men "lesser gods," not only because they were occupied with minor tasks, but because they shared in the nature of both humans and the higher gods. It is certainly well-established and explored that Fortune was depicted as monstrous by the pagans, shown with two faces: the front one joyful and the rear one mournful. For this reason, the poet Gunther, in the first book of his *Gests of Frederick*, called Fortune a "two-formed monster" in these verses:

"And so I prepare to describe to you common Fortune, who has so often tried in vain to mock you, and the ambiguous countenances of the two-formed monster."

Apelles, the distinguished painter, also used to depict Fortune in this way, though seated; when asked why, he replied: "Because she never stands still." Since we are discussing two-headed images, it is worth recalling the monstrous icon featuring two heads depicted by Ripa to represent Prudence. This is because a man of exceptional prudence does not erase the memory of the past through oblivion, and strives to foresee the future. Indeed, according to the same author, Theology is declared through a two-headed image, in which one youthful face looks toward the heavens and the other, older face looks toward the earth. As Saint Augustine wrote to Volusianus, these faces suggest to us that Theology consists in constant meditation and the love of both God and neighbor. And since one head of a two-headed man can only be raised if the other is lowered, we may infer that a theologian’s intellect should not be carried to such heights that he forgets his human condition, which can easily fall into error. In the work of the same author, an image of a two-headed woman with eagle’s feet and a scorpion’s tail represents Fraud; in this way, she shows that deception is prepared through many different means.

In a handbook of coins, a monstrous head is observed and assigned to Melusine, the mother of Geoffrey, who lived in France during the reign of Philip, son of Robert. They say this originated from the fact that the lower parts of this woman were monstrous, although others believe this monstrous head was devised instead to decorate the woman’s family coat of arms. Ripa also represented a monstrous image of a man with the face of a lion to express Terror, since it is the nature of a lion to strike those who look upon it with deep fear at first sight. Similarly, a monstrous man with a donkey’s head appears in Ripa’s work, an image by which Ignorance is manifested; for just as a donkey constantly stares at the ground, the ignorant and unskilled man never raises his eyes to the sun of virtue.

The same author uses the image of a monstrous woman to reveal Gluttony (*Gastrimargia*). She is pot-bellied and endowed with a neck so long that it rivals that of a crane; for a large belly relates to gluttony, and those devoted to the gullet wish they had a crane’s neck so they might enjoy the pleasure of food for a longer duration. Ripa also depicts a monstrous youth meditating on heaven, from whose head snakes hang among the hair as if growing from the skin. In this way, divine inspiration is expressed, because hair symbolizes thoughts; when mixed with snakes, it indicates that a sinner, having cast aside honor and living among crimes, can only overflow with abominable thoughts. Regarding this, Saint Gregory wrote in his *Commentaries on the First Book of Kings*: "He who lacks honor cannot avoid foul thoughts."

If monstrous images are to be admired and examined for the multitude and form of their ears, one must turn to Ripa, who paints a youth with four hands and four ears to represent human wisdom; since the Lacedaemonians once