History of Monsters. 362 Ulisse Aldrovandi

...Pasiphae and the Bull, as he bore the upper part of a man and the lower part of a bull. The poets relate that this monster was imprisoned within the Cretan labyrinth; as Ovid sang: "Daedalus shut away this creature conceived from his mother’s seed—a man half-bull and a bull half-man."

According to Festus, the Romans used to depict this image of the Minotaur on their military standards to demonstrate to all that the counsels of Princes—especially concerning war expeditions—ought to be no less hidden than the Minotaur's labyrinth once was. For this reason, Dio claims that when Tiberius Caesar was asked why he shared his plans so little even with those he could safely trust, he is said to have replied: "A Prince’s counsel should be known to none, or to very few." Marcellinus noted on this subject that among the Persians of old, no one was privy to plans except for silent and faithful nobles, among whom a Deity of Silence was worshipped. Alciat’s verses on this matter run as follows:

"The monster that Daedalus shut in Knossian hiding-places, within a blind threshold and dark gloom, the Roman phalanx carries depicted into battle. Proud standards shine with the half-man bull. They warn us that the secret counsels of Leaders must remain hidden; a scheme known to others harms its author."

Similarly, Alciat depicts a certain monster whose upper parts resemble a man and whose lower parts a serpent, with the inscription: *Human wisdom is foolishness before God.* The verses are of this nature:

"What shall I say? By what name shall I address this biform monster, which is neither man nor dragon? But a man without feet, a snake without upper parts, it can be called a snake-footed man or a human-headed snake. The man farts a snake, and the snake has belched a man; it is neither the end of a man nor the beginning of a beast. Thus Cecrops once ruled over learned Athens; thus Mother Earth brought forth the Giants. This image indicates a man who is crafty but lacking religion, caring only for earthly things."

This fictional monster—which reflects neither a fully human nor an entirely serpentine form, but is integrated from a dual nature—can signify those who, though endowed with a rational soul, savor only earthly things. Consequently, crawling upon the ground, they degenerate into a beastly nature; for this monster ends neither as a man nor as the beginning of a beast. Just so, Epicurean men do not contemplate the end for which God granted reason to humanity. Therefore, these people are called crafty and devoid of religion; since they care only for worldly matters, they are not worthy of the name of men.

Lastly, Alciat depicted a monstrous head—namely, a two-headed one—with the inscription *The Prudent*. In antiquity, they used a similar image to show Janus as biform or two-headed, either because he was the man who brought humanity from a wild to a civil lifestyle, or because he was believed to be the father of the Greek and Latin peoples, or because they devised the two-headed figure to represent the Sun (whom they considered one and the same as Janus) as the doorkeeper of the celestial court, since the rising Sun was said to unlock the gate of Heaven and the setting Sun to close it. Many have interpreted this monstrous head of Janus as representing the skill and prudence of a Prince, since it is in the interest of a prudent man to know the past and to foresee the future long in advance. For this reason, the Romans worshipped Antevorta and Postvorta as companions of the deity. To this pertains the Greek adage *proso kai opiso*—that is, "from the front and from the back." This signifies that all things must be carefully weighed, and the past compared with the present and the future. Alciat’s verses are as follows:

"Two-faced Janus, you who are skilled in things already passed and things to come, who see sneers behind you just as you do in front. Why do they fashion you as one with so many eyes and faces? Does your form teach us that the man was circumspect?"