The text discusses mythical references from Greek mythology, particularly focusing on Atlas and his burden of carrying the celestial globe, with Hercules taking over this labor. Further descriptions explore figures on plates depicting rest and battle, drawing from Virgil's Aeneid. The narrative involves themes of struggle, defeat, and describes the intense scenes of battle, particularly between the characters Aeneas and Turnus.
ON THE HUMAN FIGURE.
...the enormous celestial globe he carries on his shoulders.
The immense mass exhausted Atlas, This labor was entrusted to the mighty Hercules.
When Atlas, wearied by the immense weight of the atmosphere, began to falter, this task, too arduous for him, was entrusted to the invincible strength of the vigorous Hercules.
Plate XXV features some figures seated and at rest.
On plates XXVI and XXVII, you see several figures of men lying on the ground, dead or dying; such as Dares, defeated and knocked down by Entellus; Virgil depicts him as half dead.
He tossed his head from side to side, coughing up thick blood and mixing teeth with the flow of blood.
Virgil. Aeneid. Book V.
He shakes his head side to side, vomiting thick blood; his teeth emerge from his mouth mixed with streams of blood.
At the end of the fight between Aeneas and Turnus, the poem admirably concludes:
Saying this, he buried the sword in his enemy's chest fiercely. Then his limbs grew cold; life, indignant, fled into the shadows with a groan.
Virgil. Aeneid. Book XII.
With these words, Aeneas, transported by rage, thrust his sword into the middle of his chest. Then a mortal cold seized Turnus, freezing his blood.
Translation Notes
1. "Atlas" here refers to Greek mythology where Atlas is a Titan burdened with the task of holding up the sky.
2. "Aeneas and Turnus" are characters in Virgil's Aeneid, an epic poem.