The text discusses various historical and mythological figures and their artistic representations. It mentions Priam's tragic fate in Troy, the symbolic meaning of a statue with three eyes representing Jupiter, and depicts King Lysimachus, Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, and Roman cultural practices. These portrayals emphasize symbolism, cultural narratives, and historical events.
Theory
When Troy was taken by the Greeks, Priam, accompanied by Hecuba his wife and his daughters, sought refuge at the same altar, embracing the idols of the Gods he vainly invoked, for he was massacred by the hand of Pyrrhus.
Stenebus, son of Capaneus, later transported this statue to Larissa. Now, whatever the artist who made this figure intended, I believe that the three eyes seen on it symbolize the triple power of Jupiter: with two eyes he looks at the earth and the sea, and with the third, he gazes at the sky.
King Lysimachus was depicted with a horn on his forehead, because when a bull that Alexander was about to sacrifice broke its bonds and escaped, the king, seizing the bull by the horns, halted it with his two hands, and brought it back to the place of sacrifice.
An artist put a star on the forehead of Julius Caesar, because a comet was seen in the sky on the day he was assassinated openly in the Senate.
Marcus Brutus is depicted with a small hat and two small daggers, because, on the day of his crime, people ran through the city with hats on their heads (the hat is a symbol of liberty) and it was noted that the daggers used by Brutus and Cassius were the instruments that restored liberty in Rome.
The Romans used to attach and dedicate together, in their gymnasiums or colleges, the statues of Mercury and Minerva: Cicero called them Hermathenae, meaning statues of Mercury and Minerva.
Translation Notes: The word 'gymnase' translates to 'gymnasium', referring to a training facility in ancient Greece and Rome. 'Hermathenae' refers to a combination or association of the deities Hermes and Athena, common in Roman culture.