Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
146. UPUPA. (Perry 0)
EN taedas celebrans avium Regina vocarat
Forsan ad haec alias sacra frequenter aves.
Hospitibus redolens se praetulit Upupa stercus,
Quod formosa sibi plus ea visa fuit.
Erexisse ferunt tumido quam pectore cristas,
Prae sese reliquas sordida sprevit aves.
Quae stolide gestu se deformante superbit,
Regalique suos sanguine iactat avos.
At cui non tribui par esse Ciconia primas
Dixit, olens cui sit ster core nidus avi.
Nullius ex habitu, quae quemque sequatur honestas,
Scire, tibi vitae sed ratione licet.
*** The drawing does not fit the fable. ***
The same image appears at Fable 75, where it fits better.
Phryx Aesopus Habitu Poetico, by Hieronymus Osius, 1574 (artist not identified). Available online at the University of Mannheim. This book clearly recycles a set of images from another book of Aesop's fables. In some cases, the illustration does not match the fable shown, and in some cases I have not been able to identify what fable a given illustration is supposed to illustrate. |
