Dedicatory Letter of Stiblinus to Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I

[3] Invictissimo et Potentissimo Principi, Domino Ferdinando Romanorum Imperatori Augusto, Pio et Felici, suo Domino clementissimo, Gaspar Stiblinus salutem plurimam dicit.

Gaspar Stiblinus offers his most sincere salutation to the most unconquerd and powerful Prince, Lord Ferdinand Emperor Augustus of the Romans, pious and fortunate, his most kindly master.

Qui regibus solent, Augustissime Imperator, uestes ferre aut aes aut aurum factum, uel aliud quippiam huiusmodi rerum quarum ipsi indigi sunt, isti autem abundant, nimium hi uidentur impudentius cauponam exercere quam qui ex professo hisce rebus negotiantur. Ego uero cum ueluti in populoso quodam theatro Tuam Maiestatem, Imperatoriis insignibus sublimi e solio fulgentem, animo contemplarer, deinde omnes omnium hominum ordines circumstare gratulabundos faustisque ominibus excipere sacratissimum Imperatorem, ut in cuius unius humeros orbis terrarum regendi onus iam incumberet, quod prius cum fratre sanctissimo Caesare* multis annis commune tulisset, aspicerem, e quibus equestris ordo fortissimum Principem se habere, Pontifices Episcopi et sacerdotes acerrimum religionis propugnatorem, ciuitates optimarum legum et conditorem et defensorem, literaria respublica ingeniorum patronum benignissimum, laetabundi clamarent, uolui aliud quoddam genus muneris Tuae Maiestati serenissimae ferre quod honeste et ego dare et Tua Maiestas accipere posset: nimirum EURIPIDEM, Tragicorum principem, iam Latine paulo luculentius quam antea loquentem, ne scilicet solus ego e literario sodalicio, in tanto amplissimorum ordinum conuentu, gestientis animi mei gratulationem nulla significatione apud Tuam Maiestatem declararem.

*[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor from 1530 to 1558, brother of the addressee, Ferdinand I, who ruled from 1558 to 1564]

Those who are accustomed to bring garments or coined bronze or gold to kings, most Venerable Emperor, or anything else of the type of things which they themselves are poor in, but they (the kings) have in abundance, seem excessively to be practicing a retail trade far more shamelessly than those who by profession deal in such things. I indeed, when, as if in some crowded theater, contemplated your majesty in my mind, shining from your high throne in the splendor of the imperial insignia, and then looked upon all the orders of all mankind encircling you offering congratulating and welcoming the Most Sacred Emperor with favorable omens, as one upon whose shoulders alone the burden of ruling the world now rested, which previously he had borne jointly for many years with his most sacred brother, Caesar*, from whom the equestrian order was joyfully proclaiming that it possessed in you a most courageous Prince; the Pontiffs, Bishops, and priests, the most zealous champion of religion; the cities, the founder and defender of the finest laws; and the republic of letters, the most generous patron of learning and talent, I wished to bring certain other form of gift to Your most serene Majesty, which both I could honorably give and Your Majesty could honorably receive: namely, Euripides, the prince of tragedians, now speaking in Latin a little more brilliantly than before, lest, naturally, only I alone from the literary fellowship, in so great a gathering of the most distinguished orders, should declare the congratulation of my rejoicing mind to Your Majesty by no sign.

Fero autem non solum Poetam in suo quidem scribendi genere praestantissimum, sed etiam philosophum, si modo uera sit haec Maximi Tyrii Platonici de Poetice sententia, καὶ γὰρ ποιητικὴ τί ἄλλο ἐστὶ, ἢ φιλοσοφία, τῷ μὲν χρόνῳ παλαιὰ, τῇ δὲ ἁρμονίᾳ ἔμμετρος*, τῇ δὲ γνώμῃ μυθολογικὴ;** id est: Quid aliud poetice est quam philosophia, tempore [4] quidem uetusta, compositione metrica, sententiis mythologica, ac fabularum inuolucro tecta? Fuit enim Euripides Anaxagorae, magni nominis philosophi, discipulus: cuius ductu tam feliciter philosophatus est ut sapientiae mysteria quae alii multis ambagibus ac uerborum spinis implicata prodebant ea ipse clarissime ob oculos poneret et veluti in scenam produceret. unde etiam scenicum philosophum eum dictum fuisse scribit Athenaeus.† Et Laertius†† testatur, Crantorem in primis admirari solitum fuisse ex poetis Homerum et Euripidem, nimirum propter abditam et reconditam doctrinam quae in illorum libris esset. Quod si, ut Cicero ait, haec praestans ac diuina sapientia est, et perceptas penitus res humanas et pertractatas habere, nihil admirari cum acciderit, nihil antequam euenerit non euenire posse arbitrari#, uix ex alio scripti genere id commodius assequemur quam ex Tragoedia, quae hoc potissimum agit, ut euidentibus exemplis ostendat in rebus humanis nihil tutum nihilque firmum esse, nulli felicitati fidendum, ac plane res hominum esse tales quales elegantissime Gregorius Theologus dictus in Epistola quadam ad Sophronium## describit: Ὁρᾷς οἷα τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ ὅπως κύκλος τις τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων περιτρέχει πραγμάτων· νῦν μὲν τῶν, νῦν δὲ τῶν ἀνθούντων καὶ ἀπανθούντων, καὶ οὔτε τοῦ εὖ πράττειν ἑστῶτος ἡμῖν, οὔτε τοῦ δυστυχεῖν, ὃ δὴ λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τάχιστα μετακινουμένου καὶ μεταπίπτοντος, ὡς αὔραις εἶναι μᾶλλον πιστεύειν καὶ γράμμασι τοῖς καθ’ ὕδατος ἢ ἀνθρώπων εὐημερίᾳ. Τίνος ἕνεκεν; ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, ἵνα τὸ ἐν τούτοις ἄστατον καὶ ἀνώμαλον θεωροῦντες, μᾶλλόν τι προστρέχωμεν τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ μέλλοντι, et cetera. Quae uerba utcumque nos Latine reddidimus: Vides (inquit) qualia nostra sint et quomodo ueluti rota quaedam rerum humanarum circumagatur, cum nunc hi nunc isti floreant defloreantque et neque felicitas nobis neque infelicitas firma maneat sed alterna uice subinde mutentur, ita ut tutius sit uentis credere aut literis in aquam scriptis quam felicitati humanae. Cuius rei gratia? Nimirum, ut dum imbecillitatem et inconstantiam rerum aspicimus, eo magis accedamus ad Deum aeternorum bonorum datorem. Porro harum rerum diligens consideratio ad duas res longe [5] pulcherrimas hominem consuefacit: primum, πρὸς τὸ σωφρονεῖν, deinde, πρὸς τὸ γνῶναι ἑαυτὸν, id est, et ad modestiam et ad cognoscendum seipsum: e quibus ueluti fontibus ceterae uirtutes manant.

*[misprint ἔμμετρα corrected]

**[Maximus of Tyre, Dialexeis 4.1.b: For indeed what else is poetic art than philosophy, ancient in time, metrical in arrangement, and mythological in thought?]

†[Athenaeus 4.48, as well as various other authors, such as Sextus Empiricus, adv. math 1.288; Origen, contra Celsum 4.77, Eusebius, praep. evang. 10.14.13]

††[Diogenes Laertius 4.26]

#[Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 3.14.30]

##[Gregory of Nazianzen, Epistulae 29.1-2 Gallay]

I bring, however, not only a Poet who is outstanding in his own particular kind of writing, but also a philosopher, if indeed this judgment of Maximus of Tyre the Platonist concerning poetry is true: καὶ γὰρ ποιητικὴ τί ἄλλο ἐστὶ, ἢ φιλοσοφία, τῷ μὲν χρόνῳ παλαιὰ, τῇ δὲ ἁρμονίᾳ ἔμμετρος*, τῇ δὲ γνώμῃ μυθολογικὴ;** That is: What else is poetic art than philosophy, [4] ancient in time, with a metrical in composition, mythological in its ideas, and covered with a wrapping of fables? For Euripides was a student of Anaxagoras, a philosopher of great reputation, under whose tutelage he pursued philosophy with such success that he himself brought most clearly before the eyes and, as it were, brought onto the stage the mysteries of wisdom which others revealed in a form entangled with many obscurities and thorns of words. Hence Athenaeus† writes that he was even called a “stage philosopher.” And Laertius†† also testifies that Crantor was accustomed to admire above all among the poets Homer and Euripides, doubtless because of the hidden and profound learning contained in their works. And if, as Cicero said, this is outstanding and divine wisdom, namely to have human affairs thoroughly perceived and carefully examined, to be amazed at nothing when it has happened, to judge that nothing cannot happen before it has happened, we shall scarcely attain this advantage more conveniently from any other kind of writing than from Tragedy, which chiefly does this, that it shows by evident examples that in human affairs nothing is safe and nothing is secure, that no happiness is to be trusted, and plainly that the affairs of human beings are such as Gregory, called the Theologian, describes most elegantly in a certain letter to Sophronius:## Ὁρᾷς οἷα τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ ὅπως κύκλος τις τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων περιτρέχει πραγμάτων· νῦν μὲν τῶν, νῦν δὲ τῶν ἀνθούντων καὶ ἀπανθούντων, καὶ οὔτε τοῦ εὖ πράττειν ἑστῶτος ἡμῖν, οὔτε τοῦ δυστυχεῖν, ὃ δὴ λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τάχιστα μετακινουμένου καὶ μεταπίπτοντος, ὡς αὔραις εἶναι μᾶλλον πιστεύειν καὶ γράμμασι τοῖς καθ’ ὕδατος ἢ ἀνθρώπων εὐημερίᾳ. Τίνος ἕνεκεν; ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, ἵνα τὸ ἐν τούτοις ἄστατον καὶ ἀνώμαλον θεωροῦντες, μᾶλλόν τι προστρέχωμεν τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ μέλλοντι, etc. Which words we have roughly rendered in Latin: “You see,” he says, “what sort our affairs are and how, as it were, a certain wheel of human affairs is turned around, since now these, now those flourish and wither, and neither happiness nor unhappiness remains firm for us, but they are continually changed in alternation, so that it is safer to trust the winds or letters written on water than human happiness. Why is this so? Surely, so that, while we look upon the weakness and inconsistency of things, we may all the more approach God, the giver of eternal goods. Moreover, the careful consideration of these things accustoms a human being to two things by far [5] the most beautiful: first, πρὸς τὸ σωφρονεῖν, then, πρὸς τὸ γνῶναι ἑαυτὸν, that is, both toward behaving with moderation and toward knowing oneself; from these springs, as it were, the other virtues flow.

Hanc uitae humanae commentationem quam tragoedia profitetur facile contenderim plus conducere ad uitam recte instituendam moresque componendos ad tranquillitatem animi quam quorundam uultuosam philosophiam, argutiarum ostentatricem, quae circa minutiora et subtiliora quam utiliora uersatur. Haec nostra pariter populares, doctos, plebeios, philosophos, infimos et summos, delectare afficere iuuare potest. Quem enim non ducat tanta exemplorum casuum euentuum fortunae rerum personarum sermonis uarietas? quae omnia quasi imagines quasdam omittendorum et faciendorum nobis praebent, in quas in omni uitae actione suscipienda intueamur. Crebro enim et uarie religionem, sapientiam, iustitiam, numinis iram in malos, modestiam, linguae continentiam, prouidentiam, fatum, et alios similes locos nobis Tragoedia inculcat, monarchas praeceptis muniens, ciuitates gubernandi rationem tradens, denique nullas uitae partes non attingens, adeo ut plane plumbeus sit is, cuiuscumque uel loci uel ordinis homo, qui sine insigni fructu legere Euripidem se dicat. Haec ex ipsis philosophiae fontibus hausta non abs re in theatra publice protulerunt poetae, ut eo fixius animis haererent quae non solum auribus haurirent sed oculis quoque aspicerent. Nam, ut Plato in Ione* scribit, τῆς ποιήσεως δημοτερπέστατόν τε καὶ ψυχαγωγικώτατον ἡ τραγῳδία ἐστὶ. Quin et rhetorum scholis utilem in primis Euripidem Quintilianus** censet: ex quo non solum παθοποιίαν, sed etiam uerba sententias dispositionem ac uaria orationis ornamenta commodissime sumas. In omni quippe genere causarum illustris et eminens est Euripides. Unum adhuc addam (omitto enim infinita quae ad amplificandam nostri Poetae dignitatem pertinerent si longius huius laudibus immorari liberet) hunc auctorem in primis debere esse familiarem iis quorum opes in excelso sunt positae, ut intuentes afflictas summorum uirorum fortunas, malefacta grauiter [6] uindicata, bonos indigne deiectos sed tamen aliquando rursus emergentes, subitas rerum mutationes, fortunam uariam et lubricam, et tristia ac laeta pari animo ferre uitamque sapienter gubernare discant. Sint illis ob oculos Priami, Hecabae, Polynices, Eteocles, Thesei, Amphitryones, Hercules, Thoantes, Menelai, Agamemnones, Ulysses, Cyclopes: quorum ut facta ingenia et mores dispares fuere, sic fortuna et uita dispar ac diuersa extitit.

*[The quotation is actually from pseudo-Plato, Minos 321a: “tragedy is the most popular and most soul-stirring form of poetry.”]

**[Quintilian, Institutio oratorica 10.1.66-68]

I would easily contend that this commentary on human life that tragedy professes contributes more to properly ordering life and arranging one’s character toward tranquility of mind than the pretentious philosophy of certain persons, (a philosophy) that shows off clever arguments, that is occupied with things more minute and subtle rather than more useful. This tragedy of ours can equally delight, move, and help ordinary people, learned people, commoners, philosophers, the lowest and the highest. For whom would such a great variety of examples, circumstances, outcomes, fortune, things, persons, and speech not guide? All of which provides for us, as it were, certain images of things to be rejected and things to be done, upon which we may look in undertaking every action in life. For frequently and in various ways Tragedy impresses upon us reverence, wisdom, justice, the anger of the divine power against the wicked, moderation, restraint of the tongue, providence, fate, and other similar subjects, fortifying monarchs with precepts, handing down a method of governing states, finally leaving no parts of life untouched, to such an extent that plainly he is a blockhead, whatever his place or rank as a person, who says that he reads Euripides without notable benefit. These things, drawn from the very sources of philosophy, the poets not without reason brought forth publicly in theaters, so that those things might stick more firmly in their minds, things which they absorbed not only through their ears but also saw with their eyes. For, as Plato writes in the Ion,* τῆς ποιήσεως δημοτερπέστατόν τε καὶ ψυχαγωγικώτατον ἡ τραγῳδία ἐστὶ. Moreover, Quintilian** considers Euripides especially useful for the schools of the rhetoricians: from him you may most conveniently take not only παθοποιία [“stirring of the emotions”], but also words, thoughts, arrangement, and various ornaments of speech. For indeed, in every kind of case, Euripides is distinguished and eminent. I will add one thing more (for I pass over countless details that would pertain to increasing our Poet's dignity, if it were pleasing to linger longer on his praises): that this author ought above all to be familiar to those whose fortunes are set on high, so that, as they observe the shattered fortunes of the greatest men, evil deeds severely [6] punished, good men undeservedly cast down yet nevertheless at times rising up again, sudden shifts of circumstance, and fortune both fickle and slippery, they may learn to bear both sad and happy events with equanimity and to govern their lives wisely. Let the Priams, Hecabas, Polyniceses, Eteocleses, Theseuses, Amphitryons, Herculeses, Thoases, Menelauses, Agamemnons, Ulysseses, and Cyclopes be before their eyes: just as their deeds, minds, and characters were disparate, so their fortune and life turned out disparate and diverse.

Et uero quia hunc Poetae librum plane regalem iudicarem, quod regum fortunas tum prosperas tum aduersas clarissime exprimat, exempla item clementiae, pietatis, iustitiae bonorum et contra libidinis, crudelitatis ac perfidiae malorum principum illustria proponat, existimaui nulli me congruentius hoc munus dicaturum quam tuae, inuictissime Caesar, Maiestati, tamquam regi regum et principi ceterorum dynastarum, ut Tuae Clementiae auctoritate et felicissimi nominis auspicio liber uetustissimi ac clarissimi poetae aliis principibus commendatior fieret, quibus nullum scripti genus, in istis saltem Hellenismi scholis, uel aptius uel utilius legitur. Non enim fieri potest quin plausibilior multo et gratior per omnes Romani imperii fines (ad cuius summa gubernacula mirabili omnium gentium et populorum gratulatione et maximorum principum incredibili consensu serenissima Tua Maiestas subuecta est) uolaturus sit si nomen praeferat sanctissimi et fortissimi Imperatoris: qui non solum ipse literarum eruditionem eximiam ac mirandam cum pulcherrimis tum belli tum pacis artibus coniunxerit, sed ubique terrarum ac gentium scholas instauret, amplis praemiis iuuentutem ad bonas artes inuitet, doctos summo in pretio habeat. Quae res ceteras Tuae Maiestatis uirtutes ueluti fax quaedam clarissima irradiat sic ut harum fulgor procul etiam intuentium animos praestringat. Et quamquam id muneris Tua sacra Maiestate longe inferius esse iudicarem, tamen quia hic mos dedicandi principibus libros ex ipsis priscorum saeculis ad nos usque deriuatus est, eum et ego usurpare uolui, praesertim apud Tuam Maiestatem: quam quo diuina Prouidentia [7] altiorem in locum prouexit, hoc clementius et placabilius in subditos afficitur. Est hoc uere Imperatorium decus ut sicuti doctrinae lumen in nullo plus emicat quam in regibus, ita praecepta sapientiae non possidentibus modo prosint sed in alios etiam redundent. Ita quoque unice in uotis id mihi est ut Euripidis, Tuae Maiestatis sacratissimo nomini dicati, utilitas eiusdem felici auspicio ad uniuersos meliorum literarum studiosos dimanet. Det, Imperator fortissime, Tuae Maiestati summus ille caelorum Monarcha Deus ut quam diutissime pater patriae, uindex Imperii, assertor libertatis dici merearis. Tua quippe familia toto orbe terrarum clarissima ac illustrissima iam olim multis saeculis praeclare de Republica meretur. Quis enim ignorat Albertos, Sigmundum, Fridenrichum, Maximilianum, Imperatores grauissimos, inuictissimos, innocentissimos?* quorum opera et uirtute post multos alios Imperatores paene collapsum Imperium resurgere coepit et tandem roboratum est. Unde et in Tuam Maiestatem iam totus respicit mundus ut ad eum qui solus diuino adiutus praesidio orbi afflicto securitatem praestare possit. Quod Tuam Maiestatem et uelle et posse ac iam moliri omnes boni pro certo habent: idque ex immensis illis tuis praeteriti temporis in rempublicam beneficiis facile intelligunt: nec patiuntur quemquam dubitare hac de re diuinae illae uirtutes quae in tam sancto Imperatore otiosae esse non possunt. CHRISTUS modo optimus maximus sanctissimis Tuae Maiestatis uotis dexter aspiret: qui et eandem Tuam serenissimam Maiestatem pro sua ineffabili sapientia et bonitate perpetuo gubernare tueri ac conseruare dignetur.

*[Four generations of German/Austrian Alberts were kings and dukes of the House of Habsburg from the 13th to the early 15th century; Sigismund held the title of Holy Roman Emperor 1433-1437, Frederick III 1452–1493, Maximilian 1508–1519.]

And indeed, because I judged this book of the Poet to be altogether royal, since it most clearly expresses the fortunes of kings, both prosperous and adverse, and likewise sets forth illustrious examples of the clemency, piety, and justice of good rulers, and, on the contrary, of the lust, cruelty, and treachery of wicked rulers, I considered that I could dedicate this gift to no one more fittingly than to Your Majesty, most invincible Caesar, as king of kings and leader of the other dynasts, so that, by the authority of Your Clemency and under the auspices of your most fortunate name, the book of a very ancient and very renowned poet might become more commended to other princes, for whom no kind of writing, at least in the schools of Hellenism, is read either more fittingly or more usefully. For it cannot be otherwise than that it will fly, much more favorably received and more pleasing, throughout all the boundaries of the Roman Empire, to whose supreme helm Your most serene Majesty has been raised amid the marvelous rejoicing of all nations and peoples and the incredible concord of the greatest princes, if it bears before it the name of the most holy and most courageous Emperor, who has not only himself joined exceptional and admirable learning in letters with the finest arts both of war and of peace, but also establishes schools throughout all lands and peoples, invites the youth to the liberal arts with generous rewards, and holds learned men in the highest esteem. Which thing illuminates the other virtues of Your Majesty like a certain most brilliant torch, so that the radiance of these virtues dazzles even from afar the minds of those who behold them. And although I would have judged this gift to be far beneath Your Sacred Majesty, nevertheless, because this custom of dedicating books to princes has been handed down to us from the very ages of our ancestors, I too wished to make use of it, especially before Your Majesty: which, the higher the position to which Divine Providence has raised it, [7] the more mercifully and placably is disposed toward Your subjects. It is truly a mark of an emperor that, just as the light of learning shines forth in no one more brightly than in kings, so the precepts of wisdom should not merely benefit those who possess them, but should also overflow upon others. Thus, too, this alone is my desire: that the benefit of Euripides, dedicated to the most sacred name of Your Majesty, may, under the fortunate auspices of the same, flow forth to all students of the better literature. May that supreme Monarch of the heavens, God, grant to Your Majesty, most courageous Emperor, that for as long as possible you may deserve to be called the father of your country, the avenger of the Empire, and the champion of liberty. For your family, most renowned and illustrious throughout the whole world, has long since, for many centuries, deserved exceedingly well of the Republic. For who indeed is ignorant of the Alberts, Sigmund, Friedrich, and Maximilian, most serious, most invincible, most blameless Emperors?* By whose works and virtue, after many other Emperors, the Empire, having almost collapsed, began to rise again and was finally strengthened. Hence the whole world now also looks to Your Majesty, as to the one who alone, aided by divine protection, can provide security to a world afflicted. All good men hold it as certain that Your Majesty both wishes and is able to do this, and is already undertaking it; and from those immense benefactions of yours, conferred upon the Republic in times past, they easily understand this. Nor do those divine virtues, which cannot be idle in so holy an Emperor, allow anyone to doubt this matter. Only may Christ, the best and greatest, graciously favor the most sacred wishes of Your Majesty; and may He, according to His ineffable wisdom and goodness, deign continually to guide, protect, and preserve that same most serene Majesty of Yours.

Selestadii, apud ueteris Elcebi reliquias: XXII die Octobris, Anno redempti orbis M. D. LVIIII.

In Sélestadt, at the ruins of ancient Ehl, 22 October A.D. 1558

Translated by Benjamin Meerson