NOTES TO ALEXANDER; B. 645.
53
as alluded to by Chaucer. "Euerich of thise 12 signes hath respecte to a certein parcelle of the body of a man and hath in it gouernance; as aries hath thin heued, & taurus thy nekke & thy throte, gemyni thyn armholes and thin armes, & so forth;" On the Astrolabie, ed. Skeat, pt. i sect. 21, l. 48. And see Additional Notes to the same, p. 79; and Plate VII, fig. 19. The following passage from Gower's Confessio Amantis, bk. v, is so precisely to the point here that I quote it entire for the reader's convenience.
"The king of Bragmans, Dindimus,
Wroot nto Alisaunder thus,
In blaming of the grekes faith;
And of the misbeleue he saith,
How thei for euery membre hadden
A sondry god, to whom thei spradden
Her armes, and of help besoughten.
Wroot nto Alisaunder thus,
In blaming of the grekes faith;
And of the misbeleue he saith,
How thei for euery membre hadden
A sondry god, to whom thei spradden
Her armes, and of help besoughten.
Minerue for the heed thei soughten,
For she was wys, and of a man
The wit and reson which he can
Is in the celles of the brayn
Whereof thei made hir souerayn.
For she was wys, and of a man
The wit and reson which he can
Is in the celles of the brayn
Whereof thei made hir souerayn.
Mercurie, which was in his dawes
A gret speker of false lawes,
On him the keping of the tonge
Thei laden, when tehi speke or songe.
A gret speker of false lawes,
On him the keping of the tonge
Thei laden, when tehi speke or songe.
For Bacchus was a glotoun eke,
Him for the throte thei biseke,
That he it wolde wasshen ofte
With sote drinkes and with softe.
Him for the throte thei biseke,
That he it wolde wasshen ofte
With sote drinkes and with softe.
The god of shulders and of armes
Was Hercules, for he in armes
The myghtieste was to fyghte;
To him teh limmes thei bihyghte.
Was Hercules, for he in armes
The myghtieste was to fyghte;
To him teh limmes thei bihyghte.
The god, whom [that] thei clepen Mart,
Th brest to kepe hath for his part;
For with the herte in his image
That he addresse to his corage.
Th brest to kepe hath for his part;
For with the herte in his image
That he addresse to his corage.
And of the galle the goddesse,
For she was ful of hastinesse
Of wrath, and light to greue also,
Thei made, and said it was Iuno.
For she was ful of hastinesse
Of wrath, and light to greue also,
Thei made, and said it was Iuno.
Cupyde, which the brond of fyre
Bar in his honde, he was the sire
Of the stomak, which boileth euer,
Whereof the lustes ben the leuer.
Bar in his honde, he was the sire
Of the stomak, which boileth euer,
Whereof the lustes ben the leuer.
To the goddesse Ceres
Which of the corn yaf hir encrees,
Upon that feith that tho was take,
The wombes cure was betake.
Which of the corn yaf hir encrees,
Upon that feith that tho was take,
The wombes cure was betake.
And Venus, through the lecherye
For whiche thei hir deifye
She kepte al down the remenant
To thilke office apperteinant."
For whiche thei hir deifye
She kepte al down the remenant
To thilke office apperteinant."
