Alexander and the talking trees:
In India Alexander met a priest who told him of two talking trees and Alexander demanded to see them - the Tree of the Sun spoke in a language that Alexander did not understand, and the priest was hesitant to translate, but Alexander threatened him and the priest told him that the tree said you will die by the hands of your kin men - at night he went to the tree of the moon, which spoke to him in Greek, telling him - "You will die in Babylon"

Alexander the Great and the Dragon:
Alexander's father was his teacher, the astrologer and magician Natanabo- he used his magic powers to send King Philip a dream in which his wife is seduced by a great dragon -
Through his magic powers Natanabo convinces Philip and Olimpia that Alexander is a divine conception of Zeus Amon - it is only when Alexander kills him that he confesses to Alexander in his death throws that he is Alexander's true father --

Alexander and the flying machine/throne pulled by Griffins:

The story of Alexander's ascent on a throne pulled by Griffins extends from the 9th to 16th century from the Byzantine East, to Europe and to Latin America - in sculpture and reliefs of Romanesque churches and cathedrals, illuminated manuscripts and tapestries, and with the Sola Busca - Tarot Cards!

The thing on the stick is a piece of meat - bait to make the griffins go faster and lift him up to the vault of heaven - a story first told in the 'Historia de Preliis Alexandri Magni', which was brought from Constantinople and translated from the Greek by Leo di Napoli , a diplomat at the court of Naples in the 10th century -- the image was also created as a mosaic on the floor of the Otranta cathedral in Puglia, c12th century - in this history we learn not only of Alexander's journey to the vaults of heaven, but also his journey beneath the sea in a submarine! In cathedrals he is paired with the tower of babel, or sometimes with the flight of Simon Magus, or with the original sin of Adam and Eve - indicating his ascent is to be associated with the sin of pride, as with Nembroto -- his ascent is sometimes paired with his humiliating descent, struck down by God --

Pavement mosaic - Otratro Cathdral, 1163-65
St Mark's Basilica - Venice:
Cathedral of Fidenza:
Chester Cathedral, England:
Histoire du bon roi Alexandre, XIII century
Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, 11th century:
Pasquier Grenier, 15th century

The Common Peace -
enforced by military might!



In 338 BCE King Philip as Hegemon of the League of Corinth became, with his Macedonian forces, the military enforcer of the 'common peace' [koinē eirēnē] -



Such treaties did not last among the Greeks beyond several short-lived exercises of the fourth century - but in this instance may be said to have paved the way for Alexander's ambitions for conquest and Empire -- [with 'common peace' established between members they felt strong enough to declare war on others - the first act of the League of Corinth was to declare war on Persia, to be led by Philip, which fell on to the shoulders of Alexander after his father's assassination]

A common peace enforced by military might has its parallel in the Pax Romana inaugurated by the Emperor Augustine - a period of relative peace enforced by the military might of Rome that was to last for 200 years ---

The Captive Lover
or, the language of the birds!

Faucon (Falcon) = Faux con (false "sex" [a euphenism - the vulgar translation is stronger - more offensive - the " Falcon - false c***"])

The lover is held captive by the bonds of desire -- freed by its fulfillment - such is the fickle nature of the sanguine personality (symbolized by the falcon body - the falcon being an emblem of sanguinity), its captivity by the falcon's hood - the lust of the flesh is symbolised by the penis on the shield pointing down towards the shield on the ground, the wand in its hand pointing to the shield in its other hand: the pun on faucon and faux con (false "sex") in French is one might be found played upon in medieval romances and fables (for example the Fable of William's Falcon - Guillaume de Faucon - this william, says the lady of the house to her husband, is after your falcon (ie, his 'false sex' - her adulterous self) - she warns him - then commits adultery nonetheless - the 'faux con")

{In the Alexandrian romance, Natanabo sends a falcon to King Philip induce a dream of the 'divine' impregnation of his adulterous wife}

Plauto & the Jewish Bacchus
(who makes Rome his footstool)
???
A coin of the Family Plautius (Plauto) with the image of Bacchius Judeavs (Bacchus of the Jews] on the reverse, c55BCE:
Another coin of the family Plautius (Plutius), with the dioscuri on one side and Roma on the other:
The winged helmet of Roma as footstool:
The Jewish Bacchus who made made Rome his footstool = Christ, king of the Jews:
The Bacchus lion becomes the Lion of Judah
Thus 'Evio' (bacchus) is elevated (Levio)
Roma as footstool = the triumph of the Church of Christ over paganism

[A namesake of Auleus Plautus (his Grandson?) led the invasion of Britain in 43CE - in the film Quo Vadis he is portrayed as being crucified for being a Christian - while this is inaccurate his wife was prosecuted for being a believer in 'foreign superstitions' (thought to mean Christianity) but found innocent (by her husband - she was lucky to be prosecuted by a 'family court') - his nephew, a lover of Messalina, was executed for conspiring against Nero]

Steve,
Nice catches on the Alexander medieval myths, especially the tree and griffin-throne/aerial vehicle correlates in the Sola Busca.

I found this on-line in regard to the griffin-throne: http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/art ... xander.pdf

I find all of the known examples as somehow relevant far-fetched (how were they all known in the 15th c.?), but the "aerial Alexander" example on St. Marks obviously speaks to the "why" of its inclusion into the Sola Busca. I would argue this was means of "spiritual locomotion", not unlike the Dream of Scipio was an eschatological journey (how I interpret the bearded [Sc]Ipeo figure in monk's robe, speaking to the tree-mounted spiritello). Venice was eastern-oriented, and the griffins are mythologically from there ("Sycthia"). Alexander's conquest allowed the combination of the Persian Magi with Egyptian lore, combined into the alchemical/spiritual concerns of the 15th century.

I'd think this was a symbolic means of exploring memory/knowledge, especially geography, but I wonder how literally Ficino and his ilk would have seen how this aided spirit, "vehicle of the soul", into a literal exploration of the world, or Platonic idealized world?

I still think there is a strong Ficino influence.

Phaeded wrote: 23 Oct 2017, 03:07
I find all of the known examples as somehow relevant far-fetched (how were they all known in the 15th c.?),

The relevance is merely to show how widespread the theme was - and from the Romanesque churches apparently from a fairly early period (from 11th century on)

Kairos and Venturo:
This Moment and the Time to Come:



Venturio may be read as Venturo, the time to come: However, the long front of his helmet and his winged boots remind me of the long forelock and winged feet/sandals of Kairos - also called 'Occassio', often confused with Fortuna, to whom she is related:



"This image is the work of Lysippus, whose home was Sicyon. - Who are you? - I am the moment of seized opportunity that governs all. - Why do you stand on points? - I am always whirling about. - Why do you have winged sandals on your feet? - The fickle breeze bears me in all directions. - Tell us, what is the reason for the sharp razor in your right hand? - This sign indicates that I am keener than any cutting edge. - Why is there a lock of hair on your brow? - So that I may be seized as I run towards you. - But come, tell us now, why ever is the back of your head bald? - So that if any person once lets me depart on my winged feet, I may not thereafter be caught by having my hair seized. It was for your sake, stranger, that the craftsman produced me with such art, and, so that I should warn all, it is an open portico that holds me." {Emblemata, Alciato}



In a Christian sense, the "time to come" [eone venturo] is ever present in an eschatological tension with "this moment" [eone kairos]

Incumbent in 'this moment' is the 'ever present' expectation of the 'time to come' -- the end of days in which Christ shall return to save the faithful from the "coming wrath" --

As St Paul writes in Thessalonians 1:

"7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

The days of wrath of course, are typified by the Dragon (of Revelations): until that time, Daniel, in the time of Nebuchanesor, prophesised about the rise and fall (like the wheel of fortune) of several great secular powers who would work against God, great empires typified as tyrants, beasts under the sway of the dragon--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the "Time" [kairos], as they say, "is near" --

So - Be Ready! ;)

SteveM wrote: 23 Oct 2017, 09:59
In a Christian sense, the "time to come" [eone venturo] is ever present in an eschatological tension with "this moment" [eone kairos]

Incumbent in 'this moment' is the 'ever present' expectation of the 'time to come' -- the end of days in which Christ shall return to save the faithful from the "coming wrath" --

As St Paul writes in Thessalonians 1:

"7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

The days of wrath of course, are typified by the Dragon (of Revelations): until that time, Daniel, in the time of Nebuchanesor, prophesised about the rise and fall (like the wheel of fortune) of several great secular powers who would work against God, great empires typified as tyrants, beasts under the sway of the dragon--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the "Time" [kairos], as they say, "is near" --

But a problem I have with an eschatological reading, especially one so focused on Babylon, is that it feels naggingly anachronistic to me for the 15th century - it feels to me more of a 16th century motif, when anti-catholic polemics so heavily conflated Babylon with Rome in its end of days narratives -- as much as such a reading 'feels' right, the more the dating seems 'wrong' --