Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1618)
The Two Eagles in Atalanta Fugiens
The seventh emblem shows birds at a nest on a rocky height. Its motto describes a young bird that flies out and falls back into the nest, while the epigram says that its unfeathered brother restrains it. The next discourse explicitly identifies the pair as two eagles, one feathered and one unfeathered. Maier sets them within a discussion of light and heavy elements remaining together in a mixture: the tendency to rise is held by what weighs it down. The bird scene and its explanation form a source-specific image of opposed tendencies joined in one subject.
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In the sources
A flight that returns to its starting point
DocumentedThe motto describes departure from and return to the nest, while the epigram introduces an unfeathered brother that holds the flying bird.
The prose names the pair
DocumentedThe discourse calls them two eagles and explains feathered and unfeathered birds through light and heavy tendencies in the philosophical subject.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Michael Maier’s Latin and German Atalanta Fugiens in the scanned edition dated 1618. Statements are attributed to that historical emblem book. The source links identify the actual image, music or prose page; the interpretation is editorial.
Original passages
Source 1
Atalanta Fugiens
Fit pullus a nido volans, qui iterum cadit in nidumOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Emblema VII, printed p. 37, motto, engraving and epigram
Actual checksum-verified public Reader scan inspected. Historical Latin wording retained; long s, line breaks and spacing normalised for quotation.
- Edition
- IMJ-0287-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0287-E001-P0038
- Original scan leaf
- 45
- Recorded leaf number
- 45
- Current Reader position
- 38
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Atalanta Fugiens
duas Aquilas, pennatam & implumemOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Discursus VII, printed p. 38, explanation of the two birds
Actual checksum-verified public Reader scan inspected. Historical Latin wording retained; long s, line breaks and spacing normalised for quotation.
- Edition
- IMJ-0287-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0287-E001-P0039
- Original scan leaf
- 46
- Recorded leaf number
- 46
- Current Reader position
- 39
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
