232. ‘Vincitore Alexandro l’ira vinse,’

Anger conquered Alexander the conqueror,

and made him less than Philip his father:

what matter if Pyrgoteles and Lysippus

alone could sculpt him, or Apelles paint him?

Anger had Tydeus in such a rage

that dying he gnawed at Menalippus:

anger made Sulla’s eyes not only dull,

but blind: and in the end destroyed him.

Anger led Valentinianus to the same pain:

and brought mighty Ajax to kill

many others, and at last himself.

Anger’s a brief madness, he who does not

curb it’s a long time mad, and it often leads

those who possess it to shame, and sometimes death.

Notes: Alexander the Great’s father was Philip II of Macedon. Lysippus, Pyrgoteles and Apelles were artists at Alexander’s court (4th century BC). Tydeus was one of the seven against Thebes. Sulla the Roman dictator (c138-78BC).Valentinianus was Roman Emperor. Ajax the Greater committed suicide after failing to win the arms of Achilles.

‘Ajax Commits Suicide’ - Crispijn van de Passe (I) (Dutch, 1589 – 1637), The Rijksmuseum