FIRST BOOK.

THE GAME OF THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS. IV

A large ornamental woodcut initial letter 'D' depicts two classical figures in a pastoral landscape; one figure is seated and the other stands nearby under a tree.

MOST DIVINE Ladies, so great is the Grace and the Beauty that rains down upon you from the Primal Beauty original: "primo bello"; a reference to the Neoplatonic concept of God as the source of all beauty in such abundance that, without committing an error, all those who love you may believe that you are indeed what you appear: divine beings, worthy of dwelling up there in the supreme Council of the other Gods. I know well that you exceed and surpass every mortal thing, and that you move souls to wonder with the sweet loveliness of your countenances no less than the most fortunate and glorious things are wont to do. If I compare you with Juno, you surpass her in majesty; if with Pallas, in wisdom; if with Venus, in beauty; nor can it be said that you are in any way inferior in merit or Virtue to any member of the Council of the Gods. It is therefore no wonder if all lovers adore you as goddesses, and if they have made earthly idols for their hearts out of you and the joy of your faces, honoring you with every submission of the soul. Thus, considering your divine excellence, I have thought that you alone are the worthy persons to be given divine Names, and to worthily form a Council of the Gods; and if men should interpose themselves, they shall be as worthy of such preeminence and honors as you shall make them, granting them both dignity and value.

This Game, prepared within a friendly company with everything that is required, could be begun by the man or woman acting as the Head of the game, speaking thus: "You who sit nearest to me shall have for this evening the name of Saturn The Roman god of time and agriculture, often associated with melancholy and seniority in Renaissance thought., and you will remember that your animal is the Ostrich and your instrument is the Scythe." "This other shall be Jove Jupiter, the king of the gods., with the Eagle and the Thunderbolt." And so, one by one, giving the Names of the Gods to the men and those of the Goddesses worthily to the women, the game shall proceed.