Alciato's Book of Emblems

Emblem 198

Wife to an infected man

Mezentius, may the gods bring better things to those who love them.

Pray, why do you address me in this way?

Because, with a dowry, you bought yourself a son-in-law who burns with the Gallic plague, and the dreadful face rot. Tell me, what else is this, cruel father, than joining dead bodies to living ones, and repeating the savage deeds of the Etruscan leader.