Alciato's Book of Emblems

Emblem 176

The sword of a madman

Ajax was standing, sword in hand, in the midst of a bristly herd, convinced that his sword was felling in its slaughter the descendants of Tantalus. So such a victim as a pig paid the penalty in the place of Laertes' son and the nobility. Fury does not knows how to confront its enemies: its blows fall wide and, lacking any plan, it rushes to its ruin.