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Robert Burton

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholyCauses of Religious Melancholy. From the Devil, Through Miracles, Apparitions…

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1651 English Page · Branch 965 of 1495

Causes of Religious Melancholy. From the Devil, Through Miracles, Apparitions…

Book Mode

1651 English

644–645

The manner how, as I say, is by rewards, promises, terrors, affrights, punishments: In a word, faire and foule means, Hope and Fear. How often hath Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus and the rest, sent plagues in Greece and Italy, because their sacrifices were neglected?

Dii multa neglecti dederunt Hesperiæ mala luctuosæ.

to terrifie them, to rouze them up, and the like: see but Livy, Dyonysius Halicarnasseus, Thucydides, Pausanias, Philostratus, Polybius, before the battel of Cannas, prodigiis, signis, ostentis, templa cuncta, privatæ etiam, ædes scatebant. Oeneus raigned in Ætolia, and because he did not sacrifice to Diana with his other Gods (see more in Libanius his Diana) she sent a wild Bore, insolitæ magnitudinis, qui terras & homines misere depascebatur, to spoil both men and country, which was afterwards killed by Meleager.

So Plutarch in the life of Lucullus relates, how Mithridates King of Pontus, at the seige of Cizicum, with all his Navy was overthrown by Proserpina, for neglecting of her holy day. She appeared in a vision to Aristagoras in the night, Cras inquit tybicinem Libicum cum tybicine pontico committam, and the day following this Ænigma was understood; for with a great South wind which came from Lybia, she quite overwhelmed Mithridates army.

What prodigies and miracles, dreams, visions, predictions, apparitions, oracles, have been of old at Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius Denne, at Thebes, and Lebaudia, of Jupiter Ammon in Ægypt, Amphiareus in Attica, &c. what strange cures performed by Apollo and Æsculapius? Juno’s Image, and that of Fortune spake, Castor and Pollux fought in person for the Romans against Hannibals army, as Pallas, Mars, Iuno, Venus, for Greeks and Trojans, &c.

Amongst our pseudocatholiques, nothing so familiar as such miracles; how many cures done by our Lady of Lauretta, at Sichem! of old at our S. Thomas Shrine, &c. S. Sabine was seen to fight for Arnulphus Duke of Spoleto, S. George fought in person for John, the bastard of Portugal, against the Castilians; S. James for the Spaniards in America.

In the battel of Bonnoxburn, where Edward the second, our English King was foyled by the Scots, S. Philanus arm was seen to fight (if Hector Boethius doth not impose) that was before shut up in a silver capcase: Another time in the same Author, S. Magnus fought for them.

Now for visions, revelations, miracles, not only out of the Legend, out of purgatory, but every day comes news from the Indies, and at home, read the Jesuits letters, Ribadineira, Thurselinus, Acosta, Lippomanus, Xaverius, Ignatius lives, &c. and tell me what difference?

12133.BurtonSource page 644, q: “Polyd. Virg. lib.1. de prodig.” “Polydore Vergil, On Prodigies, book 1.”

12134.BurtonSource page 644, dagger: “Hor. l.3.od.6.” “Horace, Odes 3.6.”

12136.BurtonSource page 644, dagger: “Lib.3. hist.” “Histories, book 3.”

12139.BurtonSource page 645, r: “Oratâ lege me dicastis mulieres Dion Halicarn.” ““Women, you have dedicated me according to sacred ordinance.” Dionysius of Halicarnassus.”

12140.BurtonSource page 645, s: “Tully de nat. deorum lib.2. Æqua Venus Teucris Pallas iniqua fuit.” “Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods, book 2. Venus favoured the Trojans; Pallas was hostile to them.”

12142.BurtonSource page 645, t: “Jo. Molanus lib.3. cap.59.” “Johannes Molanus, book 3, chapter 59.”

12143.BurtonSource page 645, u: “Pet. Oliver. de Johanne primo Portugalliæ Rege strenue pugnans, & diversæ partis ictus clypeo excipiens.” “Pedro de Oliveira, On John the First, King of Portugal: fighting vigorously and receiving the opposing side’s blows on his shield.”

12145.BurtonSource page 645, x: “L.14. Loculos sponte aperuisse & pro iis pugnasse.” “Book 14. The casket opened of its own accord, and he fought on their behalf.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Causes of Religious Melancholy. From the Devil, Through Miracles, Apparitions…

p. 965

The means, as I say, are rewards, promises, terrors, alarms and punishments—in a word, fair means and foul, hope and fear. How often have Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus and the rest sent plagues into Greece and Italy because their sacrifices were neglected?

Neglected, the gods have brought many woes Upon grieving Italy.

They did so to terrify them, to rouse them and the like. Just read Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Thucydides, Pausanias, Philostratus and Polybius: before the battle of Cannae, all the temples, and even private houses, swarmed with prodigies, signs and portents. Oeneus ruled in Aetolia; because he did not sacrifice to Diana along with his other gods—see more in Libanius’s Diana—she sent a wild boar of extraordinary size, which dreadfully ravaged both lands and people, to destroy people and country alike. Meleager afterwards killed it.

So Plutarch, in his Life of Lucullus, relates how Mithridates, king of Pontus, was defeated with his entire navy at the siege of Cyzicus by Proserpina for neglecting her holy day. She appeared to Aristagoras in a vision at night: Tomorrow, she said, I shall pit the Libyan flute-player against the Pontic flute-player. The following day the riddle became clear: with a great south wind from Libya she completely overwhelmed Mithridates’ army.

What prodigies and miracles, dreams, visions, predictions, apparitions and oracles there were in ancient times at Delphi, Dodona, Trophonius’s cave, Thebes and Lebadea, at the oracle of Jupiter Ammon in Egypt, and that of Amphiaraus in Attica, and elsewhere! What strange cures Apollo and Aesculapius performed! The images of Juno and Fortune spoke; Castor and Pollux fought in person for the Romans against Hannibal’s army, as Pallas, Mars, Juno and Venus did for the Greeks and Trojans, and so on.

Among our false Catholics, nothing is more familiar than such miracles. How many cures Our Lady of Loreto has performed, and how many at Sichem, or formerly at our Saint Thomas’s shrine! Saint Sabinus was seen fighting for Arnulf, duke of Spoleto; Saint George fought in person for John, the bastard of Portugal, against the Castilians; and Saint James for the Spaniards in America.

At the battle of Bannockburn, where our English king Edward II was defeated by the Scots, Saint Fillan’s arm, previously shut inside a silver casket, was seen fighting—if Hector Boece is not deceiving us. On another occasion, according to the same author, Saint Magnus fought for them.

As for visions, revelations and miracles, we hear of them not only in the legends of saints and in reports from purgatory: news comes every day from the Indies and here at home. Read the Jesuits’ letters, Ribadeneira, Tursellinus, Acosta, Lippomanus, the lives of Xavier and Ignatius, and the rest, and tell me what difference there is.

12135.Horace, Odes 3.6.7–8. Hesperia is Italy. The Latin is retained as two verse lines, and its translation remains verse. Burton’s following prose explains the punitive purpose he assigns to these calamities.

12137.Polybius, Histories 3.112.8, describes the profusion of reported signs and religious activity at Rome before Cannae. The boar episode is the Calydonian hunt: Oeneus’s omission angers Diana, and Meleager kills the creature. Burton names Libanius’s Diana without a fuller locator; his phrase about extraordinary size and devastation is translated before his own English restatement.

12138.Compare Plutarch, Lucullus 10.1–3: Persephone appears to Aristagoras and foretells a Libyan flute-player against a Pontic trumpeter; a storm wrecks Mithridates’ siege engines. Burton calls both musicians flute-players and combines this with destruction of the fleet, narrated separately in chapter 13. His altered narrative and Latin wording are retained. Proserpina is the Latin name of Persephone.

12141.The list concerns oracular shrines and healing gods. Trophonius’s cave was at Lebadea; Burton places it alongside Thebes. The Fortune margin appears to print “me dicastis”; the intended dedication formula is supplied in translation, pending collation. Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.6, places Castor and Pollux at Lake Regillus in the Latin War, with Postumius opposing Octavius Mamilius, not Hannibal. He also tells of their announcing Perseus’s defeat. Burton’s Hannibal remains in both columns.

12144.Pseudocatholiques means false Catholics and expresses Burton’s refusal of his opponents’ claim to catholicity. Sichem is Scherpenheuvel or Montaigu, a Marian pilgrimage site in the Low Countries; “our Saint Thomas’s shrine” refers to Thomas Becket at Canterbury. The fighting saints are reported miracle traditions, presented here as parallels to pagan apparitions. John the bastard is John I of Portugal.

12146.Philanus represents Saint Fillan; capcase means a small chest or case, here a reliquary. Burton cites Hector Boece’s History of Scotland, book 14, for the story at Bannockburn, while adding his own doubt (“if … doth not impose”). His marginal claim about the casket and the body’s account of the arm are retained separately. The exact story, and the separate Saint Magnus episode, remain for collation.

12147.The Legend points to the literature of saints’ lives. Ribadineira, Tursellinus, Acosta and Lippomanus are writers cited for Catholic or missionary narratives; Xavier and Ignatius are Francis Xavier and Ignatius of Loyola. Burton’s closing question asks readers to compare these reports with the pagan wonders just listed. His next paragraph turns to human agents of superstition.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.