Atalanta Fugiens


Atalanta Fugiens or Atalanta Fleeing is an emblem book by Michael Maier, published by Johann Theodor de Bry in Oppenheim in 1617. It consists of 50 discourses with illustrations by Matthias Merian, each of which is accompanied by an epigrammatic verse, prose and a musical fugue. It may therefore be considered an early example of multimedia.

Title page

The title page depicts various scenes from Greek mythology related to golden apples:
The preface contains a dissertation upon ancient music and narrates the Greek myth of Atalanta and Hippomenes.

Discourses

Each of the 50 discourses contains: