The Silenus box is a "reliquary carved like an ugly Silenus" that can be "opened to reveal beautiful and precious objects" (Erasmus 43, footnote ). This box appears in Erasmus's Praise of Folly as a metaphor for the novel's central claim, that what appears to be Folly (ugly) externally, is wise (valuable) internally. Erasmus reveals this dichotomy on three levels: in the image of the box itself, in his genuine praise of Folly, and in the structure of the novel as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayErasmus, using Folly's female voice, introduces his reader to the image of Silenus' box at the beginning of the text, thus allowing him to carry the image with him the rest of the time reading (and see his metaphorical nature when appropriate). Madness makes the introduction, saying, “All human affairs…have two aspects quite different from each other.” He then goes on to explain that this means, according to Plato, that things which "appear 'at first sight'... to be dead, if [you examine] them more closely will prove to be life... in short, if you open the Silenus, you will find all of a sudden reversed” (43). opposites on which Erasmus focuses is that of madness and wisdom. By inserting a passage dedicated to the description of Silenus, Erasmus offers his readers a concrete framework to cling to which represents the novel's link between this pair of opposites, namely that of wisdom. is hidden under the shell of madness. The passage allows the reader to understand this central concept more easily. The concept, in its multiple manifestations, can be traced back to the same single image: the box of Silenus serves as an illustration picture book, if you will) for the complicated In Praise of Madness, thus making it easier for readers to distinguish between different narrators and different textual layers. Madness, being madness, continues from its initial description of the box takes most of the list backwards (even if it starts correctly), arguing that if the list goes in one direction, it must, of course, also go in the direction opposite (she's a woman -- you can't expect her to be reasonable (28)). To do this, he abruptly inserts the word "backwards" (43), and continues with a long backwards list. "Life will turn out to be death; beauty will turn into ugliness," and so on, he says (43). In this backwards list, the good external aspects hide the bad internal aspects. Then use this inverted list as a springboard to celebrate wise appearances (even though this is the exact opposite of the book's central message, which is the celebration of foolish appearances). He declares that the esteemed members of the community are truly members of his (the Folly's), and all they have of wisdom is his appearance. “Kings and great courtiers… find suitable pretexts” to rob their citizens and live in luxury, so that “actual injustice has at least a certain appearance of justice” (107-8). Even "popes, cardinals and bishops" behave artificially. They "play" their "roles" with "theatrical pomp" and "ceremonies", but however much they adhere to the superficial demands of their positions, on the inside they are not genuinely pious. These are just a few examples of generally respected authorities who regularly act on the outside as if they are morally impeccable, while on the inside they are morally rotten. Madness celebrates their false wisdom, saying: "To destroy illusions" by exposing them "would be.