batch.motif.roman-aeneid-mackail-gutenberg-l2710-l2746
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-aeneid-mackail-gutenberg-l2710-l2746
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK THIRD / THE STORY OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WANDERING / BOOK FOURTH / THE
LOVE OF DIDO, AND HER END; lines 2710-2746
start: '2710'
end: '2746'
translation: The Aeneid of Virgil
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage describes the discovery of Dido mortally wounded on a sword,
the lamentation of her people and sister, her final struggle to die, and Juno's
sending of Iris to cut the sacred lock and release her life to the winds because
Proserpine had not yet claimed it for the underworld.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The dying woman is found fallen on steel, with blood on the sword and on her
hands.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A cry and lamentation spread through the halls and the city, compared to the
fall of Carthage or Tyre in flames.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The dying woman's sister runs to her, wounds herself in mourning gestures,
and addresses her with grief and reproach.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The sister says the pyre and altar fires had been prepared and asks why she
was not called to share the same death by steel.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The sister asks for water for the wounds, embraces the half-lifeless woman,
and tries to stanch the blood with her gown.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The dying woman repeatedly tries to lift herself, falls back, seeks the light
of heaven with wandering eyes, and moans.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Juno pities the woman's long pain and difficult death and sends Iris from
heaven to release the struggling life from the body.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The passage states that the woman did not die by fate or earned death, but
before her day and in sudden madness.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Proserpine had not yet taken a lock from the woman's golden head or sentenced
her to the Stygian underworld.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Iris descends through the sky on dewy saffron wings with changing colors,
stands over the woman, cuts the hair sacred to Dis, and the life passes away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Dido, the dying woman
description: A woman associated with Carthage in the passage locator; she lies mortally
wounded by steel, struggles to die, and is finally released from the body.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: The dying woman's sister
description: A sister who runs to the dying woman, laments, reproaches her, embraces
her, and tries to bathe and stanch her wounds.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Juno
description: A divine figure who pities the dying woman's long pain and sends Iris
from heaven.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Iris
description: A divine messenger who descends from heaven and cuts the hair sacred
to Dis, releasing the woman's life.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Proserpine
description: An underworld-associated figure who had not yet taken the woman's lock
or sentenced her to the Stygian underworld.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Dis
description: An underworld-associated figure to whom the hair is described as sacred.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: People of Carthage and Sidonians
description: Collective mourners and those said by the sister to be harmed by the
woman's self-destruction.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: mortally wounded ruler or woman
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: She is found on the steel, struggles with a deep wound, and dies after Iris
cuts the sacred hair.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: mourning sister
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: She runs to the dying woman, laments her exclusion from the death, and tries
to tend the wounds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: divine sender moved by pity
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Juno pities the long pain and sends Iris to release the life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: divine releaser of life
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Iris descends, cuts the sacred hair, and thereby releases the woman from
the body.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: underworld claimant not yet acted
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage says Proserpine had not yet taken the lock or assigned the woman
to the Stygian underworld.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: underworld recipient of sacred hair
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Iris names the hair as sacred to Dis before cutting it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: mourning community
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The people cry and lament, and the sister says the woman has destroyed herself,
her sister, the Sidonian lords and people, and her city.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sword or steel
literal_form: The steel and sword on which the woman is found, reeking with blood.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: blood and wound
literal_form: Blood on the sword and hands; dark streams of blood; the deep-driven
wound in the breast.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: pyre and altar fires
literal_form: The sister refers to the pyre and altar fires prepared in connection
with the death.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: city flames in lament simile
literal_form: Flames rolling over the roofs of houses and temples in the comparison
to Carthage or Tyre falling.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:5
label: water for wounds
literal_form: The sister asks for water to bathe the wounds.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:6
label: sacred lock of hair
literal_form: A lock from the golden head, sacred to Dis, cut by Iris.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: Stygian underworld
literal_form: The Stygian underworld to which Proserpine had not yet sentenced the
woman.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:8
label: rainbow-colored descent
literal_form: Iris descends on dewy saffron pinions in a trail of changing colors
across the sun.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Discovery and public lament
summary: The woman is discovered mortally wounded on the sword, and cries and lamentation
spread through the halls and city.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Sister's lament and attempted care
summary: The sister reaches the dying woman, laments that she was not called to
share the death, asks for water, embraces her, and tries to stanch the blood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Final struggle before death
summary: The dying woman repeatedly tries to rise, falls back, seeks the light of
heaven, and moans.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Divine release of life
summary: Juno sends Iris because the woman is dying before her fated time; Iris
descends, cuts the hair sacred to Dis, and the life leaves the body.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: premature death requiring divine release
taxonomy_refs:
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: The woman is said not to be dying by fate or deserved death; Juno sends Iris
to release the life because Proserpine has not yet taken the lock or assigned
her to the underworld.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage shows an underworld threshold and release of life, but it
does not narrate an actual journey through the afterlife.
- id: motif:2
label: sacred lock cut for death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Iris cuts the hair sacred to Dis, and immediately the warmth leaves the body
and the life passes away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy reference directly names this specific action.
- id: motif:3
label: sister wishing to share death
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: The sister asks why she was not called to share the same doom and says the
same hour and steel should have been their portion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage expresses desired shared death, not an actual paired death.
- id: motif:4
label: death framed by pyre and altar fire
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The sister refers to the pyre and altar fires and asks whether these preparations
were connected to the woman's death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: low
cautions: The passage uses ritual language, but it does not explicitly describe
the death as a sacrifice.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2710-2718
quote_or_summary: The woman is seen sunk on steel, with blood on sword and hands;
cries, lamentation, and a fire-destruction simile spread through the city.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 2718-2732
quote_or_summary: The sister rushes in mourning, asks whether the summons, pyre,
and altar fires were a snare, wishes she had shared the same steel, asks for water,
embraces the dying woman, and tries to stanch the blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 2732-2737
quote_or_summary: The dying woman tries three times to lift herself, falls back,
seeks the light of heaven, and moans.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 2738-2742
quote_or_summary: Juno pities the long pain and difficult death and sends Iris to
release the life because the woman is not dying by fate or deserved death, but
before her day and in sudden madness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 2742-2744
quote_or_summary: Proserpine has not yet taken the lock from the golden head or
sentenced the woman to the Stygian underworld.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 2744-2746
quote_or_summary: Iris descends through the sky on saffron, many-colored wings,
says she takes the hair sacred to Dis, cuts it, and the warmth and life leave
the body.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/aeneid-mackail.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The literal sequence and figures are clear. Motif taxonomy matches are cautious
where the supplied taxonomy does not include a specific death-lock or psychopomp
category.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata; comparison claims left empty because the passage itself does not make an explicit comparative claim beyond its own Greco-Roman underworld references.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-aeneid-mackail-gutenberg__l2710-l2746
passage_sha256=38f504efcfd3efc39c1b3e18fcc217b4e74d9af3da63318d9869408df74cc582