batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l4464-l4506
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l4464-l4506
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF
THE SOUL. / HEINE.; lines 4464-4506
start: '4464'
end: '4506'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Frazer proposes that the Flamen Dialis was forbidden to walk under a trellised
vine because grape juice could be viewed as the vine's blood and soul, and wine
as a spirit that intoxicates or inspires. He supports the interpretation with
examples attributed to Plutarch about Egyptian kings treating wine as the blood
of enemies of the gods, and to Sahagun about Aztec pulque as the presence of a
wine-god possessing the drunk person.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Flamen Dialis was not allowed to walk under a trellised vine.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Plants are described as being considered animate beings that bleed when cut,
with red plant juice regarded as plant blood.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The juice of the grape is described as naturally conceived as the blood of
the vine and as the soul, or containing the soul, of the vine.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage states that abnormal mental states such as intoxication or madness
are, in the described view, caused by the entrance of a spirit into a person.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Wine is described as considered a spirit or as containing a spirit because
it is red plant juice and because it intoxicates or inspires.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Frazer argues that if the Flamen Dialis walked under a trellised vine, the
spirit of the vine embodied in grape clusters would be over his head and might
touch it.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says Plutarch reported that Egyptian kings formerly neither drank
wine nor offered it in libations because they held it to be the blood of beings
who had fought against the gods.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The passage says the Egyptian explanation of intoxication was that the drunken
man was filled with the blood of the enemies of the gods.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The Aztecs are described as regarding pulque as bad because of wild deeds
done under its influence.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The wild deeds of a drunken person are described as acts of the wine-god by
whom the person was possessed and inspired.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The passage reports that insulting a tipsy man could be punished as disrespect
to the wine-god incarnate in his votary.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Flamen Dialis
description: A tabooed priestly figure described as forbidden to walk under a trellised
vine.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Vine
description: A plant whose grape juice is described as blood, soul, or containing
soul, and whose spirit is embodied in grape clusters.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Egyptian kings
description: Kings reported by Plutarch as formerly avoiding drinking wine and offering
it in libations.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Beings who fought against the gods
description: Beings whose blood wine was held to be, and from whose rotting bodies
the vine was said to have sprung.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Gods
description: Divine figures against whom the beings associated with wine were said
to have fought.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Drunken man or tipsy man
description: A person described as filled with hostile blood in the Egyptian example
and as possessed or inspired by the wine-god in the Aztec example.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Aztecs / Indians
description: People described as holding that deeds done under pulque were acts
of the wine-god, and as possibly using intoxication to commit crimes with impunity.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Wine-god
description: A deity described as possessing and inspiring a drunken person and
as incarnate in his votary.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: tabooed person
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Flamen Dialis is described as a person in a state of permanent taboo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: prohibited walker under vine
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He was not allowed to walk under a trellised vine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: animate plant containing blood, soul, or spirit
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The vine's grape juice is described as blood and soul, and the clusters as
embodying the vine's spirit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: ritual avoiders of wine
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They neither drank wine nor offered it in libations in the reported account.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: source of wine-blood
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Wine is reported as held to be their blood, and the vine to have sprung from
their bodies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: opposed divine beings
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The beings associated with wine are said to have fought against the gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: possessed or inspired intoxicated person
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The drunken person is described as filled with blood or possessed and inspired
by the wine-god.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: community explaining intoxicated acts as divine possession
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage attributes to the Aztecs the belief that wild deeds under pulque
were acts of the possessing wine-god.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: possessing wine deity
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The wine-god is described as possessing and inspiring the tipsy man and as
incarnate in him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: trellised vine
literal_form: trellised vine
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: grape juice as blood and soul
literal_form: juice of the grape
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: wine as spirit-bearing drink
literal_form: wine
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: blood
literal_form: blood
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: grape clusters overhead
literal_form: clusters of grapes over the head
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: pulque
literal_form: pulque, or the wine of the country
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Flamen Dialis and the trellised vine prohibition
summary: The passage explains the prohibition on the Flamen Dialis walking under
a trellised vine by treating grape clusters as an embodied vine-spirit that might
come dangerously over his head.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:2
label: Egyptian royal avoidance of wine
summary: Plutarch is cited for an account in which Egyptian kings avoided wine because
it was held to be the blood of beings who fought the gods, and intoxication was
explained as being filled with that blood.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Aztec pulque and possession by the wine-god
summary: The passage says the Aztecs explained wild deeds done under pulque as acts
of the wine-god possessing and inspiring the intoxicated person.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: plant juice as blood and soul of the plant
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage states that plants may be considered animate beings that bleed,
and that grape juice is conceived as the vine's blood and soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is Frazer's comparative interpretation rather than a single narrated
myth.
- id: motif:2
label: intoxication as spirit possession or inspiration
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage states that abnormal mental states such as intoxication are explained
as the entrance of a spirit, and gives wine and pulque examples.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage generalizes across traditions through later comparative scholarship.
- id: motif:3
label: danger of a sacred or spirit-bearing substance over a tabooed head
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Frazer argues that the Flamen Dialis avoided passing under vine clusters
because the vine-spirit embodied in grapes might touch his head, dangerous for
one under permanent taboo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents this as a proposed explanation, not as a directly
quoted ancient rule rationale.
- id: motif:4
label: wine as blood of divine enemies
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: In the Plutarch example, wine is held to be the blood of beings who fought
against the gods, and intoxication is explained as being filled with that blood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The account is reported through Frazer's summary of Plutarch.
- id: motif:5
label: deity incarnate in the intoxicated votary
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: In the Aztec example, the tipsy person is treated as possessed by the wine-god,
and insulting him is disrespect toward the god incarnate in the votary.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The account is reported through Frazer's summary of Sahagun.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage compares Egyptian and Aztec explanations of intoxication as cases
in which alcoholic drink introduces a non-human power into the drinker.
claim_level: same_function
target: Egyptian wine-blood explanation and Aztec pulque wine-god possession
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: 'The compared examples differ in form: one involves hostile blood associated
with enemies of the gods, while the other involves possession by a wine-god.'
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage uses the Egyptian and Aztec examples to support Frazer's proposed
explanation of the Flamen Dialis vine taboo as involving wine, blood, spirit,
and danger to a tabooed person.
claim_level: same_function
target: Flamen Dialis trellised-vine prohibition, Egyptian royal wine avoidance,
and Aztec pulque possession
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The Flamen Dialis explanation is explicitly hypothetical and depends
on Frazer's comparative reasoning.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4464-4465
quote_or_summary: The Flamen Dialis was not allowed to walk under a trellised vine.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 4465-4473
quote_or_summary: Plants are described as animate beings that bleed when cut; grape
juice is treated as the vine's blood and as the vine's soul or containing its
soul.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4473-4482
quote_or_summary: Intoxication and madness are described as caused by a spirit entering
a person; wine is treated as a spirit or spirit-containing because it is red juice
and because it intoxicates or inspires.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4482-4490
quote_or_summary: Frazer says the vine-spirit embodied in grape clusters would be
over the Flamen Dialis's head and might touch it, which would be dangerous for
a person in permanent taboo.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4494-4501
quote_or_summary: Plutarch is cited for Egyptian kings avoiding wine because it
was held to be the blood of beings who fought the gods; intoxication was explained
as being filled with that blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 4501-4506
quote_or_summary: The Aztecs are described as treating pulque as dangerous because
wild deeds under its influence were acts of the wine-god possessing and inspiring
the drinker; insulting a tipsy man could be punished as disrespect to the wine-god
incarnate in him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4506
quote_or_summary: Frazer concludes that intoxication or inspiration produced by
wine appears parallel to other inspiration in the described comparative view.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is a comparative scholarly argument rather than a primary mythic
narrative. Motifs are extracted as patterns explicitly discussed in the passage.
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: |-
No taxonomy motif-family IDs were assigned because the available refs do not directly match the passage's central patterns of wine-blood, plant soul, tabooed head, and intoxication as possession.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg__l4464-l4506
passage_sha256=dc7ce5d9a9338f16d241838fddf88ffd771403dd7850eebb2284a6794a08ab86