batch.motif.greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg-l7571-l7583
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg-l7571-l7583
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
passage_locator:
label: XXXI. TO HELIOS / XXXII. TO SELENE / XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI / HOMERS EPIGRAMS2601;
lines 7571-7583
start: '7571'
end: '7583'
translation: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: I come, and I come yearly, like the swallow...
summary: 'The passage contains brief epigrammatic fragments: a speaker describes
an annual arrival like a swallow at the front of a house; petitioners say they
will accept a gift but not remain if none is given; Homer asks fishermen whether
they have caught anything; a fisherman replies with a paradoxical answer; Homer
comments on their poor fathers.'
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A speaker says he comes yearly and compares himself to a light-footed swallow
perched at the front of a house.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The same fragment includes an urgent request to bring something, though the
object is not preserved in the provided text.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A group of speakers says that if something is given to them, that is well,
but if not, they will not wait because they have not come to dwell there.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Homer addresses hunters of deep sea prey and asks whether anything has been
caught.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A fisherman answers that everything caught was left behind and everything
not caught is carried home.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Homer says the fishermen are descended from fathers who neither possess rich
lands nor tend many sheep.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: annual speaker
description: First-person speaker who says he comes yearly like a swallow.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: addressed householder or household
description: The addressee associated with the front part of a house and asked to
bring something.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: petitioning group
description: Speakers who ask whether anything will be given and state they will
not remain if nothing is given.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Homer
description: Named speaker who questions the fishermen and comments on their lineage
and poverty.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: fisherman
description: Speaker who answers Homer with a paradoxical statement about what was
caught and not caught.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: hunters of deep sea prey
description: People addressed by Homer as hunters of deep sea prey.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: annual visitor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker says he comes yearly and compares the arrival to a swallow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: addressee at a house
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speech locates the addressee in relation to the fore-part of a house
and asks for something to be brought.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: gift-seeking visitors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The speakers condition their staying on whether something is given to them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: questioner and commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Homer asks about the catch and then comments on the fishermen's fathers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: riddle-like respondent
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The fisherman gives a paradoxical reply about leaving what was caught and
carrying what was not caught.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: deep-sea hunters
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Homer directly addresses them as hunters of deep sea prey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: swallow
literal_form: swallow perched light-footed at the fore-part of a house
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: house-front perch
literal_form: fore-part of a house where the swallow perches
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: deep sea prey
literal_form: prey from the deep sea sought by hunters or fishermen
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: yearly arrival at a house
summary: A first-person speaker describes an annual arrival like a swallow at the
front of a house and asks that something be brought quickly.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: conditional request for a gift
summary: A group says that a gift would be acceptable, but if no gift is given they
will not wait or stay with the addressee.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Homer and the fishermen
summary: Homer asks fishermen whether they have caught anything; a fisherman gives
a paradoxical answer, and Homer comments on their poor lineage.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: annual return compared to a bird
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
- return
basis: The speaker explicitly says he comes yearly and likens the arrival to a swallow,
a recurrent annual movement in the passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The fragment is brief and does not explicitly frame the yearly return
as a full seasonal mythic cycle.
- id: motif:2
label: gift-seeking visit without staying
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The speakers ask for something to be given and say they will not wait or
dwell if nothing is given.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not specify the occasion, gift, or ritual context.
- id: motif:3
label: paradoxical catch riddle
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: 'The fisherman’s reply reverses ordinary expectations: what was caught was
left behind, while what was not caught is carried home.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The text does not explicitly identify the exchange as a riddle or wisdom
contest; this is inferred from the paradoxical form of the answer.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 7571-7572
quote_or_summary: "“I come, and I come yearly, like the swallow that perches light-footed
in the fore-part of your house. But quickly bring....”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short excerpt used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 7574-7576
quote_or_summary: Speakers say that if the addressee gives anything, that is well;
if not, they will not wait because they have not come to dwell there.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 7578-7581
quote_or_summary: Homer asks hunters of deep sea prey whether anything has been
caught; a fisherman replies that what was caught was left behind and what was
not caught is carried home.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 7582-7583
quote_or_summary: Homer says they are descended from fathers who neither hold rich
lands nor tend countless sheep.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is fragmentary and epigrammatic. Literal speakers and exchanges
are clear, but motif classification is limited by missing context.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. No external explanation of the fisherman’s paradox has been added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg__l7571-l7583
passage_sha256=755c851637ea14dbb1257f2903a7af3266990428f7d7ba8012b403755ba20f18