batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l20781-l20906
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l20781-l20906
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
passage_locator:
label: ARGUMENT. / BOOK XXII. / ARGUMENT. / THE DEATH OF HECTOR.; lines 20781-20906
start: '20781'
end: '20906'
translation: The Iliad
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Achilles binds Hector's ankles to his chariot and drags his body before
Troy. Hector's parents and the city mourn. Priam tries to go out and beg Achilles
for pity. Hecuba laments Hector as Troy's defender. Andromache, still unaware,
is weaving and having a bath prepared for Hector when she hears the cries, fears
disaster, goes to the walls, sees Hector dragged, and faints.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The victor bores Hector's ankles, binds his feet with thongs, fixes them behind
a chariot, and drags his head along the plain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The victor stands on his chariot with bloody arms and drives the horses, raising
dust.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Hector's body is described as deformed and dishonored in his native land,
before his parents' sight and an insulting crowd.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Hector's mother sees him first, tears her grey hair, casts away her veils,
and cries out.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Hector's father groans, weeps, and the whole city is described as sharing
one expression of grief.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The city's grief is compared to hostile fire rising from the citadel foundations
to its spires and sending Ilion's last blaze to the sky.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Priam, called the monarch of the falling state, presses toward the Dardan
gate and is restrained by the people.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Priam asks to leave the city alone, bow before his son's murderer, and appeal
to the killer's pity and respect for age.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: Priam says Achilles also has an aged father and has sent many sons to the
tomb, with Hector the last.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: Priam wishes Hector had died peacefully in his parents' embrace, allowing
them to mourn over him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: Hecuba appears among mourning matrons and laments Hector as the pride of his
parents, the defence of Troy, and now a lifeless corpse.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: Andromache has not yet heard of Hector's death and is indoors weaving, while
handmaids prepare a bath for Hector's return.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:13
text: The prepared bath is in vain because Hector will not return; he lies unbathed
and bleeding by the shore.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:14
text: Andromache hears the cries from the walls, trembles, drops her shuttle, and
calls her maids to follow.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:15
text: Andromache fears Hector may have confronted Achilles, been chased from the
walls, and been slain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: obs:16
text: Andromache runs through the house, mounts the walls, sees Hector being dragged
along the ground, and faints.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: obs:17
text: As Andromache falls, her hair ornaments, veil, and diadem come loose; the
diadem is identified as a gift of Venus on her bridal day.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
- id: obs:18
text: Weeping women stand around Andromache and raise her with their hands.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:18
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hector
description: Dead Trojan hero whose body is bound to a chariot and dragged; called
the defence of Troy by Hecuba.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:11
- ev:16
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Achilles
description: The insulting victor and murderer of Priam's son; Andromache names
him as the one Hector may have confronted.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:15
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Hector's mother / Hecuba
description: Hector's mother, later named Hecuba, tears her hair, casts away veils,
and laments Hector among mourning matrons.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:11
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Hector's father / Priam
description: Hector's father and the monarch of the falling state, who mourns and
seeks to approach Achilles.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Andromache
description: Hector's wife, indoors at the loom before hearing the cries; she goes
to the wall, sees Hector dragged, and faints.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:14
- ev:16
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Handmaids / matrons / weeping sisters
description: Female attendants and mourners who prepare the bath, follow Andromache,
and help raise her after she faints.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:18
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: People of Ilion
description: The city population mourns Hector and restrains Priam from leaving
the walls.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Venus
description: Named as giver of Andromache's bridal diadem.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
roles:
- id: role:1
label: dishonored dead hero
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hector's corpse is dragged along the plain and described as deformed and
dishonored.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: defender of Troy
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hecuba calls Hector the defence of Troy and the source of its safety and
fame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:3
label: victorious killer and corpse-dragger
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The victor drives the chariot dragging Hector and is called the murderer
of Priam's son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: mourning mother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Hector's mother tears her hair, casts away veils, shrieks, and later laments
him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:11
- id: role:5
label: mourning father
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Hector's father groans, weeps, grovels in dust, and laments his son's death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: supplicant intending to beg for a son's body or pity
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Priam asks to go out alone and bow before the murderer of his son, hoping
for pity or respect for age.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: unaware wife turned witness
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Andromache is initially unaware, hears the lamentation, then sees Hector
dragged and faints.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:16
- id: role:8
label: female attendants and mourners
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Women prepare the bath, accompany Andromache, weep, and raise her after she
faints.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:18
- id: role:9
label: collective mourning city
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: All Ilion is said to wear one face of woe and the people restrain Priam.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: divine giver of bridal ornament
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Andromache's diadem is described as the gift of Venus on her bridal day.
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: chariot dragging the corpse
literal_form: rolling wain / rapid chariot with Hector's feet tied behind it
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: dust of the plain
literal_form: clouds of circling dust raised by the chariot
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: torn hair and cast-off veils
literal_form: Hecuba's torn grey tresses and discarded regal veils
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: city as burning ruin image
literal_form: hostile fires rising from foundations to spires and sending Ilion
to the skies
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: Dardan gate
literal_form: gate toward which Priam presses in grief
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: loom and shuttle
literal_form: Andromache's loom and shuttle, used before she hears the cries
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:14
- id: sym:7
label: prepared bath
literal_form: brazen urn and bath prepared for Hector's return
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: sym:8
label: bridal veil and diadem falling away
literal_form: Andromache's veil and diadem, a gift of Venus on her bridal day, flying
away as she faints
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Hector's corpse dragged behind Achilles' chariot
summary: Achilles binds Hector's feet to the chariot and drags his body through
dust while standing as the victorious killer.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Troy's collective mourning and Priam's plea to leave
summary: Hecuba first sees Hector's body and mourns; Priam and the city weep, and
Priam asks to go to Achilles alone to appeal to pity and age.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
- fig:2
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:3
label: Hecuba's lament for Troy's defender
summary: Hecuba laments that Hector, once Troy's pride and defence, has become lifeless
clay.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: scene:4
label: Andromache at the loom before the news
summary: Andromache, unaware of Hector's death, weaves indoors while attendants
prepare a bath for his expected return, though the narration states he will not
return.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: scene:5
label: Andromache sees Hector and faints on the wall
summary: Andromache hears the lamentation, fears Hector has been slain, runs to
the walls, sees his body dragged, and faints as her bridal ornaments fall away
and women assist her.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- ev:15
- ev:16
- ev:17
- ev:18
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: dishonoring of the fallen enemy's body
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage centers on Hector's corpse being bound to a chariot, dragged
in dust, and described as deformed and dishonored before his family and city.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:16
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level motif label, not drawn from a supplied taxonomy
family.
- id: motif:2
label: parental lament for a dead hero
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Hector's mother and father publicly mourn him; Priam wishes he could have
held Hector at death, and Hecuba laments his transformation into a corpse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: No broader historical comparison is made from this passage alone.
- id: motif:3
label: supplication to the killer through shared fatherhood and old age
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Priam proposes to go alone, bow before his son's murderer, and appeal to
pity by invoking Achilles' aged father and his own age.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage contains the intention to supplicate, but not the later completed
encounter or exchange.
- id: motif:4
label: wife at domestic work before catastrophic news
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Andromache is weaving and having a bath prepared for Hector's return while
still unaware that he has died.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: high
cautions: The domestic scene is explicit, but its broader motif classification is
interpretive.
- id: motif:5
label: ominous hearing of public lament before recognition of death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Andromache hears cries from the walls, physically trembles, fears Hector
has been slain, and then confirms the sight from the wall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- ev:15
- ev:16
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative pattern within the passage, not a supplied taxonomy
category.
- id: motif:6
label: falling bridal ornaments at widowhood-like recognition
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_marriage
basis: When Andromache sees Hector's body and faints, her veil and diadem from her
bridal day fall away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- ev:17
confidence: medium
cautions: Association with sacred_marriage is tentative because the passage only
mentions a bridal gift from Venus; it does not frame the marriage as sacred.
- id: motif:7
label: city's grief imaged as total burning destruction
taxonomy_refs:
- world_destroying_fire
basis: The city's mourning is compared to hostile fires rising through the citadel
and sending Ilion's last blaze to the sky.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The fire is a simile for civic grief rather than an actual world-destroying
event.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 20781-20786
quote_or_summary: Achilles' vengeful thought leads him to bore Hector's ankles,
bind his feet with thongs, fasten them behind the chariot, and trail his head
along the plain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 20787-20790
quote_or_summary: The victorious figure stands on his car, holds up bloody arms,
strikes the horses, and the chariot raises circling dust.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 20791-20797
quote_or_summary: Hector's divine face and hair are marred in dust; his body is
deformed and dishonored in his native land, in his parents' sight, before an insulting
crowd.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 20798-20802
quote_or_summary: Hector's mother first sees him, tears her grey hair, casts off
regal veils, and shrieks over his fate.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 20803-20806
quote_or_summary: Hector's father answers with groans and tears, and the whole city
shares one face of woe.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 20807-20810
quote_or_summary: The city's mourning is likened to hostile fires rising from foundations
to spires and sending Ilion's final blaze skyward.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 20811-20818
quote_or_summary: The distressed monarch presses toward the Dardan gate; the people
barely stop him as grief drives him to and fro until he rolls in the dust and
speaks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 20819-20825
quote_or_summary: Priam asks to leave the walls alone, bow before the murderer of
his son, and perhaps win pity or respect for his age.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 20826-20832
quote_or_summary: Priam says Achilles also has a father like him, aged and miserable,
and that Achilles has sent many sons to the tomb, Hector last.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 20833-20839
quote_or_summary: Priam wishes Hector's spirit had passed in peace in his father's
embrace while both parents wept over him, giving some relief in grief.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 20843-20854
quote_or_summary: Hecuba appears with mourning women and laments Hector as her pride,
Troy's defence, almost a god, now a lifeless corpse and clay.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 20855-20864
quote_or_summary: Andromache has not yet received news; she is in the inner rooms
weaving a flowered work while handmaids heat a brazen urn and prepare a bath for
Hector's return.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 20865-20867
quote_or_summary: The bath is in vain because Hector returns no more and lies unbathed
and bleeding by the shore.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 20868-20873
quote_or_summary: Andromache hears clamors from the walls, trembles, drops her shuttle,
and calls to her maids.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 20877-20889
quote_or_summary: Andromache identifies the cry as perhaps her mother's voice, feels
physical dread, fears disaster for Troy, and fears Hector has confronted Achilles,
been shut out from the walls, and died.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:16
type: summary
locator: lines 20890-20897
quote_or_summary: Andromache runs through the house with maids following, mounts
the wall, sees Hector dragged on the ground, and faints as her breath and color
leave her.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:17
type: summary
locator: lines 20898-20902
quote_or_summary: As Andromache falls, her hair ornaments, veil, and diadem fly
away; the diadem is identified as Venus' gift on her bridal day.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:18
type: summary
locator: lines 20903-20906
quote_or_summary: Weeping women stand around Andromache, raise her with their hands,
and she partly revives only to lament again.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is explicit about actions, figures, and laments. Motif labels
are descriptive and passage-level; taxonomy mappings are limited and tentative
where noted. No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not
support a distinct cross-textual comparison.
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: |-
Illustration captions were treated as part of the passage metadata only where they label adjacent scenes; no additional visual details were inferred.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg__l20781-l20906
passage_sha256=1ddcbe2df458df205efaf04c96ccb9f98730a462cccfd8bef65b7b27e7fc82fe