batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l21072-l21199
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l21072-l21199
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
passage_locator:
label: ARGUMENT. / THE DEATH OF HECTOR. / BOOK XXIII. / ARGUMENT.; lines 21072-21199
start: '21072'
end: '21199'
translation: The Iliad
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: After the Greeks rest, Achilles sleeps on the shore and is visited by the
shade of Patroclus, who asks for burial rites, warns of the underworld boundary,
foretells Achilles' death, and requests that their remains share one urn. Achilles
tries and fails to embrace the shade, then wakes and reflects on the persistence
of a ghostly form after death. At dawn the Greeks gather timber from Ida, form
a funeral procession, place Patroclus on the pyre, and Achilles cuts his vowed
hair, dedicating it to Patroclus because he will not return home to fulfill the
vow to Sperchius.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Achilles lies grieving on the shore among the Myrmidons and falls asleep after
exertion around the Trojan wall.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The shade of Patroclus appears in the same robe, stature, voice, and appearance
as in life.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Patroclus' shade asks Achilles to perform burial rites so that he may enter
the realms below.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The shade says unburied spirits wander near the dark abode and are forbidden
to cross an irremeable flood.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The shade says that after crossing to the farther shore the soul does not
return, and after funeral flames Achilles and Patroclus will not meet again.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Patroclus asks that his bones rest with Achilles' bones and that their ashes
be mixed in a golden urn from Achilles' goddess-mother.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: Achilles attempts to embrace the shade, but cannot grasp it; the spirit flies
away like smoke with a lamentable cry.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: Achilles wakes and states that the dead retain an immortal mind, an aerial
semblance, and an empty shade.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: At dawn Agamemnon sends a chosen band with mules, wagons, axes, and ropes
to collect timber for the funeral pile.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: The band cuts oaks in Ida's woods and carries wood back to the sandy shore.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:11
text: A funeral procession advances with chariots, foot soldiers, and Patroclus
on a bier; mourners scatter locks over the corpse, and Achilles supports Patroclus'
head.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Achilles cuts yellow hair vowed from youth to Sperchius and casts the locks
toward the sea.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: Achilles says the vow to Sperchius included cutting the hair on return home
and sacrificing fifty rams, but he now gives the hair for Patroclus to bear below.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Achilles / great Pelides
description: Grieving Greek hero who sleeps on the shore, sees Patroclus' shade,
oversees funeral preparations, and cuts his vowed hair for Patroclus.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Patroclus
description: Dead companion of Achilles; appears as a shade and is also present
as a corpse on the bier and pyre.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Myrmidons
description: Martial followers standing confusedly near Achilles while he grieves
on the shore.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Agamemnon
description: Leader who sends a chosen band with mules and wagons to gather timber
for the funeral rites.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Meriones
description: Person entrusted with care of the timber-gathering charge.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Grecians / chosen band / woodmen
description: Group that travels to Ida, cuts oak timber, carries it to the shore,
and participates in the funeral procession.
role_refs:
- role:10
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Sperchius
description: River addressed by Achilles as the recipient of an unfulfilled vow
involving hair and animal sacrifices.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: mourning dreamer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Achilles grieves on the shore, sleeps, and sees the shade of Patroclus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: funeral agent
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Achilles directs the funeral site, supports the corpse, and dedicates his
cut hair to Patroclus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: foredoomed survivor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Patroclus' shade tells Achilles that he too is doomed to fall before the
Trojan wall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: petitioning shade
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Patroclus' shade asks for burial rites and entry into the realms below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: dead companion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Patroclus is described as dead, as Achilles' friend, and as present on a
bier.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: recipient of funeral offerings
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Patroclus is placed on the pyre, covered with mourners' locks, and receives
Achilles' hair for the shades below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: mourning attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Myrmidons stand around Achilles while he grieves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:8
label: ritual organizer
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Agamemnon sends the band to load timber and rear the funeral pile as the
rites demand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: assigned overseer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The charge of gathering timber is consigned to Meriones' care.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: funeral laborers
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The Grecians cut oaks, cleave wood, and carry burdens back to the shore.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:11
label: processional mourners
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The armed troops, chariots, foot soldiers, and mournful band proceed with
Patroclus on the bier.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:12
label: vow recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Achilles addresses Sperchius as the one to whom hair and sacrifices had been
vowed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: irremeable flood and farther shore
literal_form: Underworld flood and shore that unburied spirits cannot cross until
rites are performed.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
- afterlife_journey_map
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: funeral flames and pyre
literal_form: Timber pile and last funereal flames prepared for Patroclus' corpse.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: golden urn and common grave
literal_form: Golden urn from Achilles' goddess-mother in which Patroclus asks their
ashes to be mixed.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: ungraspable shade
literal_form: Patroclus' ghostly form that resembles him in life but slips from
Achilles' embrace like smoke.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: cut hair offering
literal_form: Yellow locks vowed from youth to Sperchius, cut by Achilles and given
to Patroclus for the shades below.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: Ida's oaks
literal_form: Oaks cut in Ida's woods and carried to the shore for the funeral pile.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: Sperchius' waters
literal_form: River waves and fountains on Achilles' native coast, addressed in
connection with the unfulfilled vow.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Achilles sleeps by the shore
summary: After the others eat, drink, and sleep, Achilles lies grieving by the roaring
sea and falls asleep among the Myrmidons.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Patroclus' shade petitions for burial
summary: The shade of Patroclus appears to Achilles, asks for burial rites and entry
below, describes the barrier of the flood, foretells Achilles' death, and requests
a shared resting place.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Failed embrace and waking reflection
summary: Achilles tries to embrace Patroclus' shade but cannot grasp it; he wakes
and reflects that a ghostly form remains after death.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Timber gathered from Ida
summary: At dawn Agamemnon sends men under Meriones' care to Ida, where they cut
oak timber and return with wood for the funeral pile.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Funeral procession and pyre
summary: Armed Greeks proceed with Patroclus on a bier, mourners cast locks over
the corpse, Achilles supports the head, and the body is placed with wood around
it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Achilles redirects the vowed hair
summary: Achilles cuts the hair vowed to Sperchius, acknowledges the failed return-home
vow and animal sacrifices, and gives the locks to Patroclus for the underworld.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: funeral rites enabling passage of the dead
taxonomy_refs:
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: Patroclus' shade says burial rites are needed for entrance below and that
unbodied spirits are barred from crossing the flood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a funeral and underworld passage pattern, but does not
provide a full map beyond the flood, farther shore, and realms below.
- id: motif:2
label: irreversible crossing to the underworld shore
taxonomy_refs:
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: The shade states that once the farther shore is crossed, the soul returns
no more.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is stated by the ghost within the passage; broader doctrinal conclusions
are not inferred.
- id: motif:3
label: failed embrace of a ghost
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Achilles reaches for Patroclus' shade but cannot grasp it, and the spirit
flies away like smoke.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No external parallels are claimed.
- id: motif:4
label: shared posthumous resting place for companions
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Patroclus asks that his bones rest with Achilles' bones and that their ashes
be mixed in a common golden urn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage requests shared burial; it does not narrate its completion
here.
- id: motif:5
label: redirected votive hair offering
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Achilles cuts locks originally vowed to Sperchius and gives them to Patroclus
because the promised homecoming and sacrifices will not occur.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage names a vow and sacrifice but frames the hair offering as
altered by Achilles' expected death.
- id: motif:6
label: funeral pyre preparation with sacred timber labor
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- tree
basis: The Greeks cut Ida's oaks, return the wood, and arrange the sylvan pile around
Patroclus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents ritual labor and pyre preparation; the sacredness
of the timber itself is not explicitly stated.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 21072-21082
quote_or_summary: After eating and drinking, others sleep; Achilles lies groaning
by the shore among the Myrmidons and falls asleep.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 21083-21113
quote_or_summary: Patroclus' shade appears like his living self, asks for burial
and entrance below, describes unburied spirits barred from the flood, says the
soul cannot return after crossing, foretells Achilles' death, and asks that their
ashes share a golden urn.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 21114-21136
quote_or_summary: Achilles asks for a last embrace; his arms cannot grasp the shade,
which flies away like smoke. He wakes and says that the dead retain an immortal
mind, an aerial semblance, and an empty shade.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 21137-21162
quote_or_summary: At dawn Agamemnon sends a chosen band with mules, wagons, axes,
and ropes under Meriones' care; they cut oaks in Ida's woods and bring wood back
to the sandy shore.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 21163-21178
quote_or_summary: Achilles orders the troops to appear; chariots and foot soldiers
proceed, Patroclus lies on a bier, mourners scatter locks over the corpse, Achilles
supports the head, and the body is placed with the wood pile around it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 21179-21199
quote_or_summary: Achilles cuts his yellow hair, once vowed to Sperchius, casts
it toward the sea, recalls promised sacrifices of rams and hecatombs at the river's
altars, and gives the hair to Patroclus for the shades below.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction uses only the supplied passage. Motif candidates are limited to
patterns directly present in the passage and available taxonomy references; no
external comparison claims are made.
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: |-
Line locators are approximate within the supplied stable range and follow the passage order.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg__l21072-l21199
passage_sha256=5831e25b6000670918c92a69698ac5be3ae6cfbfd750c5230d5ce402d2f7a52d