batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l9012-l9150
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg-l9012-l9150
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
passage_locator:
label: THE SECOND BATTLE, AND THE DISTRESS OF THE GREEKS. / BOOK IX. / ARGUMENT.
/ THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES.; lines 9012-9150
start: '9012'
end: '9150'
translation: The Iliad
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage introduces Book IX and describes the Greeks distressed at night
beside their ships after defeat. Agamemnon summons a council and urges abandoning
Troy and returning home, attributing the reversal to Jove. Diomed rebukes him
and vows to remain and fight. Nestor praises Diomed, condemns love of war, and
advises fortifying the guard, calling a council of elders, and deliberating while
Trojan fires burn near the fleet.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The scene is stated to lie on the sea-shore at the station of the Grecian
ships during one night.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Troy maintains the night watch while fear and horror are described among the
Greeks.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Agamemnon orders heralds to summon the Grecian peers to council in whispers.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Agamemnon weeps before the council and speaks with grief.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Agamemnon says Jove has disappointed the expected safe return with conquest
and urges the Greeks to quit the fields and sail home.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The Greek band remains silent and dismayed after Agamemnon's speech.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Diomed opposes Agamemnon, criticizes his courage, and declares that he and
Sthenelus will stay and fight.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The Greeks respond with acclamations and praise Diomed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Nestor praises Diomed's strength, courage, conduct, and bold truthfulness,
then adds further advice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: Nestor condemns the person who delights in war and murder.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Nestor advises refreshing and fortifying the army, keeping guards between
trench and wall, and calling the elders to council.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: Nestor points to the blaze of hostile tents and Trojan fires approaching the
fleet.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Agamemnon
description: The Greek king and leader who grieves, summons council, and urges withdrawal
from Troy.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Grecian host
description: The Greek army at the ships, distressed by defeat and gathered in council.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Troy / Trojans
description: The opposing side maintaining watch at night, with fires near the Greek
fleet.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:11
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Jove
description: The divine power named by Agamemnon as decreeing the Greeks' reversal
and able to raise or humble empires, towers, and armies.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Diomed / Tydeus' son / Tydides
description: A warlike Greek speaker who rebukes Agamemnon and vows to remain before
Troy.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Sthenelus
description: Named by Diomed as the companion who will remain with him to fight
for fame.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Nestor
description: An elder Greek counselor who praises Diomed and advises guard duty,
council, and deliberation.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Grecian peers / elders
description: Leaders summoned to council and later recommended by Nestor as those
whom the king should call for counsel.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: distressed commander
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Agamemnon grieves above the rest, summons the peers, and weeps before speaking.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: advocate of withdrawal
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Agamemnon urges the Greeks to quit the fatal fields, employ sails and oars,
and abandon hope for Troy's fall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: threatened army
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Greek host is fearful, silent, and dismayed at night beside the ships.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: nearby enemy force
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Troy keeps the night watch and Trojan fires are described as near the Greek
fleet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:11
- id: role:5
label: divine determiner invoked in speech
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Agamemnon says Jove decrees the Greeks' situation and humbles towers and
armies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: opponent of retreat
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Diomed rejects Agamemnon's counsel and declares that he will remain until
Troy or he expires.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: named fighting companion
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Diomed says Sthenelus will stay with him and fight for fame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: elder counselor
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Nestor speaks after Diomed, praises him, and offers practical counsel about
guards and council.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: council participants
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The peers are summoned to council; Nestor advises calling the old to council.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sea-shore and ships
literal_form: sea-shore, Grecian ships, canvas, oars
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: storm-tossed sea simile
literal_form: double tempest of west and north swelling the sea and tossing the
deeps
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: sym:3
label: tears as briny torrent
literal_form: Agamemnon's tears compared to a briny torrent and trickling waters
from a rock
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: Trojan fires
literal_form: blaze from hostile tents and Trojan fires near the fleet
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:5
label: trench and wall
literal_form: defensive space where guards are to remain between trench and wall
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: sceptres and dominion
literal_form: sceptres, wide command, dominion over seas and land
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Night distress at the Greek ships
summary: At night by the sea-shore and ships, Troy keeps watch while the Greeks
are fearful and distressed after defeat.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:12
- id: scene:2
label: Agamemnon summons and addresses council
summary: Agamemnon privately summons the Grecian peers, weeps before them, and urges
abandoning the siege and sailing home because Jove has denied the hoped-for conquest.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Diomed rejects retreat
summary: Diomed rebukes Agamemnon's counsel, contrasts royal power with lack of
brave soul, and vows that he and Sthenelus will remain to fight before Troy.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Nestor advises fortification and deliberation
summary: Nestor praises Diomed, condemns delight in war, advises guards and a council
of elders, and warns that Trojan fires near the fleet make the night decisive.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: proposed departure from failed campaign
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Agamemnon explicitly urges the Greeks to quit the fields of Troy and return
to their native country by ship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a proposed military retreat rather than an enacted mythic departure
in the passage.
- id: motif:2
label: wise counsel in crisis
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A formal council is summoned in distress; Diomed opposes retreat, and Nestor
offers praised, practical advice about guards, elders, and deliberation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is grounded in political-military counsel, not esoteric or divine
wisdom.
- id: motif:3
label: divine determination of human warfare
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Agamemnon frames the Greeks' failed expectation of conquest and possible
retreat as decreed by Jove, who raises and humbles empires and armies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The claim is made within Agamemnon's speech; the passage does not independently
show a divine action.
- id: motif:4
label: threatening fire at the boundary of the camp
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Nestor emphasizes hostile fires near the Greek fleet and says the interval
will determine whether Troy burns or Greece falls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: Available taxonomy includes fire as a symbol but not a specific motif
family for siege-fire or camp-boundary threat.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150, introductory note
quote_or_summary: The book's action is said to occur over one night, with the scene
on the sea-shore at the station of the Grecian ships.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: '"Thus joyful Troy maintaind the watch of night; / While fear...
/ And heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part, / Sat on each face"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: Agamemnon bears orders to the heralds to summon the Grecian peers
in whispers; he stands amid them weeping, his tears compared to streams from a
rock.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: '"So Jove decrees... Haste then, for ever quit these fatal fields...
Spread all your canvas, all your oars employ"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: After Agamemnon speaks, deep silence holds the Grecian band, who
stand unmoved in dismay.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: '"Here Greece shall stay; or, if all Greece retire, / Myself shall
stay... / Myself, and Sthenelus, will fight for fame"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: When Diomed ceases, the Greeks raise loud acclamations and praise
Tydides.
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 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: Nestor rises; he praises Diomed as strong in body and mind, excellent
in conduct and courage, and bold yet prudent in blaming kings with truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: quote
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: '"Cursed is the man... / That wretch, that monster, who delights
in war; / Whose lust is murder"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: Nestor advises that the army be refreshed and fortified, guards
remain between trench and wall, and the king call the old to council.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: quote
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: '"See what a blaze from hostile tents aspires, / How near our
fleet approach the Trojan fires!... / To-morrow, Troy must flame, or Greece must
fall."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/iliad-pope.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 9012-9150
quote_or_summary: The troubled Greek host is compared to a sea swollen by a double
tempest from the west and north, with waves heaped and deeps tossed.
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: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is based on the supplied passage. Motif labels are conservative
and limited to available taxonomy where directly supported. No comparison claims
were made because the passage does not itself support comparison to another tradition
or motif corpus beyond candidate motif tagging.
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: |-
The passage includes the Book IX argument summarizing later embassy events, but this extraction emphasizes the narrated opening council scene within the supplied range.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-iliad-pope-gutenberg__l9012-l9150
passage_sha256=7660e909d9da002d74152f1569e2a53372c0480eaededdf5dab8fa089e692633