batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l10277-l10351
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l10277-l10351
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10277-10351
start: '10277'
end: '10351'
translation: The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: After a year has passed, Philomela remains guarded in a stone house and
unable to speak. She uses a woven web with purple marks on white to disclose Tereus'
crime, sends it by an attendant to Progne, and Progne reads the message in silence
before turning to thoughts of revenge. The passage also includes translator footnotes
explaining names and terms in the surrounding narrative.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A full year is marked by Apollo completing the twice-six signs of the Zodiac.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Philomela cannot flee because a guard prevents her, the house walls are solid
stone, and her speechless mouth cannot disclose the crime by speech.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage states that grief produces ingenuity and that inventive skill
arises in misfortunes.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Philomela hangs the warp in a web of Barbarian design and interweaves purple
marks with white to reveal Tereus' villainy.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: obs:5
text: Philomela gives the finished web to an attendant and, by signs, asks her to
carry it to her mistress.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The attendant carries the web to Progne without understanding what she is
delivering.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Progne unfolds the web and reads the mournful tale of her sister.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Progne remains silent from grief, lacks words for indignation, does not weep,
and becomes wholly occupied with planning revenge.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Apollo
description: The god whose completion of the Zodiac year marks elapsed time.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Philomela
description: A guarded, speechless woman who creates and sends a woven message revealing
Tereus' crime.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Tereus
description: Named as the person whose villainy is revealed by Philomela's woven
message; a footnote identifies him as the Odrysian king from Thrace.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Attendant
description: The person who receives Philomela's finished web and carries it to
Progne without understanding its contents.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Progne
description: The wife of the savage tyrant and Philomela's sister, who reads the
woven message and plans revenge.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: time-marking deity
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Apollo's traversal of the Zodiac is used to mark the completed year.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: captive speechless victim
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Philomela is guarded, confined by stone walls, and unable to speak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: inventive messenger
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Philomela encodes the crime in a woven web and sends it by signs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: perpetrator named in hidden message
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The woven marks disclose the villainy of Tereus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: unwitting carrier
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The attendant carries the web to Progne without knowing what she is delivering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: sister-recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Progne reads the mournful tale of her sister in the web.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: avenger in preparation
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: After reading, Progne becomes wholly occupied with contriving revenge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: woven web message
literal_form: A web or woven textile carrying interwoven marks.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: purple marks on white
literal_form: Purple marks interwoven with white thread or fabric.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: stone house walls
literal_form: Hard walls of solid stone enclosing the house.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: speechless mouth
literal_form: Philomela's mouth deprived of speech as a means of discovery.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: signs of the Zodiac
literal_form: The twice-six signs of the Zodiac traversed by Apollo.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:6
label: communicative signs
literal_form: Signs by which Philomela asks the attendant to deliver the web.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: A year passes during Philomela's confinement
summary: The passage marks the completion of a year, while Philomela remains guarded
in a stone house and unable to speak.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Philomela creates a woven disclosure
summary: Philomela uses inventive skill in grief to weave purple marks into a web
as a way to reveal Tereus' crime.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: scene:3
label: The hidden message is delivered
summary: Philomela gives the finished web to an attendant and asks by signs that
it be taken to Progne; the attendant carries it without understanding it.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Progne reads and prepares revenge
summary: Progne unfolds the web, reads her sister's mournful tale, remains silent
from grief, and turns toward planning revenge.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hidden message in textile
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A woven web with colored marks communicates the crime to Progne.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage describes a specific textile message but does not name it
as a conventional motif.
- id: motif:2
label: speechless captive finds alternate communication
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Philomela is unable to speak or flee, yet uses weaving and signs to disclose
the crime.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The extraction is limited to the passage's immediate actions and does
not infer later transformation or broader mythic outcomes.
- id: motif:3
label: grief-born ingenuity
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage explicitly connects grief and misfortune with ingenuity and inventive
skill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy reference 'wisdom' is only a broad fit for practical
ingenuity, not an exact named motif in the passage.
- id: motif:4
label: sister receives disclosure and plans revenge
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: Progne reads the tale of her sister and becomes occupied with contriving
revenge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The sibling relationship is explicit, but the passage emphasizes revenge
rather than a general sibling-pair motif.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 10277-10278
quote_or_summary: Apollo has completed the year by passing through the twice-six
signs of the Zodiac.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 10278-10281
quote_or_summary: Philomela is prevented from flight by a guard, enclosed by solid
stone walls, and unable to reveal the crime by speech.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: 10281-10283
quote_or_summary: "“in grief there is extreme ingenuity, and inventive skill arises
in misfortunes.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 10283-10286
quote_or_summary: Philomela weaves purple marks into white fabric in a Barbarian
design to disclose Tereus' villainy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 10286-10289
quote_or_summary: Philomela gives the finished web to an attendant and uses signs
to request delivery to her mistress; the attendant carries it without knowing
its meaning.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 10289-10296
quote_or_summary: Progne unfolds the web, reads her sister's mournful tale, is silent
from grief, cannot find words or tears, and turns to contriving revenge.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: note
locator: 10348-10349
quote_or_summary: Footnote 61 explains 'Barbarian design' as probably a Phrygian
design.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: note
locator: 10342-10343
quote_or_summary: Footnote 59 identifies Tereus, the Odrysian king, with the Odrysae,
a people of Thrace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The main narrative actions and figures are explicit. Motif labels are descriptive
and cautious; no comparison claims are made because the passage itself does not
support a cross-traditional 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: |-
Footnotes in the supplied range were used only where they clarify terms directly related to the extracted passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l10277-l10351
passage_sha256=ef5b2038e1938af2030a643c2ab572adc9cfaaa1562cc128019b1bd043e3541f