batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l10450-l10501
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l10450-l10501
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10450-10501
start: '10450'
end: '10501'
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: Tereus reacts to having eaten his son by pushing away the table, invoking
the serpent-haired Furies, lamenting himself as his son's sepulchre, and pursuing
the daughters of Pandion. The women are changed into birds, one going to the woods
and one to houses, with blood still visible on the feathers of one. Tereus is
also changed into a bird, the epops or lapwing, with a crest and spear-like bill.
Pandion dies prematurely and goes to Tartarus. Notes identify the Viperous sisters
as the Furies and the Cecropian daughters as Progne and Philomela.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Thracian pushes away the table with a loud cry after consuming a horrid
repast identified as the entrails of his own son.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:2
text: The Thracian summons the Viperous sisters from the Stygian valley.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: He weeps and calls himself the wretched sepulchre of his own son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: He follows the daughters of Pandion with a drawn sword.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The daughters of Pandion are supported by wings; one goes to the woods and
the other takes a place beneath house roofs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: One female bird still has marks of murder on her breast and blood-stained
feathers.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The pursuer is transformed into a bird called epops, with a crested plume
and a prolonged bill in place of a spear.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Pandion is sent to the shades of Tartarus before old age.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Thracian / Tereus
description: The Thracian who has eaten his son, invokes the Furies, pursues the
daughters of Pandion, and is changed into the bird called epops.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Progne
description: One of the daughters of Pandion; footnote identifies the Cecropian
or Athenian Nymphs as Progne and Philomela.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Philomela
description: One of the daughters of Pandion; footnote identifies the Cecropian
or Athenian Nymphs as Progne and Philomela.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Itys / the son
description: The son whose entrails have been eaten; footnote refers to Progne striking
poor Itys.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Viperous sisters / Furies
description: Beings summoned from the Stygian valley; footnote identifies them as
the Furies with serpent-wreathed hair.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Pandion
description: Father of Progne and Philomela and king of Athens, who is dispatched
to Tartarus before his time.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: grieving cannibal father
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He calls himself the sepulchre of his own son after consuming the repast
of entrails.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: armed pursuer transformed into bird
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He pursues with a drawn sword and is later changed into the crested epops
with a spear-like bill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: fleeing daughters transformed into birds
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
basis: The daughters of Pandion are described as supported by wings, with one going
to the woods and the other beneath roofs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: slain son consumed as meal
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage describes the half-digested entrails and the father as his son's
sepulchre; a note names Itys as struck by Progne.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: underworld avenging powers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: They are summoned from the Stygian valley and identified in the note as the
Furies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: bereaved father sent to Tartarus
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Pandion is identified as father of Progne and Philomela and is dispatched
to the shades of Tartarus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Stygian valley
literal_form: underworld valley from which the Viperous sisters are summoned
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: serpent-wreathed hair
literal_form: serpents in the hair of the Furies
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: blood-stained feathers
literal_form: feathers still stained with blood and murder marks on the breast
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: wings
literal_form: wings supporting the bodies of the daughters of Pandion
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: crested epops with spear-like bill
literal_form: bird with a crested plume and prolonged bill in place of a long spear
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: Tartarus
literal_form: shades of Tartarus as Pandion's destination after death
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Discovery and lament after the cannibal meal
summary: The Thracian pushes away the table, invokes the Furies, wishes to expel
the meal from his body, and laments that he is the sepulchre of his own son.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Pursuit and bird transformations
summary: The Thracian pursues the daughters of Pandion with a sword; they are borne
by wings and take to woods and houses, while the pursuer becomes the crested epops
with an armed-looking face.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Pandion's death
summary: The affliction causes Pandion to be sent to Tartarus before his proper
time.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: human transformation into birds
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The daughters of Pandion are described as winged, and the Thracian is changed
into the bird called epops.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The transformation is passive and punitive or consequential in the narrative;
the available taxonomy term is broader than the specific event.
- id: motif:2
label: serpent-haired underworld avengers summoned
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: The Viperous sisters are summoned from the Stygian valley and identified
as Furies whose hair is wreathed with serpents.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The serpent element appears in the explanatory footnote rather than in
the narrative line itself.
- id: motif:3
label: premature descent to Tartarus after family affliction
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Pandion is dispatched to the shades of Tartarus before the late period of
old age because of the affliction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage reports death and underworld destination, but does not narrate
a detailed afterlife journey.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 10450-10456
quote_or_summary: The Thracian rejects the table, summons powers from the Stygian
valley, wishes to discharge the horrid repast and half-digested entrails, weeps,
and calls himself his son's sepulchre.
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: lines 10484-10485, footnote 68
quote_or_summary: The note identifies the victim as Itys by explaining the line
in which Progne strikes poor Itys with the sword.
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: summary
locator: lines 10451 and 10492-10495, footnote 70
quote_or_summary: The Viperous sisters are summoned from the Stygian valley; the
note identifies them as the Furies, so called because their hair is wreathed with
serpents.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 10457-10461 and 10496-10501, footnote 71
quote_or_summary: The Thracian follows the daughters of Pandion with a drawn sword;
their bodies are supported by wings. The note identifies them as Progne and Philomela,
daughters of Pandion, king of Athens.
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: lines 10461-10464
quote_or_summary: One winged daughter goes to the woods and the other beneath roofs;
marks of murder remain on the breast and feathers are stained with blood.
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: lines 10464-10468
quote_or_summary: The grieving pursuer is turned into the bird epops, with a crested
plume and a prolonged bill replacing the long spear; its face appears armed.
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: summary
locator: lines 10468-10470
quote_or_summary: The affliction sends Pandion to the shades of Tartarus before
his day and before prolonged old age.
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: Extraction relies on the provided narrative and explanatory footnotes. Motif
labels are limited to directly attested transformations, serpent imagery, and
Tartarus destination; no external comparisons are asserted.
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: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself support a comparison beyond the local narrative and notes.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l10450-l10501
passage_sha256=1e5ead3789daba771be4ae7be8b9877776de9e1cbc73881b403ae6a3ef3df660