batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l118-l203
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l118-l203
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII / LITERALLY TRANSLATED WITH NOTES
AND EXPLANATIONS / INTRODUCTION.; lines 118-203
start: '118'
end: '203'
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: The introduction surveys earlier English translations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses,
criticizes several for lack of literalness, inelegant style, limited scope, or
inadequate notes, and explains that the present edition adds explanations drawn
from ancient authors and later scholarship.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that Ovid’s Metamorphoses had frequently been translated
into English, including two complete prose translations and five verse translations
listed in Bohn’s catalogue.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Joseph Davidson’s prose version is described as claiming nearness to the original
and school/private use, but the passage judges it not literal and not elegant.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: John Clarke’s translation is described as more literal and as having reached
a seventh edition by 1779, but the passage criticizes its style, language, and
lack of explanation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The passage lists colloquial or comic English renderings used in Clarke’s
version for various Latin words and phrases.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: A 1656 volume by John Bulloker is described as translating only the first
567 lines of the first book in a fanciful and pedantic manner.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The passage mentions a literal interlinear translation of the first book published
in 1839 and a Hamiltonian-system selection from the first six books.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage states that explanatory material has been added to elucidate fabulous
narratives and allusions, drawing from ancient historians, philosophers, mythologists,
and Abbé Banier’s work.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ovid
description: Named as the author whose Metamorphoses is the subject of the translations
and explanations discussed.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Joseph Davidson
description: Publisher or translator of a prose version of the Metamorphoses from
about the middle of the previous century.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: John Clarke
description: Translator of a more literal version of the Metamorphoses, first published
about 1735 and later reaching a seventh edition.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: John Bulloker
description: Named as the publisher or translator of a 1656 volume titled Ovid’s
Metamorphosis.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: James Hamilton
description: Author of the Hamiltonian system and associated with a selection from
the Metamorphoses using literal and interlineal translation.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Abbé Banier
description: Described as a learned scholar whose edition of Ovid and Explanations
of the Fables of Antiquity collected illustrations from ancient authors.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Ancient authors cited as explanatory sources
description: Herodotus, Apollodorus, Pausanias, Dio Cassius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
Strabo, Hyginus, Nonnus, and others are named as sources for explanations.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: source author
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage discusses translations and explanations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: English translator of Ovid
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The passage identifies Davidson, Clarke, and Bulloker with English translations
or translated volumes of the Metamorphoses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: interlinear translation system author
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage associates James Hamilton with the Hamiltonian system and an
interlineal translation selection.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: compiler of mythological explanations
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage describes Banier as collecting information from ancient authors
to illuminate mythology and history.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: ancient explanatory source
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage names ancient historians, philosophers, and mythologists as sources
for explanatory notes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Survey and criticism of English translations
summary: The introduction reviews earlier English prose, verse, and interlinear
translations of the Metamorphoses, judging their literalness, style, scope, and
usefulness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:2
label: Statement of explanatory sources
summary: The introduction states that explanations have been added for fabulous
narratives and allusions, chiefly from ancient authors and Banier’s scholarship.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs: []
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 118-122
quote_or_summary: The Metamorphoses is said to have been frequently translated into
English; Bohn’s catalogue lists two complete prose translations and five verse
translations.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 123-138
quote_or_summary: Davidson’s prose version is described as professing closeness
to the original and school use, but the introduction judges it not literal and
only sparsely helpful in annotation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 139-154
quote_or_summary: Clarke’s translation is described as very literal, first published
about 1735, with a seventh edition in 1779, but criticized for inelegance, dated
conversational language, and lack of explanation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 155-178
quote_or_summary: The passage gives numerous examples of Clarke’s colloquial renderings,
including Latin terms translated as phrases such as “the old blade,” “the peepers,”
and “to tip him a kiss.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation fragments used from public domain
text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 180-188
quote_or_summary: A 1656 volume by John Bulloker is described as titled Ovid’s Metamorphosis
and as translating no more than the first 567 lines of the first Book.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 189-193
quote_or_summary: The passage mentions an 1839 literal interlinear translation of
the first Book and a Hamiltonian-system selection from the first six books.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 195-203
quote_or_summary: The passage says explanations were added to elucidate fabulous
narratives and allusions, chiefly from Herodotus, Apollodorus, Pausanias, Dio
Cassius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Strabo, Hyginus, Nonnus, and others, as well
as Banier’s edition and Explanations of the Fables of Antiquity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: high
notes: This is introductory translation history rather than a mythic narrative passage;
no supported motif, symbol, or comparison claims were extracted.
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 mythology motif extraction beyond bibliographic and explanatory context is supported by the supplied passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l118-l203
passage_sha256=cbdf0011170bb0c79a1fea2ffda52340d30029578ce3d90c2432e4d489949dee