batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l3870-l3916
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l3870-l3916
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 3870-3916
start: '3870'
end: '3916'
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: "“Dost thou, treacherous man, betray me to my own self?”"
summary: Mercury bribes an old man to deny seeing stolen herds, returns in altered
form and voice to test him with a larger reward, and turns him into a stone called
the Touchstone after he betrays the hiding place.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Mercury takes the stranger aside, asks him to deny having seen the herds,
and gives him a cow as a reward.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The stranger accepts the cow and says that a stone would speak of the theft
before he would.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Mercury returns after feigning departure and changes his form and voice.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: In the changed form, Mercury asks the countryman to speak about the stolen
cows and offers a female with its bull as a reward.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: After the reward is doubled, the old man says the herds are beneath the hills.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Mercury accuses the man of betraying him to himself and turns the man's perjured
breast into hard stone.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The resulting stone is said to be called the Touchstone, and an old disgrace
is attached to it.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Mercury / son of Jupiter / son of Atlas
description: A divine figure who bribes the old man, returns in altered form and
voice, tests him, and transforms him into stone.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the stranger / countryman / old man
description: An old man who receives a cow to keep silent, later accepts a doubled
promised reward and reveals where the herds are.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: briber of a witness
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Mercury asks the stranger to deny seeing the herds and gives him a cow as
reward.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: shape-changing tester
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He returns after feigning departure and changes his form and voice to question
the old man again.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: punisher through transformation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He turns the man's perjured breast into hard stone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: bribed witness
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The old man receives a cow in exchange for denying knowledge of the herds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: perjured betrayer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: After a greater reward is offered, he reveals the location of the herds and
is called treacherous and perjured.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: herds and cows
literal_form: stolen herds, cows, a cow, and a female with its bull
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: stone witness
literal_form: a stone that the old man points to when promising silence
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Touchstone
literal_form: hard stone into which the old man is transformed, later called the
Touchstone
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: hills concealing the herds
literal_form: hills beneath which the herds are located
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Mercury bribes the old man to keep silent
summary: Mercury asks the old man to deny seeing the herds and gives him a cow;
the old man accepts and claims a stone would mention the theft before he would.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Disguised return and doubled reward
summary: Mercury pretends to leave, returns with changed form and voice, and offers
a larger reward if the old man reveals information about the stolen cows.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Betrayal and transformation into Touchstone
summary: The old man identifies the hiding place beneath the hills, and Mercury
accuses him of betraying Mercury to Mercury's own disguised self before turning
him into hard stone.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: shape-changing test of truthfulness
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Mercury changes form and voice to retest the same man about the hidden herds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a clear change of form and voice, but the taxonomy reference
is broad.
- id: motif:2
label: theft of herds concealed by bribed silence
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
basis: The passage repeatedly frames the herds as connected with a theft and shows
Mercury bribing the witness to deny seeing them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The larger narrative context of the theft is outside the provided excerpt;
only the local passage is used.
- id: motif:3
label: punitive metamorphosis into stone
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: After the old man breaks his promise, Mercury transforms his perjured breast
into hard stone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy does not include a specific petrification motif; divine judgment
is inferred from Mercury's punitive action.
- id: motif:4
label: object origin through metamorphosis
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage explains the origin of a stone called the Touchstone from the
transformation of the old man.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly names etiological object-origin
metamorphosis.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3870-3875
quote_or_summary: Mercury takes the stranger aside, asks him to deny seeing the
herds if asked, and gives him a handsome cow as reward.
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: quote
locator: lines 3875-3877
quote_or_summary: "“May that stone first make mention of thy theft;” and he pointed
to a stone."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3877-3883
quote_or_summary: The son of Jupiter feigns departure, returns with changed form
and voice, asks about cows passing that way, and offers a female with its bull
as reward for speaking about the theft.
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 3883-3885
quote_or_summary: After the reward is doubled, the old man says the herds are beneath
the hills, where they actually are.
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 3885-3890
quote_or_summary: The son of Atlas laughs, accuses the man of betraying him to himself,
and turns his perjured breast into hard stone, later called the Touchstone.
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 3910-3916
quote_or_summary: The note explains that commentators debate whether the term refers
to a general touchstone or an individual stone into which Battus was changed;
it also notes an association with infamy or spying.
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: uncertain
notes: The passage clearly supports the literal sequence and figures. Motif labels
are limited by the available taxonomy, which lacks specific petrification or etiological-object
categories. No passage-supported comparison claims were added.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Footnote 82 names Battus, but the figure is labeled primarily from the passage wording as old man/stranger/countryman.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l3870-l3916
passage_sha256=0ed16bc8c01b9c36ec5fed967065bfb5d66d32b7c21dde34839288247208d7d9