batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l4054-l4143
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l4054-l4143
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 4054-4143
start: '4054'
end: '4143'
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 explanatory note frames the episode as a tradition about Mercury, Herse,
and Aglauros. In the fable, Pallas/Minerva commands Envy to infect Aglauros with
jealousy toward Herse. Envy enters Aglauros’ chamber and fills her with poison,
thorns, and thoughts of Herse’s fortunate union with the god. Aglauros blocks
Mercury at the threshold of Herse’s apartment, and Mercury causes her to become
an immobile, bloodless stone statue.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The explanatory note says that Cicero reported several ancient persons named
Mercury and presents the story as built on ordinary jealousy involving Herse and
Aglauros.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Pallas/Minerva commands Envy to infect Aglauros, one of the daughters of Cecrops,
with poison.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: Envy is found eating the flesh of vipers and is described with pallor, leanness,
blackened teeth, green gall, and a venom-dripping tongue.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Envy carries a thorn-wreathed staff, travels veiled in black clouds, damages
fields and flowers, and pollutes nations, cities, and houses with her breath.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Envy touches Aglauros’ breast, fills her heart with jagged thorns, breathes
venom into her, and spreads black poison through her body.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Envy keeps Herse, Herse’s fortunate marriage, and the god’s beautiful appearance
before Aglauros’ eyes.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Aglauros is tormented day and night by secret grief and burns at Herse’s good
fortune.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Aglauros sits at the threshold to keep Mercury from entering and says she
will not move until he is repulsed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Mercury opens the carved door with his wand after Aglauros refuses to move.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Aglauros becomes unable to rise, grows stiff and cold, loses blood and breath,
and becomes a bloodless stone statue stained by her mind.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Pallas / Minerva / Tritonia
description: A female warrior goddess, armed with spear and splendid arms, who commands
Envy to infect Aglauros.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Envy
description: A personified figure found eating vipers, marked by pallor, venom,
gall, sleeplessness, and sorrow at others’ successes; she obeys Minerva’s command.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Aglauros
description: A daughter of Cecrops who is infected with jealousy, blocks Mercury
at the threshold, and is transformed into a stone statue.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Herse
description: A sister of Aglauros whose fortunate marriage and relation to the god
are set before Aglauros’ eyes.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Mercury / Cyllenian God
description: The god associated with Herse who comes to the threshold, speaks kindly
to Aglauros, and opens the carved door with his wand.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Cecrops
description: King of Athens and father of Herse and Aglauros in the explanatory
note and fable summary.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: commanding goddess
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Pallas/Minerva gives Envy the order to infect Aglauros.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: personified infecting force
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Envy carries out the divine command by touching, breathing poison into, and
mentally tormenting Aglauros.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: jealous sister
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Aglauros is made to fixate on Herse’s good fortune and is described as burning
at it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: transformed obstructer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Aglauros blocks Mercury at the threshold and then becomes an immobile stone
statue.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: favored sister
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Herse’s fortunate marriage and the god’s beautiful appearance are presented
as the objects that aggravate Aglauros’ jealousy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: divine suitor or beloved figure
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The note and episode associate Mercury with love for Herse and with access
to Herse’s apartment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: punishing transformer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The fable summary states that Mercury changes Aglauros into a statue after
she opposes his passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: royal father
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Cecrops is named as king of Athens and father of Herse; Aglauros is one of
his daughters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: vipers and serpents
literal_form: Vipers and serpents whose flesh Envy eats and leaves half-devoured.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: venom and poison
literal_form: Venom dripping from Envy’s tongue and black poison breathed into Aglauros’
body.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: thorn-wreathed staff and jagged thorns
literal_form: A staff surrounded by thorns and jagged thorns placed in Aglauros’
heart.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: threshold
literal_form: The front of the threshold where Aglauros sits to exclude Mercury.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: wand
literal_form: Mercury’s wand with which he opens the carved door.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: stone statue
literal_form: A bloodless stone statue into which Aglauros becomes fixed.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:7
label: fire beneath thorny reeds
literal_form: A simile comparing Aglauros’ jealousy to fire placed beneath thorny
reeds that burn without open flame.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Pallas visits Envy
summary: Pallas stands outside Envy’s abode, strikes the door-posts with her spear,
sees Envy eating vipers, and gives her a command.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Envy travels to Athens
summary: Envy departs with her thorn-wreathed staff and black clouds, damaging fields
and polluting places before reaching the Tritonian citadel.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Aglauros is infected
summary: Envy enters Aglauros’ chamber, touches her breast, fills her heart with
thorns, breathes venom into her, and fixes Herse’s fortunate condition before
her mind.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Aglauros blocks Mercury
summary: Aglauros sits at the threshold to exclude Mercury, refuses to move despite
kind speech, and Mercury opens the door with his wand.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Aglauros becomes stone
summary: Aglauros’ body stiffens and chills, her breath and voice fail, and she
becomes a bloodless stone statue.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: personified envy infects a human heart
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Envy is treated as an acting figure who physically and breathlessly implants
poison, thorns, and jealousy into Aglauros.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level pattern rather than a supplied taxonomy family.
- id: motif:2
label: divine punishment by petrification
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The fable summary says Mercury changes Aglauros into a statue because she
opposes his passage, and the narrative describes her becoming stone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The detailed narrative emphasizes the physical process of petrification;
the explicit causal framing comes from the fable summary.
- id: motif:3
label: jealous sibling obstructs divine union
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
- divine_beloved
basis: Aglauros’ jealousy centers on her sister Herse’s fortunate marriage and the
god, and she blocks Mercury from reaching Herse’s apartment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents Herse primarily as the object of Aglauros’ jealousy;
it does not narrate Herse’s own perspective.
- id: motif:4
label: transformation into inert form
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Aglauros undergoes a bodily metamorphosis into stone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: low
cautions: The supplied taxonomy term 'shapeshifter' only loosely fits because the
change is imposed, not voluntary shape-shifting.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4054-4061
quote_or_summary: The explanation cites Cicero on multiple ancient Mercuries and
says the tradition likely grew from a story of Mercury loving Herse and Aglauros
becoming jealous.
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 4070-4084
quote_or_summary: Pallas reaches Envy’s abode, opens the doors by striking the posts,
and sees Envy eating viper flesh; Envy is described as pale, lean, black-toothed,
green with gall, venom-tongued, sleepless, and pained by others’ success.
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: lines 4084-4088
quote_or_summary: "“Infect one of the daughters of Cecrops with thy poison; there
is occasion so {to do}; Aglauros is she.”"
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: lines 4090-4099
quote_or_summary: Envy leaves with a thorn-wreathed staff, veiled in black clouds;
she tramples blooming fields, burns grass, crops flowers, pollutes places with
her breath, and reaches the flourishing Tritonian citadel.
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 4099-4105
quote_or_summary: Envy enters Aglauros’ chamber, touches her breast with a rust-stained
hand, fills her heart with jagged thorns, breathes venom into her, and spreads
black poison through her bones and lungs.
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 4106-4117
quote_or_summary: Envy places Herse, Herse’s fortunate marriage, and the beautiful
god before Aglauros; Aglauros is tormented day and night and burns at Herse’s
good fortune like fire under thorny reeds.
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 4117-4126
quote_or_summary: Aglauros sits at the threshold to keep the god out; after she
refuses to move until he is repulsed, the Cyllenian god accepts the condition
and opens the carved door with his wand.
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: summary
locator: lines 4126-4138
quote_or_summary: Aglauros cannot rise; her joints stiffen, chill and pallor spread,
breath and voice fail, and she becomes a hard, bloodless stone statue stained
by her mind.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 4063-4068
quote_or_summary: The fable summary states that Aglauros obstinately opposes Mercury’s
passage to Herse’s apartment and that the god changes her into a statue.
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: Extraction is based on a self-contained public-domain passage. Motif-family
assignment is cautious where the available taxonomy only partially matches the
episode.
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 itself does not make an explicit cross-traditional comparison beyond the explanatory rationalization of the episode.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l4054-l4143
passage_sha256=d45bfa06bf913596fb973ca64cb377e1f35b2124e025c1553197b0e01a2ee090