batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l5945-l6031
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l5945-l6031
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE FOURTH.; lines 5945-6031
start: '5945'
end: '6031'
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: Pyramus and Thisbe, neighboring Babylonian lovers forbidden to marry by
their fathers, communicate through a crack in a shared wall and arrange to meet
at night by Ninus' tomb under a white-fruited mulberry tree near a spring. Thisbe
arrives first, flees a bloody-mouthed lioness into a cave, and drops her veil.
The lioness tears the veil with its blood-stained mouth. Pyramus later finds the
tracks and bloody veil, assumes Thisbe has been killed, and stabs himself beneath
the mulberry tree. His blood darkens the tree's fruit to purple. Thisbe returns,
finds the altered tree and the dying or dead Pyramus, mourns him, embraces the
body, and calls to him.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Pyramus and Thisbe live in adjoining houses in the walled city associated
with Semiramis.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Their fathers forbid them to unite in marriage, although the two remain mutually
in love.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The lovers communicate by nods, signs, and through a small chink in the shared
wall between their houses.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The wall is addressed as an obstacle to their bodies but also as the means
by which their words pass between them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The lovers plan to deceive their keepers, leave the city at night, and meet
at Ninus' tomb under a mulberry tree beside a cold spring.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Thisbe arrives first, sits under the appointed tree, sees a lioness with bloodied
jaws, flees to a dark cave, and leaves her veil behind.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The lioness drinks at the spring and tears the abandoned veil with its blood-stained
mouth.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Pyramus arrives later, sees wild-beast tracks and the blood-stained veil,
and concludes that Thisbe has died.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: Pyramus takes the veil to the appointed tree, kisses it, speaks of giving
his blood, and stabs himself with his sword.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: Pyramus' blood spurts out and stains the mulberry tree, changing its fruit
from white to a dark purple hue.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: Thisbe returns, notices the tree's altered appearance, finds Pyramus on the
bloody ground, embraces him, mingles her tears with his blood, kisses him, and
calls his name.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Pyramus
description: A beautiful youth and lover of Thisbe who lives in an adjoining house,
arranges the secret meeting, misreads the blood-stained veil as evidence of Thisbe's
death, and stabs himself.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Thisbe
description: A maiden preferred before the damsels of the East, lover of Pyramus,
first to reach the meeting place, who flees the lioness and later returns to find
Pyramus.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:11
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fathers of Pyramus and Thisbe
description: The fathers who forbid the lovers' marriage.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Keepers and attendants
description: Household watchers whom the lovers plan to deceive; Thisbe succeeds
in deceiving her attendants when she leaves at night.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Lioness
description: A lioness with foaming, blood-besmeared jaws from the recent slaughter
of oxen, who comes to drink at the spring and tears Thisbe's veil.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: forbidden lovers
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: They love one another and would marry, but their fathers forbid it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: parental forbidders
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The fathers prevent the marriage of Pyramus and Thisbe.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: deceived guardians
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The lovers plan to deceive their keepers, and Thisbe deceives her attendants
while leaving at night.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: first-arriving beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Thisbe reaches the appointed tomb and tree before Pyramus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: mistaken self-killer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Pyramus interprets the bloody veil as evidence of Thisbe's death and stabs
himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:6
label: dangerous animal causing misrecognition
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The lioness frightens Thisbe away and stains or tears her veil, creating
the evidence Pyramus misreads.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: shared wall and chink
literal_form: party-wall with a small chink between adjoining houses
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: smothered fire of love
literal_form: fire image used for the lovers' restrained affection
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Ninus' tomb
literal_form: tomb chosen as the secret meeting place
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: white mulberry tree turned purple
literal_form: lofty mulberry tree with snow-white fruit later darkened by Pyramus'
blood
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:5
label: cold spring
literal_form: spring near the tomb and tree where the lioness comes to drink
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: dark cave
literal_form: cave where Thisbe hides from the lioness
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- cave
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: blood-stained veil
literal_form: Thisbe's veil, dropped in flight and torn by the bloody-mouthed lioness
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:8
label: sword
literal_form: sword with which Pyramus is girt and with which he stabs himself
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:9
label: blood
literal_form: Pyramus' blood that spurts from his wound and stains the fruit and
root of the tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Lovers separated by a wall
summary: Pyramus and Thisbe live next to one another, are forbidden to marry, and
use a small chink in the shared wall to exchange words.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:2
label: Secret night meeting arranged
summary: The lovers decide to evade their watchers, leave the city, and meet under
a mulberry tree by Ninus' tomb and a spring.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Thisbe flees the lioness
summary: Thisbe arrives at the meeting place, sees a bloodied lioness, flees into
a cave, and loses her veil, which the lioness later tears.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Pyramus misreads the veil and dies
summary: Pyramus arrives later, finds tracks and the bloody veil, believes Thisbe
has been killed, and stabs himself beneath the agreed tree.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:5
label: Blood changes the mulberries and Thisbe discovers Pyramus
summary: Pyramus' blood darkens the mulberries; Thisbe returns, notices the altered
tree, finds Pyramus, mourns him, and calls to him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: forbidden lovers separated by family and architecture
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The lovers are barred from marriage by their fathers and can only communicate
through a crack in the wall between their houses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly names this lover-separation pattern.
- id: motif:2
label: secret nocturnal rendezvous outside the city
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The lovers arrange to deceive their keepers, leave their homes and the city
at night, and meet at a tomb under a tree.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The departure is local and romantic rather than a full heroic departure
cycle.
- id: motif:3
label: blood-stained token falsely indicating death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Pyramus finds Thisbe's veil bloodied by the lioness and interprets it as
proof that she has been killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not present the veil as magical; it is a misleading physical
token.
- id: motif:4
label: lover's self-killing after mistaken report or sign of beloved's death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Believing Thisbe dead, Pyramus speaks of guilt, kisses her veil, and stabs
himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: Only Pyramus' death is included in the provided passage; Thisbe's later
action beyond calling to him is outside this excerpt.
- id: motif:5
label: blood etiologically changes a tree's fruit color
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Pyramus' blood stains the mulberry tree and changes its hanging fruit from
white to purple.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy includes 'tree' as a symbol but no specific etiological-transformation
motif family.
- id: motif:6
label: wild beast unintentionally causes tragic misrecognition
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The lioness frightens Thisbe away and tears the veil with bloody jaws, creating
evidence that Pyramus misreads.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The lioness does not directly attack either lover in the provided passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The episode functions as an etiological transformation account explaining
the purple color of mulberries through the blood of a dying lover.
claim_level: same_function
target: etiological natural-color-change pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage supports the etiological function internally, but no external
parallel text is provided for a historical or genealogical comparison.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5945-5950
quote_or_summary: Pyramus and Thisbe are introduced as exceptionally beautiful youths
living in adjoining houses in Semiramis' brick-walled city.
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 5950-5957
quote_or_summary: '"They would have united themselves, too, by the tie of marriage,
but their fathers forbade it"; their affection remains mutually inflamed.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 5957-5965
quote_or_summary: The lovers communicate by nods and signs and discover a small
chink in the party-wall, using it as a passage for their voices.
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 5965-5975
quote_or_summary: Standing on opposite sides of the wall, they address it as an
envious barrier, wish it would allow bodily union or kisses, and acknowledge that
it permits their words to pass.
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 5977-5989
quote_or_summary: The lovers decide to deceive their keepers, leave home and the
city at night, and meet by Ninus' tomb under a snow-white-fruited mulberry near
a cold spring.
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 5989-5999
quote_or_summary: Thisbe goes out in darkness, deceives her attendants, reaches
the tomb, sits under the appointed tree, sees a bloodied lioness by moonlight,
flees to a dark cave, and drops her veil.
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 5999-6004
quote_or_summary: After drinking from the spring, the lioness returns toward the
woods and tears the abandoned thin covering with its blood-stained mouth.
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 6005-6013
quote_or_summary: Pyramus arrives later, sees wild-beast tracks and Thisbe's blood-dyed
veil, grows pale, blames himself, and assumes one night will ruin two lovers.
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 6013-6022
quote_or_summary: Pyramus takes the veil to the agreed tree, weeps over and kisses
it, says it should receive his blood, and plunges his sword into his body.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: quote
locator: lines 6022-6028
quote_or_summary: '"The fruit of the tree, by the sprinkling of the blood, are changed
to a dark tint" and the root tints the hanging mulberries purple.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 6028-6031
quote_or_summary: Thisbe returns, seeks Pyramus, notices the altered tree, sees
his body on bloody ground, embraces him, mingles tears with his blood, kisses
his cold face, and calls to him.
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: medium
notes: The passage is narrative and explicit about figures, actions, objects, and
the color-change etiology. Motif-family taxonomy matches are limited because several
central patterns are not represented in the supplied taxonomy list.
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 provided passage and metadata were used. No claims of historical contact or common inheritance are made.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l5945-l6031
passage_sha256=63a9750b42fcc4e0a4f2cb1bc051d00003dc195f05b904c7c0c09a70aaaf96fe