batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l6635-l6709
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg-l6635-l6709
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 6635-6709
start: '6635'
end: '6709'
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: '"they are no more two, and their form is twofold"'
summary: Salmacis pretends to leave, hides, watches the youth Hermaphroditus enter
the water, then enters the stream and clings to him against his resistance. She
prays that they never be separated; the gods unite their bodies into a single
twofold form. Hermaphroditus asks his parents that any man entering the stream
become half male, and the parents alter the fountain accordingly.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Salmacis tells the stranger she gives up the spot, then hides in shrubs and
watches him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The youth enters the water, tests it with his feet, removes his garments,
and swims in the clear stream.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Salmacis is described as burning with desire for the youth's naked beauty.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Salmacis throws aside her garments, plunges into the water, seizes the resisting
youth, kisses and touches him against his will, and clings to him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Her clinging is compared to a serpent holding fast to a bird, ivy winding
around tree trunks, and a polypus holding its enemy under water.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Salmacis prays that no time separate him from her or her from him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The deities answer the prayer by uniting the two mingled bodies into one human
shape.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The resulting form is described as neither woman nor boy, and as both.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: Hermaphroditus asks his father and mother that any man entering the streams
leave half a man and become effeminate in the waters.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Both parents assent and taint the fountain with drugs of ambiguous quality.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Salmacis
description: A Naiad or Nymph who desires Hermaphroditus, enters the water, seizes
him, clings to him, and prays that they not be separated.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Hermaphroditus
description: The youth called the descendant of Atlas and later the two-shaped son;
he resists Salmacis, is united with her into one form, and petitions his parents
about the stream.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: propitious Deities
description: Deities who answer Salmacis' prayer by uniting the mingled bodies.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: father and mother of Hermaphroditus
description: The parents addressed by Hermaphroditus, who assent and alter the fountain.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: desiring pursuer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Salmacis burns with desire, enters the water, seizes the resisting youth,
and clings to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: petitioner for inseparable union
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Salmacis asks the gods to let no time separate the two.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: resisting youth
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The youth is repeatedly described as resisting and desiring to escape Salmacis.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: transformed two-shaped son
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: After the union, he is described as no longer fully male and as the two-shaped
son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: divine responders
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The deities are said to find Salmacis' prayers propitious and unite the bodies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: parental grantors
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Both parents are moved, assent to their son's words, and alter the fountain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: transforming water
literal_form: limpid waters, stream, fountain
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: serpent image of constricting embrace
literal_form: a serpent held by a royal bird that holds fast the bird's head and
feet and enfolds its wings with its tail
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: entwined plant image
literal_form: ivy winding along tall tree trunks and branches joining beneath a
common bark
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: ambiguous drugs in the fountain
literal_form: drugs of ambiguous quality used to taint the fountain
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Salmacis watches Hermaphroditus enter the stream
summary: Salmacis pretends to leave, hides in shrubs, and watches the youth test
and enter the waters; she is described as intensely desiring him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Salmacis seizes and clings to the resisting youth
summary: Salmacis enters the water, grasps the youth against his will, and clings
to him while the narration compares the embrace to a serpent, ivy, and a polypus.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Prayer and bodily union
summary: Salmacis prays that she and the youth never be separated; the deities answer
by making the two bodies one twofold form.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Hermaphroditus' petition about the fountain
summary: Hermaphroditus asks his parents that men entering the stream become half
male; the parents assent and alter the fountain with ambiguous drugs.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: inseparable bodily union of two persons into one form
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
basis: Salmacis prays for permanent inseparability, and the two bodies are united
into one twofold human shape.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy label is applied to the described union; the passage does
not use the abstract term.
- id: motif:2
label: transformation through entering enchanted water
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Hermaphroditus says the waters made him half male and asks that future men
entering the stream be similarly changed; his parents taint the fountain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The transformation is caused by water and divine alteration, not by voluntary
shape-shifting.
- id: motif:3
label: divine granting of a transformative petition
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The deities grant Salmacis' prayer for union, and Hermaphroditus' parents
grant his request concerning the stream.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No more specific supplied taxonomy reference is directly named for this
pattern.
- id: motif:4
label: clinging or binding embrace figured through serpent and plant imagery
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: The resisting embrace is described through images of a serpent enfolding
a bird and ivy winding around tree trunks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The serpent and ivy are similes, not literal beings or objects in the
action.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6635-6656
quote_or_summary: Salmacis claims to yield the place, hides in shrubs, watches the
youth enter the pleasant waters, and is inflamed by his naked beauty.
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 6657-6680
quote_or_summary: Salmacis enters the water, seizes the resisting youth, kisses
and touches him against his will, and clings to him; the passage compares the
clinging to a serpent, ivy on trees, and a polypus.
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 6681-6691
quote_or_summary: Salmacis prays that no time separate them; the prayer is answered,
their bodies are united, and "they are no more two, and their form is twofold."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 6692-6700
quote_or_summary: Hermaphroditus says the waters made him half male and asks his
father and mother that any man entering them leave half a man; both parents assent
and taint the fountain with ambiguous drugs.
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 main figures, actions, and water-transformation pattern are explicit.
Motif-family mapping is cautious where the supplied taxonomy does not exactly
name Ovidian metamorphosis or coerced union.
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: |-
Footnotes within the supplied line range were not used because they do not directly describe the Salmacis and Hermaphroditus episode in this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-1-7-riley-gutenberg__l6635-l6709
passage_sha256=c31747575c6677453f0501d28298b6408eeba76ddf549d5b2971e40771992ed5