batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l5797-l5875
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l5797-l5875
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE ELEVENTH.; lines 5797-5875
start: '5797'
end: '5875'
translation: The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Lyæus punishes the Edonian matrons for killing the bard of his sacred rites
by fixing them in the woods with roots. Their toes and feet are driven into the
earth, and their bodies change into oak, with arms resembling boughs. Footnotes
identify related details about Orpheus and explanatory translation notes.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Lyæus grieves for the loss of the bard of his sacred rites and does not allow
the matrons' crime to go unpunished.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Edonian matrons who committed the crime are fastened in the woods by a
twisting or pliant root.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The toes of each matron are drawn out and thrust into the solid earth, fixing
her in place.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A trapped-bird simile describes the matrons' vain attempts to escape as making
their confinement more evident.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: As a matron looks at her toes, feet, and nails, she sees wood growing up over
her legs.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The matron's thigh, breast, shoulders, and extended arms become oak or bough-like
wood.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: A footnote states that the limbs of Orpheus were collected by the Muses and
buried in Macedonia, while his head was carried to Lesbos.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Lyæus
description: A divine figure who grieves for the lost bard of his rites and punishes
the Edonian matrons.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Edonian matrons
description: Women who committed the crime against the bard and are transformed
into oak after being fixed in the earth.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: bard of Lyæus's sacred rites
description: The lost bard whose death or loss causes Lyæus to grieve; a footnote
identifies Orpheus in connection with the scattered limbs.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Muses
description: In a footnote, they collect Orpheus's limbs and bury them in Dium in
Macedonia.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: punishing divine avenger
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Lyæus punishes the matrons for the crime and for the loss of the bard of
his sacred rites.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: perpetrators of the crime
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage says the Edonian matrons committed the crime.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: transformed victims of punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: They are fixed into the earth and their bodies become oak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: slain or lost sacred bard
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Lyæus grieves for the loss of the bard; the footnote refers to Orpheus's
scattered limbs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: burial agents in explanatory note
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The footnote says the Muses collected and buried Orpheus's limbs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: root
literal_form: twisting or pliant root fastening the matrons to the ground
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: oak
literal_form: solid oak replacing the matron's thigh, breast, shoulders, and arms
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: woods
literal_form: wooded setting where the punishment occurs
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: snared bird simile
literal_form: bird caught by the leg in a concealed snare
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Divine punishment in the woods
summary: Lyæus, grieving for the bard of his rites, punishes the Edonian matrons
by fastening them in the woods with roots.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Failed flight and entrapment
summary: The matrons attempt to flee after being fixed in the earth, but the pliant
root holds them fast; the passage compares them to a bird caught in a snare.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Transformation into oak
summary: A matron sees wood growing over her legs, and her thigh, breast, shoulders,
and arms become oak or boughs.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Explanatory note on Orpheus's remains
summary: A footnote states that Orpheus's limbs were collected by the Muses and
buried in Macedonia, while his head was carried to Lesbos.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine punishment for sacrilegious violence
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Lyæus punishes the Edonian matrons for the crime committed against the bard
of his sacred rites.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage emphasizes punishment, but the broader circumstances of the
crime are outside this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: human transformed into tree
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The matrons' bodies become oak, including legs, breast, shoulders, and bough-like
arms.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy label 'shapeshifter' is used only as an available broad family
for bodily transformation; the women do not voluntarily change shape.
- id: motif:3
label: rooted immobility before transformation
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
basis: The matrons are fixed to the ground by roots before their bodies become oak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a passage-level symbolic pattern rather than a named taxonomy
motif family.
- id: motif:4
label: dismembered bard and ritual burial in note
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The footnote says Orpheus's limbs were collected by the Muses and buried,
and his head was carried to Lesbos.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This information appears in an explanatory footnote rather than in the
main narrative lines of the excerpt.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5797-5802
quote_or_summary: Lyæus, grieving for the loss of the bard of his sacred rites,
punishes the Edonian matrons who committed the crime by fastening them in the
woods with a twisting root.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 5802-5812
quote_or_summary: The toes of each matron are drawn out and thrust into the earth;
when she tries to flee, the pliant root holds her fast.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 5804-5810
quote_or_summary: The passage compares each fixed matron to a bird whose leg is
caught in a hidden snare and whose fluttering tightens the noose.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 5812-5819
quote_or_summary: A matron sees wood growing over her legs; when she strikes her
thigh she meets solid oak, and her breast, shoulders, and extended arms become
oak or boughs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: footnote 4 within lines 5850-5853
quote_or_summary: The footnote says Orpheus's limbs were collected by the Muses
and buried in Dium in Macedonia, while his head was carried to Lesbos.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:6
type: citation
locator: footnote 7 within lines 5873-5875
quote_or_summary: The translator notes that 'springing forward' renders a term also
translated by Clarke as 'bouncing hard to get away.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief citation/summary supplied.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The main narrative clearly supports divine punishment and tree transformation.
Motif taxonomy mapping is necessarily broad because the available taxonomy does
not include a specific 'human transformed into tree' family. No comparison claims
were added because the passage itself does not make a comparative claim beyond
the internal simile.
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 were treated as part of the provided passage but distinguished from the main narrative where relevant.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg__l5797-l5875
passage_sha256=2268413fcc2f3b0ff561d6efef014e0037677cdeb200d8d689a0d9811f1d8ce2