batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l5965-l6001
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l5965-l6001
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE ELEVENTH. / EXPLANATION.; lines 5965-6001
start: '5965'
end: '6001'
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: Midas, tormented by the gold he had desired, asks Bacchus for pardon and
release. Bacchus annuls the granted favor and orders him to go to the river near
Sardis, find its spring, and plunge his head beneath it to purge his body and
crime. The king obeys; the golden quality passes from his body into the stream,
explaining the gold-bearing fields and river region.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The king is described as both rich and wretched and as hating the wealth he
had recently wished for.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The king suffers hunger and thirst despite plenty and is tormented by gold.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The king raises his hands toward heaven and asks father Lenæus for pardon,
pity, and deliverance from his calamity.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Bacchus restores the king to his former state after the king confesses wrongdoing
and annuls the promise and favor previously granted.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Bacchus instructs the king to go to the river near Sardis, follow the water
to its source, and plunge his head beneath the bubbling spring.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The prescribed immersion is said to purge both the king's body and his crime.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: When the king places himself beneath the waters, the golden quality tints
the river and leaves the human body for the stream.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The fields are described as receiving the ore of an ancient vein of gold and
as growing pallid and hard from imbibing gold from their clods.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: A footnote identifies Midas as the Berecynthian hero and connects him with
Mount Berecynthus in Phrygia.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: A footnote states that Sardis was the capital of Lydia and that the river
Pactolus flowed through it.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Midas / the king
description: A king, identified in the footnote as Midas, who suffers from the gold
he desired and seeks release from Bacchus.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Bacchus / father Lenæus
description: A gentle divinity among the gods who grants pardon, annuls the favor,
restores the king, and prescribes the river purification.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: afflicted king
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage describes him as rich and wretched, tormented by hated gold,
hunger, and thirst.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: penitent petitioner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He raises his hands toward heaven, admits wrongdoing, and asks for pardon
and deliverance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: divine restorer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Bacchus restores the king to his former state and annuls the granted favor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: purification instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Bacchus directs the king to the river source and tells him to plunge beneath
the spring to purge body and crime.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hated gold
literal_form: gold, shining arms, golden virtue, ore in river-fields
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: purging waters
literal_form: river near Sardis, falling waters, bubbling spring, stream
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: sym:3
label: mountain height
literal_form: height of the mountain from which the waters fall
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: raised hands toward heaven
literal_form: gesture of raising hands toward heaven during petition
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: Sardis and Pactolus region
literal_form: river adjoining Sardis; footnote identifies the Pactolus as flowing
through Sardis
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Torment by desired gold
summary: The king suffers from the wealth he had wished for, experiencing hunger,
thirst, and distress amid gold.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Petition to Bacchus
summary: The king raises his hands toward heaven and asks father Lenæus for pardon
and deliverance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Divine annulment and water prescription
summary: Bacchus restores the king, annuls the prior favor, and instructs him to
purge himself at the river source near Sardis.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Transfer of gold into the river
summary: The king enters the prescribed waters; the golden quality leaves his body
and passes into the stream, accounting for gold-bearing fields.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: destructive fulfillment of a desired gift
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- sacred_exchange
basis: The king's desired favor becomes a calamity that causes hunger, thirst, and
torment, and the god later annuls the favor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage assumes the earlier granting of the favor but only summarizes
its annulment here.
- id: motif:2
label: penitent appeal to a god for release
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The king admits wrongdoing and asks Bacchus for pardon, pity, and deliverance
from the calamity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the suffering as deserved but does not present a formal
divine trial.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual-like purification in spring or river
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Bacchus tells the king to plunge beneath the bubbling spring to purge his
body and crime, and the king obeys.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No explicit institutional ritual name is given in the passage.
- id: motif:4
label: origin explanation for gold-bearing river or fields
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The golden quality passes from the king into the river, and the fields are
described as imbibing gold from the ancient vein.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is an etiological reading of the passage's own explanatory statement.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5965-5971
quote_or_summary: The king is astonished at his misfortune, is both rich and wretched,
hates the wealth he had wished for, and suffers hunger, thirst, and torment from
hated gold.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 5971-5975
quote_or_summary: "“Grant me pardon, father Lenæus; I have done wrong, but have
pity on me, I pray, and deliver me from this specious calamity!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 5975-5978
quote_or_summary: Bacchus, called a gentle divinity, restores the king after his
confession and annuls the given promise and favor.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 5978-5985
quote_or_summary: Bacchus orders him to go to the river adjoining Sardis, follow
the waters from the mountain to the stream's rise, and plunge beneath the bubbling
spring to purge body and crime.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 5985-5988
quote_or_summary: The king places himself beneath the prescribed waters; the golden
virtue tints the river and departs from the human body into the stream.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 5988-5991
quote_or_summary: The fields are said to receive ore from an ancient vein of gold
and to grow hard and pallid from imbibing gold.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: Footnote 9, lines 5998-6000
quote_or_summary: The footnote says Midas is called the Berecynthian hero from Mount
Berecynthus in Phrygia.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: Footnote 10, lines 6000-6001
quote_or_summary: The footnote says Sardis was the capital of Lydia and that the
river Pactolus flowed through it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is direct from the supplied passage. Motif labels are
candidate-level and require review, especially taxonomy assignment for divine
judgment and sacred exchange.
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 added because the passage does not itself compare this episode with another tradition or motif family beyond the available extraction taxonomy.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg__l5965-l6001
passage_sha256=7a2d0e96b6762f0a42a3954e07a0df6756186c5ea8dd5699f2593812fcffd42f