batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l8860-l8963
---
record_id: batch.motif.roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg-l8860-l8963
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
passage_locator:
label: EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE THIRTEENTH.; lines
8860-8963
start: '8860'
end: '8963'
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: "“Troy, farewell!” the Trojan women cry;-- “We are torn away!”"
summary: A warrior kills himself with a sword; his blood reddens the earth and a
purple flower grows there with letters on its leaves. Ulysses retrieves the arrows
of the Tirynthian hero, after which the Trojan war ends with the fall of Troy
and Priam. Hecuba loses human form and barks. Troy burns; Priam’s blood is at
Jove’s altar; a priestess of Apollo and Trojan women are dragged away; Astyanax
is hurled from the towers. The Trojan women depart from their ruined homeland,
and Hecuba mourns at her children’s tombs, carrying Hector’s ashes and leaving
hair and tears on his tomb. Polymnestor, entrusted with Polydorus and riches,
kills the fosterchild for gain and throws the body into the waters below.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A warrior plunges a fatal sword into his own exposed breast, and the blood
forces the fixed weapon out.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The earth, reddened by the warrior’s blood, produces a purple flower from
the green turf with letters inscribed in the leaves.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Ulysses sails to bring back the arrows, described as weapons of the Tirynthian
hero, and returns them to the Greeks with their owner present.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: After the arrows are brought back, the long war reaches its end, and Troy
and Priam fall together.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Priam’s wife loses her human form and alarms a foreign air with barkings.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Ilion burns; Priam’s blood is received at Jove’s altar; a priestess of Apollo
is dragged by the hair; Dardanian matrons cling to statues and burning temples
as the victorious Greeks drag them away.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Astyanax is hurled from the towers from which he had watched his father fighting.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The Trojan women say farewell, kiss the soil, and leave the smoking roofs
of their country when the wind favors departure.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Hecuba is dragged from her children’s sepulchres while clinging to tombs,
carries Hector’s ashes in her bosom, and leaves her grey hair and tears on Hector’s
tomb.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Polymnestor, entrusted with Polydorus and riches, kills the fosterchild with
a sword and throws his lifeless body from a rock into the waters below.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: self-wounding hero
description: The warrior who plunges a fatal sword into his breast and whose blood
produces a purple flower.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ulysses
description: The conqueror who sails to retrieve the arrows and brings them back
to the Greeks.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Tirynthian hero
description: The hero whose arrows are described as weapons needed by the Greeks;
the note identifies these as the arrows of Hercules.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: owner of the arrows
description: The owner of the arrows who attends when the weapons are carried back
to the Greeks; the note identifies him as the son of Poeas.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Priam
description: The Trojan king who falls with Troy and whose blood is at Jove’s altar.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Priam’s wife / Hecuba
description: The wife of Priam who loses human form, later is found among her children’s
sepulchres and mourns Hector with ashes, hair, and tears.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: priestess of Apollo
description: A priestess dragged by the hair, extending her hands toward the heavens.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Dardanian matrons / Trojan women
description: Trojan women dragged away by the victorious Greeks, clinging to statues
and temples, later saying farewell and kissing the soil as they depart.
role_refs:
- role:8
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Astyanax
description: The child hurled from the towers from which he had watched his father
fight.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Hector
description: The dead Trojan whose ashes Hecuba carries and on whose tomb she leaves
hair and tears.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Boreas
description: The wind who bids the fleet depart with a favorable breeze.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Polymnestor
description: The king entrusted with Polydorus who kills the fosterchild for riches.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Polydorus
description: The fosterchild entrusted to Polymnestor and later killed and thrown
into the waters.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: victorious Greeks
description: The Greeks who drag away the Dardanian matrons after the fall of Troy.
role_refs:
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: self-slain warrior
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He drives a fatal sword into his own breast.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: conqueror and weapon-retriever
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Ulysses is called the conqueror and sails to bring back the arrows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: source of decisive weapons
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The arrows are described as weapons of the Tirynthian hero.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: owner of required arrows
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The weapons are brought back with their owner attending; the note says Troy
could not be taken without the arrows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: fallen Trojan king
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Troy and Priam fall together, and Priam’s blood is at Jove’s altar.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: transformed queen
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Priam’s wife loses human form and barks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: mourning mother
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Hecuba is found among her children’s sepulchres, carries Hector’s ashes,
and leaves hair and tears.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: captive woman
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: The priestess and Trojan women are dragged away by the Greeks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:9
label: exiled Trojan women
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They say farewell to Troy, kiss the soil, and leave the smoking roofs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: royal child killed from tower
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Astyanax is hurled from the towers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:11
label: dead son honored at tomb
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Hecuba carries Hector’s ashes and leaves hair and tears on Hector’s tomb.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:12
label: wind enabling departure
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Boreas bids them depart and provides a favorable breeze.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:13
label: treacherous guardian
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Polymnestor was entrusted with Polydorus but kills him after receiving riches.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:14
label: murdered fosterchild
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: Polydorus is the fosterchild killed by the king and cast into the waters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:15
label: victorious captors
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: The Greeks are victorious and drag along Dardanian matrons.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fatal sword
literal_form: A sword fixed in the breast of the self-wounding hero.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: purple flower from blood
literal_form: A purple flower produced from earth reddened by blood, with letters
inscribed in the leaves.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: arrows of the Tirynthian hero
literal_form: Arrows and weapons brought back by Ulysses to the Greeks.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: burning Troy
literal_form: Ilion in flames and the smoking roofs of the Trojan homeland.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: altar of Jove
literal_form: The altar of Jove that has received Priam’s blood.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: statues and burning temples
literal_form: Statues of the country’s gods and burning temples embraced by Dardanian
matrons.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: Hector’s ashes and tomb offering
literal_form: Hector’s ashes carried in Hecuba’s bosom, with grey hair and tears
left on his tomb.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: waters below
literal_form: Waters below the rock into which Polydorus’s lifeless body is hurled.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:9
label: favorable wind
literal_form: Boreas and the breeze that causes the sails to resound and urges departure.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Self-wounding and blood-born flower
summary: A warrior kills himself with a sword, and his blood reddens the earth,
producing a purple flower with inscribed letters.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Retrieval of the decisive arrows
summary: Ulysses sails to bring back the arrows of the Tirynthian hero, returns
with their owner, and the long Trojan war reaches its end.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Fall and burning of Troy
summary: Troy and Priam fall; Ilion burns; Priam’s blood is at Jove’s altar; a priestess
and Dardanian matrons are dragged away; Astyanax is hurled from the towers.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Departure and mourning of Trojan women
summary: Boreas favors departure; Trojan women say farewell, kiss the soil, and
leave Troy. Hecuba is taken from the tombs while carrying Hector’s ashes and leaving
hair and tears on his tomb.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:8
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:7
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Murder of Polydorus
summary: Polymnestor, entrusted with Polydorus and riches, kills his fosterchild
with a sword and casts the body from a rock into the waters below.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: blood-born flower after heroic death
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The hero’s death and blood lead to a new purple flower from the earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage shows floral generation from blood, not the personal resurrection
of the dead warrior.
- id: motif:2
label: posthumous inscribed flower of lament
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The flower produced from blood bears letters connected both to the youth
and to the hero, including a lamentation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not fully explain the letters beyond their connection
to names and lamentation.
- id: motif:3
label: decisive hero-weapon retrieved to end a war
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: Ulysses brings back the arrows of the Tirynthian hero; after their return,
the protracted war is brought to conclusion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives the sequence and the note states the necessity of the
arrows, but it does not narrate the weapon’s use in battle here.
- id: motif:4
label: human-to-animal transformation after catastrophe
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Priam’s wife loses human form and barks after Troy and Priam fall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The exact animal is implied by barkings but not named in this excerpt.
- id: motif:5
label: fall of the city with royal blood, captive women, and child-killing
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage combines burning Ilion, Priam’s blood, captive women dragged
from temples, and Astyanax hurled from the towers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No single supplied taxonomy family exactly covers this cluster.
- id: motif:6
label: forced departure from destroyed homeland
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The Trojan women are compelled to leave, say farewell, kiss the soil, and
abandon the smoking roofs of Troy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The departure is coerced exile after defeat rather than a voluntary quest
departure.
- id: motif:7
label: mourning at tomb with hair, tears, and ashes
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Hecuba carries Hector’s ashes and leaves her grey hair and tears on Hector’s
tomb as an humble offering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The offering is funerary and symbolic; it is not a killing-sacrifice.
- id: motif:8
label: treacherous guardian kills entrusted child for wealth
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Polymnestor, entrusted with Polydorus and riches, kills the fosterchild when
Trojan fortunes collapse and throws the body into the waters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches the guardian-betrayal pattern.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the purple flower grown from this hero’s
blood with a flower formerly produced from an Oebalian wound, indicating a repeated
flower-from-wound motif within the same narrative tradition.
claim_level: same_motif
target: earlier Oebalian wound flower episode mentioned in the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The excerpt names the prior wound only indirectly and does not recount
the earlier episode in detail.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 8860-8866
quote_or_summary: The hero plunges a fatal sword into his breast; his blood forces
the weapon out; the reddened earth produces a purple flower with letters in the
leaves, like a former flower from an Oebalian wound.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 8868-8874
quote_or_summary: Ulysses sails to retrieve the arrows, weapons of the Tirynthian
hero; when they return with their owner, the long war ends, Troy and Priam fall,
and Priam’s wife loses human form and barks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 8875-8883
quote_or_summary: Ilion is in flames; Jove’s altar has Priam’s blood; a priestess
of Apollo is dragged by the hair; Greeks drag away Dardanian matrons clinging
to divine statues and burning temples; Astyanax is hurled from the towers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 8885-8894
quote_or_summary: "“Troy, farewell!” the Trojan women cry; they kiss the soil and
depart. Hecuba is dragged from her children’s sepulchres, carries Hector’s ashes,
and leaves grey hair and tears on Hector’s tomb."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation plus summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 8895-8904
quote_or_summary: Polymnestor was entrusted with Polydorus and riches; after the
Phrygians’ ruin, he kills the fosterchild with a sword and throws the lifeless
body from a rock into the waters below.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: footnote 11 within supplied passage
quote_or_summary: The note identifies the son of Poeas as possessor of the arrows
of Hercules, without whose presence Troy could not be taken.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/roman/project-gutenberg/metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is based on the supplied passage. Some motif labels use
broad taxonomy families and should be reviewed, especially death_rebirth, return,
and sacrifice.
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 supplied passage and metadata were used. Names not explicit in the main narrative were avoided or qualified, except where a supplied footnote identifies a figure.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:roman-ovid-metamorphoses-books-8-15-riley-gutenberg__l8860-l8963
passage_sha256=b210bfffbff1e4501b30ec473670374aabf0370e4f71d88d848a934024cf3a0a