batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l320-l388
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l320-l388
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
passage_locator:
label: The Odyssey / PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION / S. BUTLER. / PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION;
lines 320-388
start: '320'
end: '388'
translation: The Odyssey
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage is a preface to the second edition describing the publication
history and editorial handling of Butler’s Odyssey translation, then discusses
a quoted Odyssey simile in which Ulysses restrains his heart, turns restlessly
like someone cooking a paunch before a fire, and thinks how to kill the suitors.
It closes with thanks to assistants who helped check quotations and references.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The preface states that Butler’s translation of the Odyssey first appeared
in 1900 and The Authoress of the Odyssey in 1897.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The new editions are described as faithful reprints, with page-size reduction,
smaller type, minor rearrangements, corrected misprints, and no attempt to update
the books.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage notes changes to the index, headlines, shoulder-notes, illustrations,
and the plan of the House of Ulysses.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: A quoted Odyssey passage presents Ulysses chiding his heart, checking it into
endurance, and tossing from side to side.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The quoted simile compares Ulysses’ motion to a person turning a paunch full
of blood and fat before a hot fire so it will cook quickly.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: In the quoted passage Ulysses thinks about how he, alone, might contrive to
kill the wicked suitors, who are described as a large body of men.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The preface contrasts Butler’s earlier statement that the comparison was between
Ulysses and the paunch with the translation’s comparison between Ulysses and a
person turning the paunch.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The preface thanks A. T. Bartholomew and Donald S. Robertson for assistance,
including checking and correcting quotations from and references to the Iliad
and Odyssey.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Samuel Butler
description: Named translator and author whose Odyssey translation and The Authoress
of the Odyssey are discussed.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ulysses
description: Hero in the quoted Odyssey passage who restrains his heart, tosses
restlessly, and thinks about killing the suitors.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: wicked suitors
description: A large body of men whom Ulysses considers killing single-handedly
in the quoted passage.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: person turning the paunch
description: 'The figure used in the simile: someone turning a paunch full of blood
and fat before a hot fire.'
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: A. T. Bartholomew and Donald S. Robertson
description: Named assistants thanked for helping see the works through the press
and for checking references and quotations.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: translator and discussed author
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage identifies Butler’s translation and related book, and discusses
changes between his works.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: enduring hero and solitary planner
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Ulysses checks his heart into endurance and thinks how he might act single-handedly
against many suitors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: opposing suitors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The suitors are the large group of men whom Ulysses thinks about killing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: simile figure
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The person turning the paunch supplies the image used to describe Ulysses’
motion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: editorial assistants and reference checkers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage thanks these men for assistance, care, skill, and checking references
and quotations.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hot fire
literal_form: Fire used for cooking a paunch in the quoted simile.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: paunch full of blood and fat
literal_form: A paunch full of blood and fat being turned before a hot fire in the
simile.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: plan of the House of Ulysses
literal_form: An illustration or plan mentioned as needing reduction in the new
edition.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Second-edition editorial account
summary: The preface describes the publication history of Butler’s works and the
editorial changes made for the new editions.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Ulysses’ restless endurance and planning
summary: In the quoted Odyssey passage, Ulysses restrains his heart, turns restlessly
like someone cooking a paunch before a hot fire, and considers how to kill the
suitors alone.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Editorial comparison of two simile readings
summary: The preface explains that Butler’s earlier comment treated the comparison
as Ulysses to a paunch, while the translation presents Ulysses as like the person
turning the paunch.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Acknowledgment of scholarly assistance
summary: The preface thanks Bartholomew and Robertson for assistance, especially
checking quotations and references to the Iliad and Odyssey.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hero restrains the heart before revenge against many opponents
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The quoted passage shows Ulysses checking his heart into endurance while
thinking how, alone, he might kill the many suitors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is a preface quoting a short Odyssey excerpt; it does not
narrate the full revenge episode.
- id: motif:2
label: culinary fire simile for restless inner tension
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ulysses’ tossing is compared to a person turning a blood-and-fat paunch before
a hot fire to cook it quickly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a literary simile rather than a full narrative motif.
- id: motif:3
label: single hero against a large hostile group
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ulysses is described as single-handed while considering action against a
large body of wicked suitors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage only states Ulysses’ contemplated action, not the outcome.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The preface compares two formulations of the same simile: an earlier reading
in which Ulysses is compared to a paunch and the translation’s wording in which
Ulysses is compared to the person turning the paunch.'
claim_level: linguistic_similarity
target: Butler’s The Authoress of the Odyssey statement versus Butler’s Odyssey
translation wording
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an editorial and literary comparison internal to Butler’s works,
not evidence of historical contact or a broader mythological motif family.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 320-329
quote_or_summary: The passage dates Butler’s Odyssey translation to 1900 and The
Authoress of the Odyssey to 1897, and introduces the second-edition preface.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 330-338
quote_or_summary: The preface says the page size was reduced, smaller type was used,
references were preserved, minor alterations were made, and the editions were
not otherwise updated.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 340-353
quote_or_summary: The passage lists revisions to the index, headlines, shoulder-notes,
illustration layout, and reduced plan of the House of Ulysses.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 354-368
quote_or_summary: Ulysses checks his heart into endurance, tosses like one turning
a paunch before a hot fire, and thinks how he might single-handedly kill the wicked
suitors.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summarized quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 369-374
quote_or_summary: 'The preface says Butler may have changed his mind: the earlier
comparison was between Ulysses and the paunch, while the translation compares
Ulysses to the person turning it.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 375-388
quote_or_summary: The preface thanks A. T. Bartholomew and Donald S. Robertson,
noting Robertson checked and corrected quotations from and references to the Iliad
and Odyssey.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The editorial and bibliographic material is straightforward. Motif candidates
are limited because the passage contains only a quoted excerpt from the Odyssey
embedded in a preface.
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. Taxonomy reference applied only to the explicit fire image.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg__l320-l388
passage_sha256=c470bee21da40209ba24513e0ca7c764502607a27fd6417bbf175bf3edf334bd