batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l5610-l5710
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l5610-l5710
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88 / BOOK XII / THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS,
THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.; lines 5610-5710
start: '5610'
end: '5710'
translation: The Odyssey
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Eurylochus urges Ulysses’ hungry crew to slaughter the Sun’s cattle and
promise later offerings. The men kill and eat the cattle while Ulysses sleeps.
Lampetie reports the act to the Sun, who demands vengeance, and Jove promises
to destroy the ship with lightning. Omens appear in the dead cattle. After several
days of feasting, the crew sails; a storm and thunderbolt destroy the ship and
kill the men. Ulysses survives on wreckage, is carried back toward Charybdis,
clings to a fig tree above the whirlpool, and later regains his raft while Scylla
is prevented from seeing him.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Eurylochus advises the hungry men to drive in the best cattle, sacrifice them
to the gods, and later build a temple to the sun-god if they return to Ithaca.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The men approve Eurylochus’ words, drive in the best cattle near the ship,
pray, and kill and prepare the cows as a sacrifice without barley or wine.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Ulysses wakes from deep sleep, smells roast meat, and prays to the gods, saying
they have harmed him by sending sleep while his men acted in his absence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Lampetie reports to the Sun that Ulysses’ crew has killed his cows.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The Sun demands vengeance from Jove and the other gods and threatens to go
to Hades and shine among the dead if he is not compensated for the cows.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Jove tells the Sun to keep shining for gods and mortals and promises to shatter
the crew’s ship with white lightning once they sail.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Ulysses says he learned the divine exchange from Calypso, who heard it from
Mercury.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: 'After Ulysses rebukes the men, signs occur: cattle hides crawl, joints on
spits low like cows, and cooked and raw meat make cow-like sounds.'
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: For six days the men continue driving in the best cows and feasting; on the
seventh day the gale abates and they sail away.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: After the ship leaves the island, Jove raises a black cloud; the sea darkens,
a squall snaps the forestays, the mast falls, and the helmsman is killed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Jove strikes the ship with thunderbolts; the ship is filled with fire and
brimstone, and the men fall into the sea and lose all chance of homecoming.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: Ulysses survives by lashing the mast and keel together with an ox-thong backstay
and riding the wreckage wherever the winds carry him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: Ulysses is carried back toward Charybdis, clings to a fig tree above the whirlpool,
waits for his mast and raft to emerge, drops back to the sea, and rows with his
hands.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:14
text: Ulysses states that the father of gods and men did not let Scylla see him
again; otherwise he would have been lost.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Eurylochus
description: Crew member who gives counsel to the men to slaughter and sacrifice
the cattle rather than starve.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ulysses
description: Narrator and leader whose men kill the cattle while he sleeps; he later
survives the shipwreck and Charybdis.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ulysses’ crew / the men
description: Hungry companions who approve Eurylochus’ counsel, kill and eat the
Sun’s cattle, and later die when the ship is destroyed.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: The Sun’s cattle / cows
description: Fair and goodly cattle belonging to the Sun; the crew kills and eats
them, and their hides and meat later show signs.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Lampetie
description: Messenger who goes to the Sun and reports that Ulysses’ crew has killed
his cows.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: The Sun / sun-god
description: Deity who loves his cattle and demands vengeance after they are killed.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Jove / father Jove / son of Saturn
description: God who promises and then delivers destruction of the ship with lightning
and storm.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Calypso
description: Figure who tells Ulysses about the exchange between the Sun and the
gods.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Mercury
description: Figure from whom Calypso heard the account of the divine exchange.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: The helmsman
description: Crew member in the stern whose head is crushed by the falling mast
during the storm.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Charybdis
description: Terrible whirlpool sucking down salt sea water when Ulysses is carried
back to it.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Scylla
description: Threat near the rock; Ulysses says he would have been lost if she had
seen him again.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Counselor toward transgressive action
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Eurylochus urges the crew to kill the cattle despite recognizing the Sun
may avenge them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: Absent leader and rebuker
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Ulysses is asleep during the slaughter and later rebukes each man separately.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: Hungry transgressors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The men approve the plan, kill the cattle, and feast on them for six days.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: Punished shipmates
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The men fall into the sea after Jove’s thunderbolt and are deprived of homecoming.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:5
label: Sacred or divine property killed for food
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The cattle are repeatedly identified as the Sun’s cows and are the object
of his complaint.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: Reporter to offended deity
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Lampetie goes to the Sun and tells him the crew killed his cows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: Offended divine owner
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The Sun declares the cows his beloved possession and demands vengeance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: Divine punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Jove promises and delivers destruction of the ship with lightning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: Sole survivor on wreckage
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Ulysses lashes mast and keel together and rides them after the ship is destroyed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:10
label: Transmitter of divine information
assigned_to:
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: Ulysses says Calypso told him what she heard from Mercury.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: Storm casualty
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The falling mast crushes the helmsman’s head and he falls overboard dead.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:12
label: Whirlpool hazard
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Charybdis sucks down the salt sea water and threatens Ulysses’ raft.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: role:13
label: Predatory hazard avoided
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Ulysses says Scylla would have destroyed him if she had seen him again.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Sun’s cattle
literal_form: Cows or horned cattle belonging to the Sun
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: Sacrificial substitutes
literal_form: Young oak-shoots used instead of barley-meal and water used instead
of wine
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Animating meat and hides
literal_form: Cattle hides crawling and meat or joints making cow-like sounds
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:4
label: Lightning and fire
literal_form: White lightning, thunderbolts, fire, and brimstone striking the ship
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: sym:5
label: Sea and whirlpool
literal_form: Salt sea water, darkened sea, and Charybdis sucking down the sea
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:12
- id: sym:6
label: Fig tree over Charybdis
literal_form: Fig tree above the whirlpool, used by Ulysses as a place to cling
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: sym:7
label: Mast-and-keel raft
literal_form: Wreckage lashed together with an ox-thong backstay and ridden by Ulysses
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Counsel to kill the cattle
summary: Eurylochus argues that famine is worse than a swift death and proposes
slaughtering the best cattle, sacrificing them, and compensating the Sun later
if they return.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Improvised sacrifice and feast
summary: The crew kills the cattle and performs ritual actions with substitutes
for missing barley and wine, then cooks and eats the meat.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Ulysses wakes and laments
summary: Ulysses wakes from divinely sent sleep, smells roasting meat, and complains
to the gods about what his men have done while he was absent.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Divine report and judgment
summary: Lampetie informs the Sun, the Sun demands vengeance and threatens to shine
in Hades, and Jove promises to destroy the ship with lightning.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Signs among the slaughtered cattle
summary: 'After Ulysses rebukes the men, the dead cattle display wonders: hides
crawl and meat makes cow-like noises.'
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Ship destroyed at sea
summary: After six days of feasting the crew sails; Jove raises a black cloud, a
squall breaks the rigging, the helmsman dies, lightning fills the ship with fire,
and the men fall into the sea.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:7
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:7
label: Survival at Charybdis
summary: Ulysses survives on lashed wreckage, is carried back to Charybdis, clings
to a fig tree over the whirlpool, recovers his raft, and escapes Scylla’s sight.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divine punishment for killing sacred cattle
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The Sun demands vengeance for his cows, and Jove destroys the crew’s ship
with lightning after they sail.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy label is broad; the passage gives a specific offense involving
the Sun’s cattle and a specific punishment at sea.
- id: motif:2
label: Improper or desperate sacrifice under hunger
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The crew kills the cattle and performs sacrificial actions with substitute
materials because they lack barley and wine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents the act as counsel and ritualized slaughter, but
also as an offense against the cattle’s divine owner.
- id: motif:3
label: Violation of divine property
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
basis: The cattle are the Sun’s beloved cows, and the crew kills and consumes them
without permission, provoking divine redress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes killing and eating rather than explicitly stealing;
the taxonomy fit is therefore approximate.
- id: motif:4
label: Signs and wonders from slain sacred animals
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The hides crawl and the meat or joints low like living cattle after the cows
have been slaughtered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly names this sign pattern.
- id: motif:5
label: Sole survivor on wreckage after divine storm
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: The crew is destroyed at sea, while Ulysses survives by lashing together
mast and keel and continuing his journey on the wreckage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage concerns survival after disaster within a return journey;
the broader return motif is only partially represented in this excerpt.
- id: motif:6
label: Escape from whirlpool by clinging to a tree
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ulysses survives Charybdis by clinging to a fig tree until his mast and raft
reemerge from the whirlpool.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: No available motif-family reference directly names the whirlpool escape
pattern.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5610-5621
quote_or_summary: Eurylochus tells the starving comrades that famine is worst, proposes
driving in the best cows and sacrificing them, and suggests later building a temple
to the sun-god if they reach Ithaca.
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 5623-5640
quote_or_summary: The men approve, drive in the best cattle, pray, substitute young
oak-shoots for barley, kill the cows, prepare thigh bones and meat, and pour water
because they lack wine.
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 5642-5649
quote_or_summary: Ulysses wakes from deep sleep, smells roast meat, and prays that
Jove and the gods have wronged him by sending sleep while his men acted in his
absence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 5651-5660
quote_or_summary: Lampetie tells the Sun the crew has killed his cows; the Sun angrily
demands vengeance and threatens to go to Hades and shine among the dead if accounts
are not settled.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 5662-5664
quote_or_summary: "“I will shiver their ship into little pieces with a bolt of white
lightning as soon as they get out to sea.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 5666-5667
quote_or_summary: Ulysses says Calypso told him this, having heard it from Mercury.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 5669-5675
quote_or_summary: Ulysses rebukes the men, but the cattle are already dead; the
gods show signs as the hides crawl and meat on the spits lows like cows.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 5677-5680
quote_or_summary: For six days the men drive in the best cows and feast; on the
seventh day the gale abates and they sail.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 5680-5689
quote_or_summary: Once away from the island, Jove raises a black cloud, the sea
darkens, a west squall breaks the mast rigging, and the falling mast kills the
helmsman.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 5691-5696
quote_or_summary: Jove releases thunderbolts; the ship is struck, filled with fire
and brimstone, and the men fall into the sea and are deprived of homecoming.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 5698-5703
quote_or_summary: Ulysses remains with the wreck until the sides separate from the
keel, then lashes mast and keel together with an ox-thong and rides them on the
winds.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 5705-5709
quote_or_summary: The south wind carries Ulysses back to Charybdis; at sunrise he
reaches Scylla’s rock and the whirlpool, where he clings like a bat to a fig tree
until his raft emerges, then drops to it and rows by hand.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: line 5710
quote_or_summary: Ulysses says the father of gods and men did not let Scylla see
him again, otherwise he would have been lost.
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: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif-family assignments
are limited to the available taxonomy and some are broad or approximate.
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 were added because the passage itself does not make an explicit comparative claim to another tradition or corpus.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg__l5610-l5710
passage_sha256=cb38ef0b4efb1e850d66168fa4c64dd7b2617eedb89a64dfa4c14550c0fc4050