batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l6290-l6372
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l6290-l6372
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK XIII / ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA. / BOOK XIV / ULYSSES
IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS.; lines 6290-6372
start: '6290'
end: '6372'
translation: The Odyssey
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'A first-person speaker recounts a Cretan backstory: leadership in the
Trojan expedition, a later Egyptian raid that ends in defeat and supplication,
years in Egypt, deception by a Phoenician, a divinely caused shipwreck, rescue
in Thesprotia, and news that Ulysses sought Jove’s counsel at Dodona about returning
to Ithaca openly or secretly.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says he became great among the Cretans and was required, with
Idomeneus, to lead ships to Troy, where they fought for nine years and sacked
Priam’s city in the tenth.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: After one month at home with his family and property, the speaker fitted out
nine ships for a descent on Egypt, held six days of feasting and sacrifice, and
sailed from Crete on the seventh day.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker’s men disobeyed his orders in Egypt, ravaged the land, killed
men, and took wives and children captive.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Egyptians came out with horsemen, foot soldiers, and armor; Jove spread
panic among the speaker’s men, and the Egyptians killed many and captured the
rest for forced labor.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker removed his armor and weapon, approached the Egyptian king’s chariot,
clasped and kissed the king’s knees, and was spared and protected by the king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The Egyptian king’s protection is explained by fear of Jove, described as
protector of strangers who punishes evil-doers.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: After seven years in Egypt, the speaker was persuaded by a Phoenician to go
to Phoenicia and later placed on a ship bound for Libya under a false pretense,
with the stated hidden aim of selling him as a slave.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: At sea between Crete and Libya, Jove raised a black cloud, darkened the sea,
struck the ship with thunderbolts, and the ship was filled with fire and brimstone.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The men fell into the sea and lost their chance of homecoming; the speaker
survived by clinging to a mast that Jove sent within reach and drifted for nine
days until a wave bore him to Thesprotia.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Pheidon’s son found the speaker nearly dead from cold and fatigue, raised
him by the hand, took him to Pheidon’s house, and gave him clothing.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:11
text: King Pheidon reported that he had hosted Ulysses, showed treasure gathered
by Ulysses, and said Ulysses had gone to Dodona to learn Jove’s mind from the
god’s high oak tree about whether to return to Ithaca openly or secretly.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Pheidon swore, while making drink-offerings, that a ship and crew were ready
to take Ulysses home; the speaker was instead sent on a Thesprotian ship toward
Dulichium.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: First-person speaker, described within the tale as a Cretan leader
description: Narrates leadership in war, an Egyptian expedition, defeat, supplication,
deception, shipwreck, rescue, and news of Ulysses.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Jove
description: Divine figure who counsels or devises events, spreads panic, protects
strangers, punishes evil, sends thunderbolts, and is consulted at Dodona through
a high oak tree.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Idomeneus
description: Named as co-leader with the speaker of Cretan ships to Troy.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: The speaker’s men
description: Crew or followers who sail with the speaker, disobey orders in Egypt,
raid the land, and later suffer defeat or shipwreck.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: The Egyptians
description: People whose land is ravaged and who respond with horsemen and foot
soldiers, killing or capturing the invaders.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Egyptian king
description: The king approached in supplication; he spares the speaker, takes him
into his chariot and home, and protects him from attackers.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Phoenician
description: A cunning man who persuades the speaker to travel and later puts him
aboard a Libya-bound ship under a false pretense, intending to sell him as a slave.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Pheidon, king of the Thesprotians
description: A king who entertains the shipwrecked speaker and reports having hosted
Ulysses.
role_refs:
- role:9
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Pheidon’s son
description: Finds the speaker nearly dead, raises him by the hand, takes him to
his father’s house, and gives him clothes.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Ulysses
description: Reported by Pheidon as a homeward traveler who had gathered treasure
and gone to Dodona to consult Jove about returning to Ithaca.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: war leader
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: The speaker and Idomeneus are said to have led ships to Troy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: expedition leader
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker fits out nine ships for Egypt and directs his men.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: supplicant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker removes his arms, clasps and kisses the Egyptian king’s knees,
and is spared.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: shipwreck survivor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker survives the thunderbolt-struck ship by clinging to a mast and
drifting to Thesprotia.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: divine sender of calamity
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Jove is said to devise evil, spread panic, and strike the ship with thunderbolts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: protector of strangers and oracular authority
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Egyptian king fears Jove as protector of strangers; Ulysses goes to Dodona
to learn Jove’s mind from the high oak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: disobedient raiders and victims
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The men disobey orders, ravage Egypt, and are later killed, captured, or
lost at sea.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: defenders and captors
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Egyptians respond to the raid, kill many invaders, and take others alive
for forced labor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:9
label: protector-host
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:8
basis: The Egyptian king protects the supplicant, and Pheidon hospitably entertains
the shipwrecked speaker.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: deceiver intending enslavement
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The Phoenician persuades the speaker to travel and secretly intends to sell
him as a slave.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:11
label: informant about Ulysses
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Pheidon tells the speaker about Ulysses, his treasure, and his journey to
Dodona.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:12
label: rescuer
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Pheidon’s son finds the speaker nearly dead, raises him, and brings him to
shelter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:13
label: reported homeward traveler
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Ulysses is reported as being on his homeward journey and seeking guidance
about how to return to Ithaca.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fleet and ships
literal_form: Nine ships, a Libya-bound ship, and a Thesprotian ship prepared for
travel
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: water route and sea
literal_form: River Aegyptus, the sea between Crete and Libya, and the waters on
which the speaker drifts
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: fire and lightning in shipwreck
literal_form: Thunderbolts, fire, and brimstone filling the struck ship
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: ship’s mast as survival object
literal_form: The mast sent within the speaker’s reach, to which he clings while
drifting
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: high oak tree at Dodona
literal_form: Jove’s high oak tree, from which Ulysses is said to seek knowledge
of Jove’s mind
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: knees clasped in supplication
literal_form: The speaker clasps and kisses the Egyptian king’s knees after dropping
his weapons
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:7
label: drink-offerings
literal_form: Drink-offerings made by Pheidon while swearing about the ship and
crew for Ulysses
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Cretan rise, Trojan expedition, and Egyptian voyage prepared
summary: The speaker recounts becoming prominent among the Cretans, leading ships
to Troy with Idomeneus, returning home briefly, then preparing nine ships and
sacrifices for a voyage to Egypt.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Egyptian raid, defeat, and supplication
summary: The speaker’s men raid Egypt against his orders; the Egyptians counterattack,
Jove spreads panic, and the speaker saves his life by supplicating the Egyptian
king, who protects him out of fear of Jove.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Phoenician deception
summary: After years in Egypt, a Phoenician persuades the speaker to go with him,
later putting him aboard a Libya-bound ship under a false commercial pretense
while intending to sell him as a slave.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Divine storm, shipwreck, and Thesprotian rescue
summary: At sea, Jove darkens the sky and sea, strikes the ship with thunderbolts,
and the men perish; the speaker survives by clinging to a mast and is carried
to Thesprotia, where Pheidon’s son rescues him and Pheidon hosts him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Report of Ulysses, Dodona, and return to Ithaca
summary: Pheidon reports that Ulysses had been hospitably received, had treasure
stored there, and had gone to Dodona to learn from Jove’s oak whether to return
to Ithaca openly or secretly; Pheidon swears a ship and crew were ready for Ulysses
while sending the speaker toward Dulichium.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:8
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: homecoming after war and uncertain return
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: The speaker describes sailing home after Troy, and Pheidon reports that Ulysses
seeks divine guidance on whether to return to Ithaca openly or secretly after
long absence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The speaker’s narrative is an embedded account; the passage reports Ulysses
indirectly through Pheidon’s speech.
- id: motif:2
label: divine punishment or calamity at sea
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Jove spreads panic among raiders in Egypt and later destroys the ship with
black cloud, thunderbolts, fire, and brimstone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The text explicitly attributes the events to Jove, but the moral framing
is clearest in the Egyptian supplication scene.
- id: motif:3
label: divine protection of the stranger-supplicant
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The Egyptian king protects the speaker because he fears Jove as protector
of strangers who punishes those who do evil.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a protective hospitality pattern rather than only punitive judgment.
- id: motif:4
label: deceiver attempts to sell traveler into slavery
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The Phoenician persuades the speaker into travel and secretly intends to
sell him as a slave in Libya.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes deception, but does not present the Phoenician as
a mythic trickster figure beyond the immediate episode.
- id: motif:5
label: shipwreck survivor clings to remnant of vessel
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After divine lightning destroys the ship, the speaker survives by clinging
to the mast and drifting for nine days.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No specific supplied taxonomy reference directly matches this survival
object.
- id: motif:6
label: oracular consultation at sacred tree
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
- wisdom
basis: Ulysses is said to go to Dodona to learn Jove’s mind from the god’s high
oak tree about how to return to Ithaca.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage only reports the consultation secondhand and does not narrate
the oracle itself.
- id: motif:7
label: sacrifice before voyage
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Before sailing from Crete, the speaker provides victims for sacrifice to
the gods and for the men’s feasting.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The sacrificial act is brief and preparatory, not the main narrative focus.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The reported Ulysses episode in this passage belongs to a broad return pattern:
a long-absent traveler seeks guidance about the manner of returning home.'
claim_level: same_motif
target: motif_family:return
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage gives this as reported speech by Pheidon rather than directly
narrating Ulysses’ arrival in Ithaca.
- id: claim:2
claim: Jove’s panic, protection of the stranger, and thunderbolt destruction perform
the same broad function as a divine judgment pattern in which divine power punishes
or redirects human action.
claim_level: same_function
target: motif_family:divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The text explicitly attributes events to Jove, but not every calamity
is accompanied by an explicit moral explanation.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 6290-6305
quote_or_summary: The speaker says he rose among the Cretans, led ships to Troy
with Idomeneus, fought nine years, sacked Priam’s city, returned home briefly,
then fitted out nine ships, sacrificed, feasted, and sailed from Crete toward
Egypt.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 6306-6324
quote_or_summary: In Egypt the men disobey and raid; the Egyptians counterattack,
Jove spreads panic, many invaders are killed or captured, and the speaker supplicates
the king, who spares and protects him out of fear of Jove the protector of strangers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 6325-6337
quote_or_summary: After seven years in Egypt, a Phoenician described as cunning
persuades the speaker to go to Phoenicia and later places him on a ship for Libya
under a false pretense, intending to sell him as a slave.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 6338-6354
quote_or_summary: At sea between Crete and Libya, Jove raises a black cloud and
strikes the ship with thunderbolts so it is filled with fire and brimstone; the
men fall into the sea, the speaker clings to a mast, drifts nine days, reaches
Thesprotia, and is rescued by Pheidon’s son and hosted by Pheidon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 6355-6372
quote_or_summary: Pheidon says he hosted Ulysses, shows Ulysses’ treasure, reports
that Ulysses went to Dodona to learn Jove’s mind from the high oak about whether
to return to Ithaca openly or secretly, swears a ship and crew were ready, and
sends the speaker toward Dulichium.
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 passage is clear at the level of literal events, roles, and objects.
Motif labels are cautious because this is an embedded first-person narrative with
some events reported secondhand.
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. No external Odyssey context was added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg__l6290-l6372
passage_sha256=d0d1fdade93a7d85342aff75066cae5514f8a5debcdf3a49a23f1adbeda3d117