batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l6834-l6930
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg-l6834-l6930
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
passage_locator:
label: ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA. / BOOK XIV / ULYSSES IN THE
HUT WITH EUMAEUS. / BOOK XV; lines 6834-6930
start: '6834'
end: '6930'
translation: The Odyssey
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: In Eumaeus's hut, Ulysses asks about Ulysses' parents. Eumaeus reports
Laertes' grief and the death of Ulysses' mother, recalls his own upbringing in
the household, and begins telling the story of how he was taken from his homeland.
He describes Syra, his father Ctesius, Phoenician traders, an enslaved Phoenician
nurse from Sidon, and her secret agreement with the traders to flee, take gold,
and carry off the young Eumaeus for sale abroad.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ulysses thanks Eumaeus for saving him from wandering and asks whether Ulysses'
mother and father are alive or dead in Hades.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Eumaeus says Laertes is alive, distressed by his son's absence and by his
wife's death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Eumaeus says Ulysses' mother died unhappily through sorrow for her son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Eumaeus says Ulysses' mother raised him together with her daughter Ctimene
and treated them with little difference when they were children.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Eumaeus says Ctimene was sent to Same with a dowry, while he was given clothing
and sandals and sent into the country.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Eumaeus says his current work has prospered, but that the house is now controlled
by wicked people and servants cannot get kindness from their mistress.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Ulysses asks whether Eumaeus's home city was sacked or whether enemies captured,
shipped, and sold him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Eumaeus invites the stranger to sit, drink wine, and listen during the long
night, saying people who have suffered take pleasure in recalling past sorrows.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Eumaeus describes Syra as an island with good soil, pasture, wine, wheat,
no dearth, and no sickness.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Eumaeus says that when the people of Syra grow old, Apollo and Diana kill
them with painless shafts.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: Eumaeus says Phoenician traders came to Syra in a ship loaded with many gewgaws
and seduced a Phoenician woman from his father's house while she was washing near
their ship.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The Phoenician woman says she is from Sidon, daughter of Arybas, and that
Taphian pirates seized her and sold her over the sea.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: A trader offers the woman a chance to go with them to see her living parents,
and she requires the men to swear they will not harm her on the way.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: After the oath, the woman tells the traders to keep silent, finish loading,
and send word; she says she will bring gold and carry off the young son she nurses
so he can be sold abroad.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ulysses
description: A speaker in Eumaeus's hut who asks about Ulysses' parents and about
Eumaeus's removal from his homeland.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Eumaeus
description: Host and narrator who reports on Ulysses' household and tells the story
of his own childhood abduction.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:12
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Laertes
description: Ulysses' father, still living, distressed by his son's absence and
his wife's death.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Ulysses' mother
description: Mother of Ulysses, described as having died through sorrow for her
son and as having raised Eumaeus with Ctimene.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Ctimene
description: Daughter of Ulysses' mother, raised with Eumaeus and later sent to
Same with a dowry.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Ctesius son of Ormenus
description: Eumaeus's father, a king over both communities of Syra.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Phoenician traders
description: Cunning mariners who arrive at Syra in a freighted ship, seduce the
Phoenician servant, swear an oath, and plan to carry off the child.
role_refs:
- role:11
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Phoenician woman from Sidon
description: A tall and comely servant in Ctesius's house, daughter of Arybas, formerly
seized by Taphian pirates, who agrees to leave with the traders and carry off
the child she nurses.
role_refs:
- role:13
- role:14
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:12
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Arybas
description: Wealthy father of the Phoenician woman from Sidon.
role_refs:
- role:16
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Taphian pirates
description: Pirates said by the Phoenician woman to have seized her and sold her
over the sea.
role_refs:
- role:17
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Apollo
description: A deity said to come with Diana and kill the elderly people of Syra
with painless shafts.
role_refs:
- role:18
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Diana
description: A deity said to come with Apollo and kill the elderly people of Syra
with painless shafts.
role_refs:
- role:18
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: questioning guest
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ulysses asks Eumaeus about Ulysses' parents and about Eumaeus's childhood
removal from home.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: wanderer protected from trouble
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ulysses thanks Eumaeus for saving him from going about and getting into trouble.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: host in the hut
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Eumaeus invites the stranger to sit, drink wine, and listen in the hut.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: narrator of household grief and personal misfortune
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Eumaeus recounts Laertes' grief, Ulysses' mother's death, and his own childhood
story.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: abducted child marked for sale
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Phoenician woman identifies the young son she nurses as someone she will
carry off in the ship for sale abroad.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: role:6
label: grieving aged father
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Laertes is alive but terribly distressed by his son's absence and his wife's
death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: dead mother grieving for absent son
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: She is said to have died unhappily through sorrow for her son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:8
label: foster-like caregiver to Eumaeus
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Eumaeus says she brought him up with Ctimene and made little difference between
them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:9
label: daughter sent with dowry
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Ctimene is described as sent to Same with a splendid dowry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:10
label: king and father
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Ctesius son of Ormenus, Eumaeus's father, reigned over both communities of
Syra.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: maritime traders
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The Phoenicians arrive by ship with freighted goods and are described as
great mariners.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:12
label: deceptive abductors by agreement
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: They seduce the servant, swear an oath, and participate in the plan to carry
off the child for sale.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:12
- id: role:13
label: enslaved servant and nurse
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: She is a Phoenician woman in the house, called an excellent servant and nurse
to the son of the house.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: role:14
label: return-seeking daughter
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: She says she would gladly go with the traders to see her parents again.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:15
label: planner of theft and child abduction
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: She plans to bring gold and carry off the child in the ship for sale abroad.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: role:16
label: wealthy father in Sidon
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The woman identifies Arybas of Sidon as her wealthy father.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:17
label: pirate abductors and sellers
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The woman says Taphian pirates seized her and sold her over the sea.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:18
label: divine painless killers of the aged
assigned_to:
- fig:11
- fig:12
basis: Apollo and Diana are said to kill Syra's elderly people with painless shafts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hut
literal_form: Eumaeus's hut where the men sit, eat, drink, and tell stories
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: wine and food
literal_form: Wine, eating, and drinking during the nighttime exchange of stories
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: house of Hades
literal_form: The house of Hades mentioned as the place of the dead
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: Syra
literal_form: An island with pasture, wine, wheat, no dearth, and no sickness
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: painless shafts
literal_form: The painless shafts of Apollo and Diana used on the aged
associated_figures:
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: Phoenician ship
literal_form: A freighted ship carrying traders, merchandise, and later intended
to carry the woman, gold, and child away
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: sym:7
label: solemn oath
literal_form: An oath sworn by the traders that they will do the woman no harm on
the way
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:8
label: gold as fare
literal_form: Gold the woman says she will bring as part of paying her passage
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: sym:9
label: water places of secrecy
literal_form: Washing near the ship and possible meetings at the well, both connected
with secrecy and risk of discovery
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Questions in Eumaeus's hut about Ulysses' parents
summary: Ulysses praises Eumaeus, speaks of hardship, and asks whether Ulysses'
mother and father live or are in Hades.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Report of Laertes, Ulysses' mother, and Eumaeus's upbringing
summary: Eumaeus says Laertes lives in grief, Ulysses' mother died from sorrow,
and he was raised with Ctimene before being sent into the country.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Nighttime hospitality and tale-telling
summary: Eumaeus invites the stranger to sit comfortably, drink wine, and hear the
story of his misfortunes during the long night.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Description of Syra
summary: Eumaeus describes his homeland as a prosperous island without dearth or
sickness, ruled by his father, where Apollo and Diana bring painless death to
the old.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:6
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Phoenician traders and the enslaved Sidonian woman
summary: Phoenician traders arrive by ship, seduce a Phoenician servant in Ctesius's
house, and learn that she was a wealthy Sidonian's daughter seized and sold by
pirates.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Secret oath and abduction plan
summary: The trader offers the woman a return to her parents; she requires an oath,
then tells the traders to keep silent, load their goods, and arrange for her to
bring gold and the child she nurses for sale abroad.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Hospitality as setting for reciprocal sorrow-telling
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The hut scene joins food, wine, shelter, and narration of remembered misfortunes
between host and guest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents ordinary hospitality and conversation; the taxonomy
reference is used broadly and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
label: Grief for absent kin leading to decline or death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Laertes is aged and distressed by Ulysses' absence, and Ulysses' mother is
said to have died through sorrow for her son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: No external comparison is asserted; this is a local narrative pattern
in the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: Blessed island with painless divine death in old age
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Syra is described as fertile, free of famine and sickness, and as a place
where Apollo and Diana give painless death to the elderly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not frame this as judgment, rebirth, or afterlife travel;
no supplied taxonomy family fits securely.
- id: motif:4
label: Forced maritime departure through abduction and sale
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The Phoenician woman reports being seized by Taphian pirates and sold over
the sea, and she later plans to carry off the young Eumaeus in a ship for sale
abroad.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The departure is coerced rather than heroic or voluntary; the taxonomy
reference is general.
- id: motif:5
label: Return to parents used as lure and motive
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: The trader asks whether the woman wants to go with them to see her living
parents, and she accepts if protected by oath.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage records a proposed return, not a completed return.
- id: motif:6
label: Secret oath, deception, and boundary-crossing theft
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The traders seduce the servant; she demands an oath, commands secrecy, plans
to evade her master, take gold, and abduct a child by ship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not call the actors tricksters; the motif label summarizes
deceptive action and social boundary crossing.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6834-6930, opening exchange
quote_or_summary: Ulysses thanks Eumaeus for saving him from wandering and asks
whether Ulysses' mother and father are alive or dead in the house of Hades.
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 6834-6930, Eumaeus on Laertes and Ulysses' mother
quote_or_summary: Eumaeus says Laertes is alive but distressed by his son's absence
and his wife's death; Ulysses' mother died unhappily through sorrow for her son.
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 6834-6930, Eumaeus on childhood in Ulysses' household
quote_or_summary: Eumaeus says Ulysses' mother raised him with Ctimene, who later
went to Same with a dowry; he was given clothing and sandals and sent into the
country, while the household later fell under wicked people.
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 6834-6930, Ulysses asks about Eumaeus's removal from home
quote_or_summary: Ulysses asks whether Eumaeus was taken when his city was sacked
or by enemies who captured, shipped, and sold him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/odyssey-butler.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 6834-6930, Eumaeus introduces his tale
quote_or_summary: Eumaeus tells the stranger to sit, drink wine, and listen during
the long night, saying that those who have suffered take pleasure in recalling
old sorrows.
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 6834-6930, description of Syra
quote_or_summary: Eumaeus describes Syra as an island with good pasture, wine, wheat,
no dearth, and no sickness; when people grow old, Apollo and Diana kill them with
painless shafts; his father Ctesius ruled both communities.
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 6834-6930, Phoenician traders arrive
quote_or_summary: Cunning Phoenician traders, described as great mariners, arrive
in a freighted ship; they get hold of and seduce a tall Phoenician servant while
she is washing near their ship.
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 6834-6930, woman's origin story
quote_or_summary: The woman says she is from Sidon, daughter of the wealthy Arybas,
and that Taphian pirates seized her and sold her over the sea to the owner of
the house.
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 6834-6930, trader's offer
quote_or_summary: The man who seduced her asks whether she wants to go with them
to see her parents, who are alive and well off.
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 6834-6930, oath requested and sworn
quote_or_summary: The woman says she will gladly go if the men swear a solemn oath
that they will do her no harm by the way, and they swear as instructed.
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 6834-6930, secrecy instructions
quote_or_summary: After the oath, the woman tells the traders not to speak to her
in public or at the well, lest her master suspect, imprison her, and have them
killed; she tells them to buy and load quickly and send word.
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 6834-6930, planned theft and child abduction
quote_or_summary: The woman says she will bring as much gold as she can and, as
nurse to the young son of the house, will carry him off in the ship so the traders
can sell him in foreign parts.
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: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage gives explicit narration.
Motif assignments using supplied taxonomy are cautious, especially sacred_exchange
and trickster_boundary. No external comparison claims were made.
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. Names not given in the passage, such as Ulysses' mother by personal name, were not supplied.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-odyssey-butler-gutenberg__l6834-l6930
passage_sha256=403d12c8207803fb23663c432b34fb1c1338bab05c36c78da3c83b3169ed8505