Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

celestial portent before battle

celestial_portent_before_battle

A motif of the Prophecy and Systematic Divination family, within the sub-family Battle and War Portents. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


greek

  • The Iliad THE DUEL OF MENELAUS AND PARIS. / BOOK IV. / ARGUMENT. / THE BREACH OF THE TRUCE, AND THE FIRST BATTLE.; lines 4824-4971 confidence: high

    Minerva flies from Olympus like lightning and a red comet; both armies see the bright descent and interpret it as a divine signal of peace or bloodier war.

    Minerva's descent is likened to lightning and a red comet; the armies read it as a divine signal of either peace or bloodier war.

    read in the book