Motif
Indirect gaze through a reflecting shield in monster-slaying
indirect_gaze_through_a_reflecting_shield_in_monster_slaying
A motif of the Conditional Invulnerability and Hidden Weakness family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
roman
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The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 7577-7629 confidence: high
Perseus' reflecting shield is said to come from Minerva and to let him see without being seen; Lucian says Minerva held it while Perseus looked at Medusa's reflection, seized her hair, cut off her head, and flew away with wings.
Perseus is enabled to see without being seen by a reflecting shield and, in the Lucian variant summarized in the footnote, looks at Medusa's reflected image while cutting off her head.
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