Motif
mistaken killing of one's own child
mistaken_killing_of_one_s_own_child
A motif of the Lament, Mourning, and Tragic Recognition family, within the sub-family Mistaken Killing and Remorse. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
2 occurrences
2 traditions
fjort
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Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort (French Congo) ANOTHER VANISHING WIFE. 43 / ANOTHER VANISHING WIFE. 45 / THE JEALOUS WIFE. / THE JEALOUS WIFE. 47; lines 3233-3279 confidence: high
At evening, when the children were asleep, the elder wife went to the child's sleeping place and killed it; another child awoke, fled the house in fright, and took refuge with a neighbour.
The elder wife kills a child at night and later discovers the victim is her own child.
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roman
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The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 10504-10595 confidence: high
A Homeric allusion is summarized: Philomela laments Itylus; the explanation connects this with a tradition in which Ædon, daughter of Pandarus and wife of Zethus, kills her son Itylus by mistake while intending to kill a nephew.
In the summarized variant, Ædon plans to kill her nephew but kills her son Itylus by mistake after he forgets her instruction.
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