Motif
protective life-token hidden in a ruler's body
protective_life_token_hidden_in_a_ruler_s_body
A motif of the External Soul and Life-Token family, within the sub-family Bodily Sites and Severed Parts Holding Soul. 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 VIII-XV BOOK XIII. / BOOK XIV. / BOOK XV. / BOOK THE EIGHTH.; lines 411-502 confidence: high
The fable summary says Minos besieges Megara; the city's preservation depends on Nisus's lock; Scylla falls in love, cuts off the lock, gives it to Minos, is rejected, leaps into the sea, and is transformed after Nisus attacks her as a sea eagle.
The city's safety depends on a purple lock growing among the king's hairs, making a bodily token the safeguard of the kingdom.
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