Motif
Protective plant sign placed at the threshold
protective_plant_sign_placed_at_the_threshold
A motif of the Sacred Law and Social Order family, within the sub-family Apotropaic Protection and Sympathetic Magic. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
roman
-
The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE SIXTH. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 9818-9899 confidence: medium
The note links contagious disease to earth exhalations and solar heat, interprets Apollo's arrows as angry rays causing atmospheric corruption, identifies arrows and harp as Apollo's angry and propitious symbols, and reports laurel branches placed on doors during plague for protection.
Laurel branches are placed on doors during plague in hope that Apollo will spare the marked houses.
read in the book →