Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

slaughter of sleeping enemies

slaughter_of_sleeping_enemies

A motif of the Sacred Combat and Ritual Warfare family, within the sub-family Treachery and Forbidden Kin Combat. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


roman

  • The Aeneid of Virgil BOOK EIGHTH / THE EMBASSAGE TO EVANDER / BOOK NINTH / THE SIEGE OF THE TROJAN CAMP; lines 5892-5934 confidence: high

    They see bodies lying on the grass in drunken sleep, with chariots, traces, wheels, armour, and wine around them.

    The enemies are described as asleep after drinking, and several named and unnamed men are killed while asleep or vulnerable.

    read in the book