Motif
small creature defeats mighty opponent
small_creature_defeats_mighty_opponent
A motif of the Trickster and Boundary Crosser family, within the sub-family Animal Rivalries, Imitation, and Small-over-Large Victories. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
greek
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Aesop's Fables; a new translation THE DOGS AND THE HIDES / THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE ASS / THE FOWLER, THE PARTRIDGE, AND THE COCK / THE GNAT AND THE LION; lines 4775-4790 confidence: high
The gnat sounds its horn, darts in, bites the lion on the nose, and the lion scratches his own nose bloody while failing to hurt the gnat.
The gnat defeats or at least overcomes the lion in their encounter, despite the lion's superior status as King of the Beasts.
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