Derived from Georges Polti. The 37th may not be authentic Polti.

1. Supplication (To humbly petition).

Elements

• A persecutor
• A humble petitioner
• A power in authority whose decision is doubtful.

Subtypes

• A1 Fugitives imploring the powerful for help against their enemies.
• A2 Assistance implored for the performance of a pious duty which has been forbidden.
• A3 Appeals for refuge in which to die.
• B1 Hospitality besought by the shipwrecked.
• B2 Charity entreated by those cast off by their own people, whom they have disgraced.
• B3 Expiration: the seeking of pardon, healing or deliverance.
• B4 The surrender of a corpse, or relic, solicited.
• C1 Supplication of the powerful for those dear to the suppliant.
• C2 Supplication to a relative in behalf of another relative.
• C3 Supplication to a mother's lover, in her behalf.

2. Deliverance.

Elements

• An unfortunate
• A threatener
• A rescuer

Subtypes

• A Appearance of a rescuer to the condemned.
• B1 A parent replaced on the throne by his children.
• B2 Rescue by friends, or by strangers grateful for benefits or hospitality.

3. Crime Punished by Vengeance.

Elements

• An avenger
• A criminal.

Subtypes

• A1 The avenging of a slain parent or ancestor.
• A2 The avenging of a slain child or descendant.
• A3 Vengeance for a child dishonored.
• A4 The avenging of a slain wife or husband.
• A5 Vengeance for the dishonor, or the attempted dishonoring, of a wife.
• A6 Vengeance for a mistress slain.
• A7 Vengeance for a slain or injured friend.
• A8 Vengeance for a sister seduced.
• B1 Vengeance for intentional injury or spoilation.
• B2 Vengeance for having been despoiled during absence.
• B3 Revenge for an attempted slaying.
• B4 Revenge for a false accusation.
• B5 Vengeance for violation.
• B6 Vengeance for having been robbed of one's own.
• B7 Revenge upon a whole sex for a deception by one.
• C Professional pursuit of criminals.

4. Vengeance Taken for Kindred upon Kindred.

Elements

• Avenging kinsman
• Guilty kinsman
• Remembrance of the victim
• A relative of both.

Subtypes

• A1 A father's death avenged upon a mother.
• A2 A mother avenged upon a father.
• B A brother's death avenged upon a son.
• C A father's death avenged upon a husband.
• D A husband's death avenged upon a father.

5. Pursuit.

Elements

• Punishment
• Fugitive

Subtypes

• A Fugitives from justice pursued for crimes, political offenses, etc.
• B Pursued for a fault of love.
• C The hero struggling against a power.
• D The pseudo-madman struggling against an alienist.

6. Disaster.

Elements

• A vanquished power
• A victorious enemy or a messenger

Subtypes

• A1 Defeat suffered.
• A2 A fatherland destroyed.
• A3 The fall of humanity.
• A4 A natural catastrophe.
• B A monarch overthrown.
• C1 Ingratitude suffered.
• C2 The suffering of unjust punishment or enmity.
• C3 An outrage suffered.
• D1 Abandonment by a lover or a husband.
• D2 Children lost by their parents.

7. Falling Prey to Cruelty or Misfortune.

Elements

• An unfortunate
• A master or a misfortune.

Subtypes

• A The innocent made the victim of ambitious intrigue.
• B The innocent despoiled by those who should protect.
• C1 The powerful dispossessed and wretched.
• C2 A favorite or an intimate finds himself forgotten.
• D The unfortunate robbed of their only hope.

8. Revolt.

Elements

• Tyrant
• Conspirator

Subtypes

• A1 A conspiracy chiefly of one individual.
• A2 A conspiracy of several.
• B1 Revolt of one individual, who influences and involves others.
• B2 A revolt of many.

9. Daring Enterprise.

Elements

• A bold leader
• An object
• An adversary.

Subtypes

• A Preparations for war.
• B1 War.
• B2 Combat.
• C1 Carrying off a desired person or object.
• C2 Recapture of a desired object.
• D1 Adventurous expeditions.
• D2 Adventure undertaken for the purpose of obtaining a beloved woman.

10. Abduction.

Elements

• The abductor
• The abducted
• The guardian

Subtypes

• A Abduction of an unwilling woman.
• B Abduction of a consenting woman.
• C1 Recapture of the woman without the slaying of the abductor.
• C2 The same case, with the slaying of the ravisher.
• D1 Rescue of a captive friend.
• D2 Of a child.
• D3 Of a soul in captivity to error.

11. The Enigma.

Elements

• Interrogator
• Seeker
• Problem.

Subtypes

• A Search for a person who must be found on pain of death.
• B1 A riddle to be solved on pain of death.
• B2 The same case, in which the riddle is proposed by the coveted woman.
• C1 Temptations suffered with the object of discovering his name.
• C2 Temptations offered with the object of ascertaining the sex.
• C3 Tests for the purpose of ascertaining the mental condition.

12. Obtaining.

Elements

• A solicitor
• An adversary who is refusing
• An arbitrator opposing parties

Subtypes

• A Efforts to obtain an object by ruse or force.
• B Endeavor by means of persuasive eloquence alone.
• C Eloquence with an arbitrator.

13. Enmity of Kinsmen.

Elements

• A malevolent kinsman
• A hated or reciprocally hating kinsman

Subtypes

• A Hatred of brothers:
• A1 One brother hated by several.
• A2 Reciprocal hatred.
• A3 Hatred between relatives for reasons of self-interest.
• B Hatred of father and son:
• B1 Of the son for the father.
• B2 Mutual hatred.
• B3 Hatred of daughter for father.
• C Hatred of grandfather for grandson.
• D Hatred of father-in-law for son-in-law.
• E Hatred of mother-in-law for son-in-law.
• F Infanticide.

14. Rivalry of Kinsmen.

Elements

• The preferred kinsman
• The rejected kinsman
• The object.

Subtypes

• A1 Malicious rivalry of a brother.
• A2 Malicious rivalry of two brothers.
• A3 Rivalry of two brothers, with adultery on the part of one.
• A4 Rivalry of sisters.
• B1 Rivalry of father and son, for an unmarried woman.
• B2 Rivalry of father and son, for a married woman.
• B3 Case similar to the two foregoing, but in which the object is already the wife of the father.
• B4 Rivalry of mother and daughter.
• C Rivalry of cousins.
• D Rivalry of friends.

15. Murderous Adultery.

Elements

• Two adulterers
• Betrayed husband or wife

Subtypes

• A1 The slaying of a husband by or for a paramour.
• A2 The slaying of a trusting lover.
• B Slaying of a wife for a paramour, and in self-interest.

16. Madness.

Elements

• Madman
• Victim

Subtypes

• A1 Kinsman slain in madness.
• A2 A lover slain in madness.
• A3 Slaying or injuring of a person not hated.
• B Disgrace brought upon oneself through madness.
• C Loss of loved ones brought about by madness.
• D Madness brought on by fear of hereditary insanity.

17. Fatal Imprudence.

Elements

• The imprudent
• The victim or the object lost.

Subtypes

• A1 Imprudence the cause of one's own misfortune.
• A2 Imprudence the cause of one's own dishonor.
• B1 Curiosity the cause of one's own misfortune.
• B2 Loss of the possession of a loved one, through curiosity.
• C1 Curiosity the cause of death or misfortune to others.
• C2 Imprudence the cause of a relative's death.
• C3 Imprudence the cause of a lover's death.
• C4 Credulity the cause of kinsman's death.

18. Oedipal.

Elements

• The lover
• The loved
• The revealer.

Subtypes

• A1 Discovery that one has married one's mother.
• A2 Discovery that one has had one's sister as mistress.
• B1 Discovery that one has married one's sister.
• B2 The same case, in which the crime has been villainously planned by a third person.
• B3 Being upon the point of taking one's sister, unknowingly, as a mistress.
• C Being upon the point of violating, unknowingly, a daughter.
• D1 Being upon the point of committing an adultery, unknowingly.
• D2 Adultery committed unknowingly.

19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized.

Elements

• The slayer
• The unrecognized victim

Subtypes

• A1 Being upon the point of slaying a daughter unknowingly, by command of a divinity or an oracle.
• A2 Through political necessity.
• A3 Through a rivalry in love.
• A4 Through hatred of the lover of the unrecognized daughter.
• B1 Being upon the point of killing a son unknowingly.
• B2 The same as case B1, strengthened by Machiavellian instigation.
• B3 The same as case (B2), intermixed with hatred of kinsmen.
• C Being upon the point of killing one's brother unknowingly:
• C1 Brothers slaying in anger.
• C2 A sister slaying through professional duty.
• D Slaying of a mother unrecognized.
• E1 A father slain unknowingly through Machiavellian advice.
• E2 The simple slaying of a father unrecognized.
• E3 The same case reduced from murder to simple insult.
• F1 A grandfather slain unknowingly, in vengeance and through instigation.
• F2 Slain involuntarily.
• F3 A father-in-law killed involuntarily.
• G1 Involuntary killing of a loved woman.
• G2 Upon the point of killing a lover unrecognized.
• G3 Failure to rescue an unrecognized son.

20. Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal.

Elements

• The hero
• The ideal
• The creditor or the person or things sacrificed.

Subtypes

• A1 Sacrifice of life for the sake of one's word.
• A2 Life sacrificed for the success of one's people.
• A3 Life sacrificed for the happiness of one's people.
• A4 Life sacrificed in filial piety.
• A5 Life sacrificed for the sake of one's faith.
• B1 Both love and life sacrificed for the sake of a cause.
• B2 Love sacrificed to interests of state.
• C Sacrifice of well-being to duty.
• D The ideal of honor sacrificed to the ideal of faith.

21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred.

Elements

• The hero
• The kinsman
• The creditor or the person or thing sacrificed.

Subtypes

• A1 Life sacrificed for that of a relative or loved one.
• A2 Life sacrificed for the happiness of a relative or loved one.
• B1 Ambition sacrificed for the happiness of a parent.
• B2 Ambition sacrificed for the life of a parent.
• C1 Love sacrificed for the sake of a parent's life.
• C2 For the happiness of one's child.
• C3 For the happiness of a loved one.
• C4 The same as 2, but caused by unjust laws.
• D1 Life and honor sacrificed for the life of a parent or loved one.
• D2 Modesty sacrificed for the life of a relative or a loved one.

22. All Sacrificed for a Passion.

Elements

• The lover
• The object of the fatal passion,
• The person or thing sacrificed.

Subtypes

• A1 Religious vows of chastity broken for passion.
• A2 A vow of purity broken.
• A3 Respect for a priest destroyed.
• A4 Power ruined by a passion.
• A5 Ruin of mind, health, and life.
• A6 Passion gratified at the price of life.
• A7 Ruin of fortunes, lives, and honor.
• B Temptations (see 12) destroying the sense of duty, pity, etc.
• C1 Destruction of honor, fortune, and life by erotic vice.
• C2 The same effect produced by any other vice.

23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones.

Elements

• The hero
• The beloved victim
• The necessity for the sacrifice.

Subtypes

• A1 Necessity for sacrificing a daughter in the public interest.
• A2 Duty of sacrificing her in fulfillment of a vow to God.
• B1 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one's father.
• B3 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one's husband.
• B4 Duty of sacrificing a son-in-law for the public good.
• B5 Same case under the sake of reputation.
• B6 Duty of contending with a brother-in-law for the public good.
• B7 Duty of contending with a friend.

24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior.

Elements

• The superior rival
• The inferior rival
• The object.

Subtypes

• A Masculine rivalries.
• A1 Of a mortal and immortal.
• A2 Of two divinities of unequal power.
• A3 Of a magician and an ordinary man.
• A4 Of conqueror and conquered.
• A5 Of victor and vanquished.
• A6 Of a master and a banished man.
• A7 Of usurper and subject.
• A8 Of Suzerian King and Vassal Kings.
• A9 Of a powerful person and upstart.
• A10 Of rich and poor.
• A11 Of an honored man and a suspected one.
• A12 Rivalry of two who are almost equal.
• A13 Rivalry of equals, one of whom in the past has been proved guilty of adultery.
• A14 Of a man who is loved and one who has not the right to love.
• A15 Of the two (or more) successive husbands of a divorcee.
• B Feminine rivalries.
• B1 Of a sorceress and an ordinary woman.
• B2 Of victor and prisoner.
• B3 Of a queen and slave.
• B4 Of lady and servant.
• B5 Of a lady and a woman of humbler position.
• B6 Of a lady and two women of humbler class.
• B7 Rivalry of two who are almost equals, complicated by the abandonment of one.
• B8 Rivalry between the memory or an ideal (that of a superior woman) and a vassal of her own.
• B9 Rivalry of mortal and immortal.
• C Double rivalry (A loves B, who loves C, who loves D).
• D Oriental rivalries (Hindu polygamy).
• D1 Rivalry of two immortals.
• D2 Of two mortals.
• D3 Of two lawful wives.

25. Adultery.

Elements

• A deceived husband or wife
• Two adulterers.

Subtypes

• A A mistress betrayed:
• A1 For a young woman.
• A2 For a young wife.
• A3 For a girl.
• B A wife betrayed:
• B1 For a slave, who does not love in return.
• B2 For debauchery.
• B3 For a married woman.
• B4 With the intention of bigamy.
• B5 For a young girl, who does not love in return.
• B6 A wife envied by a young girl who is in love with her husband.
• B7 By a courtesan.
• B8 Rivalry between a lawful wife who is antipathetic and a mistress who is congenial.
• B9 Between a generous wife and an impassioned girl.
• C1 An antagonistic husband sacrificed for a congenial lover.
• C2 A husband, believed to be lost, forgotten for a rival.
• C3 A commonplace husband sacrificed for a sympathetic lover.
• C4 A good husband betrayed for an inferior rival.
• C5 For a grotesque rival.
• C6 For an odious rival.
• C7 For a commonplace rival, by a perverse wife.
• C8 For a less handsome, but useful rival (with comic false suspicions).
• D1 Vengeance of a deceived husband.
• D2 Jealousy sacrificed out of pity.
• E A husband persecuted by a rejected rival.

26. Crimes of Love.

Elements

• The lover
• The betrayed

Subtypes

• A1 A mother in love with her son.
• A2 A daughter in love with her father.
• A3 Violation of a daughter by her father.
• B1 A woman enamored of her stepson.
• B2 A woman and her stepson enamored of each other.
• B3 A woman being the mistress, at the same time, of a father and son, both of whom accept the situation.
• C1 A man becomes the lover of his sister-in-law.
• C2 The man alone becomes enamored.
• C3 A brother and sister in love with each other.
• D1 A man enamored of another man, who yields.
• D2 A woman enamored of a bull.

27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One.

Elements

• The discoverer
• The guilty one

Subtypes

• A1 Discovery of a mother's shame.
• A2 Discovery of a father's shame.
• A3 Discovery of a daughter's dishonor.
• B1 Discovery that one's wife has been violated before marriage ... since the marriage.
• B2 That she previously committed a fault.
• B3 Discovery that one's wife has formerly been a prostitute.
• B4 Discovery of dishonor on the part of a lover.
• B5 Discovery that one's mistress, formerly a prostitute, has returned to her old life.
• B6 Discovery that one's lover is a scoundrel, or that one's mistress is a woman of bad character ... the same discovery concerning a so-called king.
• B7 The same discovery concerning one's wife.
• C Discovery that one's son is an assassin.
• D1 Duty of punishing a son who is a traitor to country. A brother who is a traitor to his party.
• D2 Duty of punishing a son condemned under a law which the father has made.
• D3 Duty of punishing a son believed to be guilty.
• D4 Duty of sacrificing, to fulfill a vow of tyrannicide, a father until then unknown.
• D5 Duty of punishing a brother who is an assassin.
• D6 Duty of punishing one's mother to avenge one's father.

28. Obstacles to Love.

Elements

• Two lovers
• An obstacle.

Subtypes

• A1 Marriage prevented by inequality of rank.
• A2 Inequality of fortune an impediment to marriage.
• B Marriage prevented by enemies and contingent obstacles.
• C1 Marriage forbidden on account of the young woman's previous betrothal to another.
• C2 The same case, complicated by an imaginary marriage of the beloved object.
• D1 A free union impeded by the opposition of relatives.
• D2 Family affection disturbed by the parents-in-law.
• E By the incompatibility of temper of the lovers.
• F Love.

29. An Enemy Loved.

Elements

• The beloved enemy
• The lover
• The hater.

Subtypes

• A The loved one hated by the kinsman of the lover.
• A1 The lover pursued by the brothers of his beloved.
• A2 The lover hated by the family of his beloved.
• A3 The lover is the son of a man hated by the kinsmen of his beloved.
• A4 The beloved is an enemy of the party of the woman who loves him.
• B1 The lover is the slayer of the father of his beloved.
• B2 The beloved is the slayer of the father of the beloved.
• B3 The beloved is the slayer of the brother of her lover.
• B4 The beloved is the slayer of the husband of the woman who loves him, but who has previously sworn to avenge that husband.
• B5 The same case, except that a lover, instead of a husband, has been slain.
• B6 The beloved is the slayer of a kinsman of the woman who loves him.
• B7 The beloved is the daughter of the slayer of her lover's father.

30. Ambition.

Elements

• An ambitious person
• A thing coveted
• An adversary.

Subtypes

• A1 Ambition watched and guarded against by a kinsman or patriot friend or by a brother.
• A2 By a relative or person under obligation.
• A3 By partisans.
• B Rebellious ambition (akin to #8).
• C1 Ambition and covetousness heaping crime upon crime.
• C2 Parricidal ambition.

31. Conflict with a God.

Elements

• A mortal
• An immortal

Subtypes

• A1 Struggle against a deity.
• A2 Strife with the believers in a god.
• B1 Controversy with a deity.
• B2 Punishment for contempt of a god.
• B3 Punishment for pride before a god.
• B4 Presumptuous rivalry with a god.
• B5 Imprudent rivalry with a deity.

32. Mistaken Jealousy.

Elements

• The jealous one
• The object of whose possession he is jealous
• the supposed accomplice
• The cause or the author of the mistake

Subtypes

• A1 The mistake originates in the suspicious mind of the jealous one.
• A2 Mistaken jealousy aroused by a fatal chance.
• A3 Mistaken jealousy of a love which is purely platonic.
• A4 Baseless jealousy aroused by malicious rumors.
• B1 Jealousy suggested by a traitor who is moved by hatred.
• B2 The same case, in which the traitor is moved by self-interest.
• B3 The same case, in which the traitor is moved by jealousy and self-interest.
• C1 Reciprocal jealousy suggested to husband and wife by a rival.
• C2 Jealousy suggested to the husband by a woman who is in love with him.
• C3 Jealousy suggested to the wife by a second rival.
• C4 Jealousy suggested to a happy lover by a deceived husband.

33. Erroneous Judgement.

Elements

• The mistaken one
• The victim of the mistake
• The cause or author of the mistake
• The guilty person

Subtypes

• A1 False suspicion where faith is necessary.
• A2 False suspicion (in which the jealousy is not without reason) of a mistress.
• A3 False suspicions aroused by a misunderstood attitude of a loved one.
• A4 By indifference.
• B1 False suspicions drawn upon oneself to save a friend.
• B2 They fall upon the innocent husband of the guilty one.
• B3 The same case as B2, but in which the innocent had a guilty intention or in which the innocent believes himself guilty.
• B4 A witness to a crime, in the interest of a loved one, lets accusation fall upon the innocent.
• C1 The accusation is allowed to fall upon an enemy.
• C2 The error is provoked by an enemy.
• C3 The mistake is directed against the victim by her brother.
• D1 False suspicion thrown by the real culprit upon one of his enemies.
• D2 Thrown by the real culprit upon the second victim against whom he has plotted from the beginning.
• D3 False suspicion thrown upon a rival.
• D4 Thrown upon one innocent, because he has refused to be an accomplice.
• D5 Thrown by a deserted mistress upon a lover who left her because he would not deceive her husband.
• D6 Struggle to rehabilitate oneself and to avenge a judicial error purposely caused.

34. Remorse.

Elements

• The culprit
• The victim or the sin
• The interrogator.

Subtypes

• A1 Remorse for an unknown crime.
• A2 Remorse for parricide.
• A3 Remorse for an assassination... for a judicial murder.
• A4 Remorse for the murder of husband or wife.
• B1 Remorse for a fault of love.
• B2 Remorse for adultery.

35. Recovery of a Lost One.

Elements

• The seeker
• The one found.

36. Loss of Loved Ones.

Elements

• A kinsman slain
• A kinsman spectator
• An executioner

Subtypes

• A1 Witnessing the slaying of kinsmen, while powerless to prevent it.
• A2 Helping to bring misfortune upon one's people through professional secrecy.
• B Divining the death of a loved one.
• C Learning of the death of a kinsman or ally.
• D Relapse in primitive baseness, through despair on learning of the death of a loved one.

37. Mistaken Identity.

Subtypes

• A Thinking someone is rich when he's poor.
• B The wrong man caught in the web of fear.
• C Schizophrenia.