Omŏle, or Homŏle, a mountain of Thessaly. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 675.——There were some festivals called Homoleia, which were celebrated in Bœotia in honour of Jupiter, surnamed Homoleius.

Omophagia, a festival in honour of Bacchus. The word signifies the eating of raw flesh. See: Dionysia.

Omphăle, a queen of Lydia, daughter of Jardanus. She married Tmolus, who, at his death, left her mistress of his kingdom. Omphale had been informed of the great exploits of Hercules, and wished to see so illustrious a hero. Her wish was soon gratified. After the murder of Eurytus, Hercules fell sick, and was ordered to be sold as a slave, that he might recover his health, and the right use of his senses. Mercury was commissioned to sell him, and Omphale bought him, and restored him to liberty. The hero became enamoured of his mistress, and the queen favoured his passion, and had a son by him, whom some call Agelaus, and others Lamon. From this son were descended Gyges and Crœsus; but this opinion is different from the account which makes these Lydian monarchs spring from Alcæus, a son of Hercules by Malis, one of the female servants of Omphale. Hercules is represented by the poets as so desperately enamoured of the queen that, to conciliate her esteem, he spins by her side among her women, while she covers herself with the lion’s skin, and arms herself with the club of the hero, and often strikes him with her sandals for the uncouth manner with which he holds the distaff, &c. Their fondness was mutual. As they once travelled together, they came to a grotto on mount Tmolus, where the queen dressed herself in the habit of her lover, and obliged him to appear in a female garment. After they had supped, they both retired to rest in different rooms, as a sacrifice on the morrow to Bacchus required. In the night, Faunus, or rather Pan, who was enamoured of Omphale, introduced himself into the cave. He went to the bed of the queen, but the lion’s skin persuaded him that it was the dress of Hercules, and therefore he repaired to the bed of Hercules, in hopes to find there the object of his affection. The female dress of Hercules deceived him, and he laid himself down by his side. The hero was awakened, and kicked the intruder into the middle of the cave. The noise awoke Omphale, and Faunus was discovered lying on the ground, greatly disappointed and ashamed. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 305, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 11, li. 17.

Omphălos, a place of Crete, sacred to Jupiter, on the borders of the river Triton. It received its name from the umbilical cord (ὀμφαλος) of Jupiter, which fell there soon after his birth. Diodorus.

Omphis, a king of India, who delivered himself up to Alexander the Great. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 12.

Onæum, or Oæneum, a promontory and town of Dalmatia. Livy, bk. 43, ch. 19.

Onārus, a priest of Bacchus, who is supposed to have married Ariadne after she had been abandoned by Theseus. Plutarch, Theseus.

Onasĭmus, a sophist of Athens, who flourished in the reign of Constantine.

Onātas, a famous statuary of Ægina son of Micon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 42.

Onchemītes, a wind which blows from Onchesmus, a harbour of Epirus, towards Italy. The word is sometimes spelt Anchesites and Anchemites. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 2.—Ptolemæus.

Onchestus, a town of Bœotia, founded by Onchestus, a son of Neptune. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 26.

Oneion, a place of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Onesicrĭtus, a cynic philosopher of Ægina, who went with Alexander into Asia, and was sent to the Indian Gymnosophists. He wrote a history of the king’s life, which has been censured for the romantic, exaggerated, and improbable narrative it gives. It is asserted that Alexander, upon reading it, said that he should be glad to come to life again for some time, to see what reception the historian’s work met with. Plutarch, Alexander.—Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 10.

Onesĭmus, a Macedonian nobleman, treated with great kindness by the Roman emperors. He wrote an account of the life of the emperor Probus, and of Carus, with great precision and elegance.

Onesippus, a son of Hercules. Apollodorus.

Onesius, a king of Salamis, who revolted from the Persians.

Onetorĭdes, an Athenian officer, who attempted to murder the garrison which Demetrius had stationed at Athens, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Onium, a place of Peloponnesus, near Corinth.

Onoba, a town near the columns of Hercules. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Onobala, a river of Sicily.

Onochŏnus, a river of Thessaly, falling into the Peneus. It was dried up by the army of Xerxes. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 196.

Onomacrĭtus, a soothsayer of Athens. It is generally believed that the Greek poem on the Argonautic expedition, attributed to Orpheus, was written by Onomacritus. The elegant poems of Musæus are also, by some, supposed to be the production of his pen. He flourished about 516 years before the christian era, and was expelled from Athens by Hipparchus, one of the sons of Pisistratus. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 6.——A Locrian, who wrote concerning laws, &c. Aristotle, bk. 2, Politics.

Onomarchus, a Phocian, son of Euthycrates and brother of Philomelus, whom he succeeded, as general of his countrymen, in the sacred war. After exploits of valour and perseverance, he was defeated and slain in Thessaly by Philip of Macedon, who ordered his body to be ignominiously hung up, for the sacrilege offered to the temple of Delphi. He died 353 B.C. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 4.—Diodorus, bk. 16.——A man to whose care Antigonus entrusted the keeping of Eumenes. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes.

Onomastorĭdes, a Lacedæmonian ambassador sent to Darius, &c. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Onomastus, a freedman of the emperor Otho. Tacitus.

Onophas, one of the seven Persians who conspired against the usurper Smerdis. Ctesias.——An officer in the expedition of Xerxes against Greece.

Onosander, a Greek writer, whose book De Imperatoris Institutione has been edited by Schwebel, with a French translation, folio, Nuremberg, 1752.

Onythes, a friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 514.

Opalia, festivals celebrated by the Romans, in honour of Ops, on the 14th of the calends of January.

Ophēlas, a general of Cyrene, defeated by Agathocles.

Opheltes, a son of Lycurgus king of Thrace. He is the same as Archemorus. See: Archemorus.——The father of Euryalus, whose friendship with Nisus is proverbial. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 201.——One of the companions of Acœtes, changed into a dolphin by Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, fable 8.

Ophensis, a town of Africa. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 50.

Ophiădes, an island on the coast of Arabia, so called from the great number of serpents found there. It belonged to the Egyptian kings, and was considered valuable for the topaz it produced. Diodorus, bk. 3.

Ophias, a patronymic given to Combe, as daughter of Ophius, an unknown person. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 382.

Ophioneus, was an ancient soothsayer in the age of Aristodemus. He was born blind.

Ophis, a small river of Arcadia, which falls into the Alpheus.

Ophiūsa, the ancient name of Rhodes.——A small island near Crete.——A town of Sarmatia.——An island near the Baleares, so called from the number of serpents which it produced (ὀφις, serpens). It is now called Formentera.

Ophrynium, a town of Troas on the Hellespont. Hector had a grove there. Strabo, bk. 13.

Opĭci, the ancient inhabitants of Campania, from whose mean occupations the word Opicus has been used to express disgrace. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 207.

Opilius, a grammarian who flourished about 94 years before Christ. He wrote a book called Libri Musarum.

Lucius Opimius, a Roman who made himself consul in opposition to the interests and efforts of the Gracchi. He showed himself a most inveterate enemy to Caius Gracchus and his adherents, and behaved, during his consulship, like a dictator. He was accused of bribery, and banished. He died of want at Dyrrachium. Cicero, For Sestius, For Plancius, & Against Piso.—Plutarch.——A Roman, who killed one of the Cimbri in single combat.——A rich usurer at Rome in the age of Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 142.

Opis, a town on the Tigris, afterwards called Antiochia. Xenophon, Anabasis, bk. 2.——A nymph who was among Diana’s attendants. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, lis. 532 & 867.——A town near the mouth of the Tigris.——One of Cyrene’s attendants. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 343.

Opĭter, a Roman consul, &c.

Opitergīni, a people near Aquileia, on the Adriatic. Their chief city was called Opitergum, now Oderso. Lucan, bk. 4, li. 416.

Opītes, a native of Argos, killed by Hector in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad.

Oppia, a vestal virgin, buried alive for her incontinence.

Oppia lex, by Caius Oppius the tribune, A.U.C. 540. It required that no woman should wear above half an ounce of gold, have party-coloured garments, or be carried in any city or town, or to any place within a mile’s distance, unless it was to celebrate some sacred festivals or solemnities. This famous law, which was made while Annibal was in Italy, and while Rome was in distressed circumstances, created discontent, and, 18 years after, the Roman ladies petitioned the assembly of the people that it might be repealed. Cato opposed it strongly, and made many satirical reflections upon the women for their appearing in public to solicit votes. The tribune Valerius, who had presented their petition to the assembly, answered the objections of Cato, and his eloquence had such an influence on the minds of the people, that the law was instantly abrogated with the unanimous consent of all the comitia, Cato alone excepted. Livy, bks. 33 & 34.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3.

Oppiānus, a Greek poet of Cilicia in the second century. His father’s name was Agesilaus, and his mother’s Zenodota. He wrote some poems, celebrated for their elegance and sublimity. Two of his poems are now extant, five books on fishing called alieuticon, and four on hunting called cynegeticon. The emperor Caracalla was so pleased with his poetry, that he gave him a piece of gold for every verse of his cynegeticon; from which circumstance the poem received the name of the golden verses of Oppian. The poet died of the plague in the 30th year of his age. His countrymen raised statues to his honour, and engraved on his tomb that the gods had hastened to call back Oppian in the flower of youth, only because he had already excelled all mankind. The best edition of his works is that of Schneider, 8vo, Strasbourg, 1776.

Oppidius, a rich old man introduced by Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 168, as wisely dividing his possessions among his two sons, and warning them against those follies and that extravagance which he believed he saw rising in them.

Caius Oppius, a friend of Julius Cæsar, celebrated for his life of Scipio Africanus, and of Pompey the Great. In the latter he paid not much regard to historical facts, and took every opportunity to defame Pompey, to extol the character of his patron Cæsar. In the age of Suetonius, he was deemed the true author of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish wars, which some attribute to Cæsar, and others to Aulus Hirtius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 53.——An officer sent by the Romans against Mithridates. He met with ill success, and was sent in chains to the king, &c.——A Roman who saved his aged father from the dagger of the triumvirate.

Ops (opis), a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, the same as the Rhea of the Greeks, who married Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She was known among the ancients by the different names of Cybele, Bona Dea, Magna Mater, Thya, Tellus, Proserpina, and even of Juno and Minerva; and the worship which was paid to these apparently several deities was offered merely to one and the same person, mother of the gods. The word Ops seems to be derived from Opus; because the goddess, who is the same as the earth, gives nothing without labour. Tatius built her a temple at Rome. She was generally represented as a matron, with her right hand opened, as if offering assistance to the helpless, and holding a loaf in her left hand. Her festivals were called Opalia, &c. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2, &c.—Tibullus, poem 4, li. 68.—Pliny, bk. 19, ch. 6.

Optātus, one of the fathers, whose works were edited by Du Pin, folio, Paris, 1700.

Optĭmus Maximus, epithets given to Jupiter to denote his greatness, omnipotence, and supreme goodness. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 25.

Opus (opuntis), a city of Locris, on the Asopus, destroyed by an earthquake. Strabo, bk. 9.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 7.

Ora, a town in India, taken by Alexander.——One of Jupiter’s mistresses.

Oracŭlum, an answer of the gods to the questions of men, or the place where those answers were given. Nothing is more famous than the ancient oracles of Egypt, Greece, Rome, &c. They were supposed to be the will of the gods themselves, and they were consulted, not only upon every important matter, but even in the affairs of private life. To make peace or war, to introduce a change of government, to plant a colony, to enact laws, to raise an edifice, to marry, were sufficient reasons to consult the will of the gods. Mankind, in consulting them, showed that they wished to pay implicit obedience to the command of the divinity, and, when they had been favoured with an answer, they acted with more spirit and with more vigour, conscious that the undertaking had met with the sanction and approbation of heaven. In this, therefore, it will not appear wonderful that so many places were sacred to oracular purposes. The small province of Bœotia could once boast of her 25 oracles, and Peloponnesus of the same number. Not only the chief of the gods gave oracles, but, in process of time, heroes were admitted to enjoy the same privileges; and the oracles of a Trophonius and an Antinous were soon able to rival the fame of Apollo and of Jupiter. The most celebrated oracles of antiquity were those of Dodona, Delphi, Jupiter Ammon, &c. See: Dodona, Delphi, Ammon. The temple of Delphi seemed to claim a superiority over the other temples; its fame was once more extended, and its riches were so great, that not only private persons, but even kings and numerous armies, made it an object of plunder and of rapine. The manner of delivering oracles was different. A priestess at Delphi [See: Pythia] was permitted to pronounce the oracles of the god, and her delivery of the answers was always attended with acts of apparent madness and desperate fury. Not only women but even doves, were the ministers of the temple of Dodona; and the suppliant votary was often startled to hear his questions readily answered by the decayed trunk or the spreading branches of a neighbouring oak. Ammon conveyed his answers in a plain and open manner; but Amphiaraus required many ablutions and preparatory ceremonies, and he generally communicated his oracles to his suppliants in dreams and visions. Sometimes the first words that were heard, after issuing from the temple, were deemed the answers of the oracles, and sometimes the nodding or shaking of the head of the statue, the motions of fishes in a neighbouring lake, or their reluctance in accepting the food which was offered to them, were as strong and valid as the most express and the minutest explanations. The answers were also sometimes given in verse, or written on tablets, but their meaning was always obscure, and often the cause of disaster to such as consulted them. Crœsus, when he consulted the oracle of Delphi, was told that, if he crossed the Halys, he should destroy a great empire; he supposed that that empire was the empire of his enemy, but unfortunately it was his own. The words of Credo te, Æacida, Romanos vincere posse, which Pyrrhus received when he wished to assist the Tarentines against the Romans, by a favourable interpretation for himself, proved his ruin. Nero was ordered by the oracle of Delphi to beware of 73 years; but the pleasing idea that he should live to that age, rendered him careless, and he was soon convinced of his mistake, when Galba, in his 73rd year, had the presumption to dethrone him. It is a question among the learned whether the oracles were given by the inspiration of evil spirits, or whether they proceeded from the imposture of the priests. Imposture, however, and forgery cannot long flourish, and falsehood becomes its own destroyer; and, on the contrary, it is well known how much confidence an enlightened age, therefore, much more the credulous and the superstitious, place upon dreams and romantic stories. Some have strongly believed that all the oracles of the earth ceased at the birth of Christ, but the supposition is false. It was, indeed, the beginning of their decline; but they remained in repute, and were consulted, though perhaps not so frequently, till the fourth century, when christianity began to triumph over paganism. The oracles often suffered themselves to be bribed. Alexander did it, but it is well known that Lysander failed in the attempt. Herodotus, who first mentioned the corruption which often prevailed in the oracular temples of Greece and Egypt, has been severely treated for his remarks by the historian Plutarch. Demosthenes is also a witness of the corruption, and he observed that the oracles of Greece were servilely subservient to the will and pleasure of Philip king of Macedon, as he beautifully expresses it by the word φιλιππιζειν. If some of the Greeks, and other European and Asiatic countries, paid so much attention to oracles, and were so fully persuaded of their veracity, and even divinity, many of their leading men and of their philosophers were apprised of their deceit, and paid no regard to the command of priests, whom money could corrupt, and interposition silence. The Egyptians showed themselves the most superstitious of mankind, by their blind acquiescence to the imposition of the priests, who persuaded them that the safety and happiness of their life depended upon the mere motions of an ox, or the tameness of a crocodile. Homer, Iliad; Odyssey, bk. 10.—Herodotus, bks. 1 & 2.—Xenophon, Memorabilia.—Strabo, bks. 5, 7, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum; Agesilaus; De Herodoti Malignitate.—Cicero, de Divinatione bk. 1, ch. 19.—Justin, bk. 24, ch. 6.—Livy, bk. 37.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, Lysander.—Aristophanes, Knights & Wealth.—Demosthenes, Philippics.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1.

Oræa, a small country of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30.——Certain solemn sacrifices of fruits offered in the four seasons of the year, to obtain mild and temperate weather. They were offered to the goddesses who presided over the seasons, who attended upon the sun, and who received divine worship at Athens.

Orasus, a man who killed Ptolemy the son of Pyrrhus.

Orates, a river of European Scythia. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 47. As this river is not now known, Vossius reads Cretes, a river which is found in Scythia. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 4, li. 719.—Thucydides, bk. 4.

Orbelus, a mountain of Thrace or Macedonia.

Orbĭlius Pupillus, a grammarian of Beneventum, who was the first instructor of the poet Horace. He came to Rome in the consulship of Cicero, and there, as a public teacher, acquired more fame than money. He was naturally of a severe disposition, of which his pupils often felt the effects. He lived almost to his 100th year, and lost his memory some time before his death. Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians, ch. 9.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 71.

Orbitanium, a town of the Samnites. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 20.

Orbōna, a mischievous goddess at Rome, who, as it was supposed, made children die. Her temple at Rome was near that of the gods Lares. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 25.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Orcădes, islands on the northern coasts of Britain, now called the Orkneys. They were unknown till Britain was discovered to be an island by Agricola, who presided there as governor. Tacitus, Agricola.—Juvenal satire 2, li. 161.

Orchālis, an eminence of Bœotia, near Haliartus, called also Alopecos. Plutarch, Lysander.

Orchămus, a king of Assyria, father of Leucothoe by Eurynome. He buried his daughter alive for her amours with Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 212.

Orchia lex, by Orchius the tribune, A.U.C. 566. It was enacted to limit the number of guests that were to be admitted at an entertainment; and it also enforced that, during supper, which was the chief meal among the Romans, the doors of every house should be left open.

Orchomĕnus, or Orchomĕnum, a town of Bœotia, at the west of the lake Copais. It was anciently called Minyeia, and from that circumstance the inhabitants were often called Minyans of Orchomenos. There was at Orchomenos a celebrated temple, built by Eteocles son of Cephisus, sacred to the Graces, who were from thence called the Orchomenian goddesses. The inhabitants founded Teos in conjunction with the Ionians, under the sons of Codrus. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 146.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 37.—Strabo, bk. 9.——A town of Arcadia, at the north of Mantinea. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.——A town of Thessaly, with a river of the same name. Strabo.——A son of Lycaon king of Arcadia, who gave his name to a city of Arcadia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8.——A son of Minyas king of Bœotia, who gave the name of Orchomenians to his subjects. He died without issue, and the crown devolved to Clymenus the son of Presbon, &c. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.

Orcus, one of the names of the god of hell, the same as Pluto, though confounded by some with Charon. He had a temple at Rome. The word Orcus is generally used to signify the infernal regions. Horace, bk. 1, ode 29, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 502, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 116.

Orcynia, a place of Cappadocia, where Eumenes was defeated by Antigonus.

Ordessus, a river of Scythia, which falls into the Ister. Herodotus.

Ordovices, the people of North Wales in Britain, mentioned by Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 53.

Oreădes, nymphs of the mountains (ὀρος, mons), daughters of Phoroneus and Hecate. Some call them Orestiades, and give them Jupiter for father. They generally attended upon Diana, and accompanied her in hunting. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 504.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 6.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 787.

Oreas, a son of Hercules and Chryseis.

Orestæ, a people of Epirus. They received their name from Orestes, who fled to Epirus when cured of his insanity. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 249.——Of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 34.

Orestes, a son of ♦Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When his father was cruelly murdered by Clytemnestra and Ægisthus, young Orestes was saved from his mother’s dagger by means of his sister Electra, called Laodicea by Homer, and he was privately conveyed to the house of Strophius, who was king of Phocis, and who had married a sister of Agamemnon. He was tenderly treated by Strophius, who educated him with his son Pylades. The two young princes soon became acquainted, and, from their familiarity, arose the most inviolable attachment and friendship. When Orestes was arrived to the years of manhood, he visited Mycenæ, and avenged his father’s death by assassinating his mother Clytemnestra, and her adulterer Ægisthus. The manner in which he committed this murder is variously reported. According to Æschylus he was commissioned by Apollo to avenge his father, and, therefore, he introduced himself, with his friend Pylades, at the court of Mycenæ, pretending to bring the news of the death of Orestes from king Strophius. He was at first received with coldness, and when he came into the presence of Ægisthus, who wished to inform himself of the particulars, he murdered him, and soon after Clytemnestra shared the adulterer’s fate. Euripides and Sophocles mention the same circumstance. Ægisthus was assassinated after Clytemnestra, according to Sophocles; and, in Euripides, Orestes is represented as murdering the adulterer, while he offers a sacrifice to the nymphs. This murder, as the poet mentions, irritates the guards, who were present, but Orestes appeases their fury by telling them who he is, and immediately he is acknowledged king of the country. Afterwards he stabs his mother, at the instigation of his sister Electra, after he has upbraided her for her infidelity and cruelty to her husband. Such meditated murders receive the punishment which, among the ancients, was always supposed to attend parricide. Orestes is tormented by the Furies, and exiles himself to Argos, where he is still pursued by the avengeful goddesses. Apollo himself purifies him, and he is acquitted by the unanimous opinion of the Areopagites, whom Minerva herself instituted on this occasion, according to the narration of the poet Æschylus, who flatters the Athenians in his tragical story, by representing them as passing judgment even upon the gods themselves. According to Pausanias, Orestes was purified of the murder, not at Delphi, but at Trœzene, where still was seen a large stone at the entrance of Diana’s temple, upon which the ceremonies of purification had been performed by nine of the principal citizens of the place. There was also, at Megalopolis in Arcadia, a temple dedicated to the Furies, near which Orestes cut off one of his fingers with his teeth in a fit of insanity. These different traditions are confuted by Euripides, who says that Orestes, after the murder of his mother, consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, where he was informed that nothing could deliver him from the persecutions of the Furies, if he did not bring into Greece Diana’s statue, which was in the Taurica Chersonesus, and which, as it is reported by some, had fallen down from heaven. This was an arduous enterprise. The king of the Chersonesus always sacrificed on the altars of the goddess all such as entered the borders of his country. Orestes and his friend were both carried before Thoas the king of the place, and they were doomed to be sacrificed. Iphigenia was then priestess of Diana’s temple, and it was her office to immolate these strangers. The intelligence that they were Grecians delayed the preparations, and Iphigenia was anxious to learn something about a country which had given her birth. See: Iphigenia. She even interested herself in their misfortunes, and offered to spare the life of one of them provided he would convey letters to Greece from her hand. This was a difficult trial; never was friendship more truly displayed, according to the words of Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 3, poem 2:

At last Pylades gave way to the pressing entreaties of his friend, and consented to carry the letters of Iphigenia to Greece. These were addressed to Orestes himself, and, therefore, these circumstances soon led to a total discovery of the connections of the priestess with the man whom she was going to immolate. Iphigenia was convinced that he was her brother Orestes, and, when the causes of their journey had been explained, she resolved, with the two friends, to fly from Chersonesus, and to carry away the statue of Diana. Their flight was discovered, and Thoas prepared to pursue them; but Minerva interfered, and told him that all had been done by the will and approbation of the gods. Some suppose that Orestes came to Cappadocia from Chersonesus, and that there he left the statue of Diana at Comana. Others contradict this tradition, and, according to Pausanias, the statue of Diana Orthia was the same as that which had been carried away from the Chersonesus. Some also suppose that Orestes brought it to Aricia, in Italy, where Diana’s worship was established. After these celebrated adventures, Orestes ascended the throne of Argos, where he reigned in perfect security, and married Hermione the daughter of Menelaus, and gave his sister to his friend Pylades. The marriage of Orestes with Hermione is a matter of dispute among the ancients. All are agreed that she had been promised to the son of Agamemnon, but Menelaus had married her to Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, who had shown himself so truly interested in his cause during the Trojan war. The marriage of Hermione with Neoptolemus displeased Orestes; he remembered that she had been early promised to him, and therefore he resolved to recover her by force or artifice. This he effected by causing Neoptolemus to be assassinated, or assassinating him himself. According to Ovid’s epistle of Hermione to Orestes, Hermione had always been faithful to her first lover, and even it was by her persuasion that Orestes removed her from the house of Neoptolemus. Hermione was dissatisfied with the partiality of Neoptolemus for Andromache, and her attachment for Orestes was increased. Euripides, however, and others, speak differently of Hermione’s attachment to Neoptolemus: she loved him so tenderly, that she resolved to murder Andromache, who seemed to share, in a small degree, the affection of her husband. She was ready to perpetrate the horrid deed when Orestes came into Epirus, and she was easily persuaded by the foreign prince to withdraw herself, in her husband’s absence, from a country which seemed to contribute so much to her sorrows. Orestes, the better to secure the affections of Hermione, assassinated Neoptolemus [See: Neoptolemus], and retired to his kingdom of Argos. His old age was crowned with peace and security, and he died in the 90th year of his age, leaving his throne to his son Tisamenes by Hermione. Three years after, the Heraclidæ recovered the Peloponnesus, and banished the descendants of Menelaus from the throne of Argos. Orestes died in Arcadia, as some suppose, by the bite of a serpent; and the Lacedæmonians, who had become his subjects at the death of Menelaus, were directed by an oracle to bring his bones to Sparta. They were some time after discovered at Tegea, and his stature appeared to be seven cubits, according to the traditions mentioned by Herodotus and others. The friendship of Orestes and of Pylades became proverbial, and the two friends received divine honours among the Scythians, and were worshipped in temples. Pausanias, bks. 1, 2, 4, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 1, chs. 1 & 3.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Strabo, bks. 9 & 13.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 8; Ex Ponto, bk. 3, poem 2; Metamorphoses, bk. 15; Ibis.—Euripides; Orestes; Andromache, &c. Iphigeneia.—Sophocles, Electra, &c.—Aeschylus, Eumenides; Agamemnon, &c.—Horodotus, bk. 1, ch. 69.—Hyginus, fables 120 & 261.—Plutarch, Lycurgus.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 6, &c.—Pindar, Pythian, bk. 2.—Pliny, bk. 33.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, &c.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3, li. 304; bk. 4, li. 530.—Tzetzes, On Lycophron, li. 1374.——A son of Achelaus. Apollodorus.——A man sent as ambassador, by Attila king of the Huns, to the emperor Theodosius. He was highly honoured at the Roman court, and his son Augustulus was the last emperor of the western empire.——A governor of Egypt under the Roman emperors.——A robber of Athens who pretended madness, &c. Aristophanes, Acharnians, li. 1166.——A general of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 108.

♦ ‘Agememnon’ replaced with ‘Agamemnon’

Oresteum, a town of Arcadia, about 18 miles from Sparta. It was founded by Orestheus, a son of Lycaon, and originally called Oresthesium, and afterwards Oresteum, from Orestes the son of Agamemnon, who resided there for some time after the murder of Clytemnestra. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 8.—Euripides.

Orestīdæ, the descendants or subjects of Orestes the son of Agamemnon. They were driven from the Peloponnesus by the Heraclidæ, and came to settle in a country which, from them, was called Orestida, at the south-west of Macedonia. Some suppose that that part of Greece originally received its name from Orestes, who fled and built there a city, which gave its founder’s name to the whole province. Thucydides, bk. 2.—Livy, bk. 31.

Aurelia Orestilla, a mistress of Catiline. Cicero, ♦Letters to his Friends, bk. 8, ch. 7.

♦ ‘ad. Div. 7,’ replaced with ‘Letters to his Friends, bk. 8’

Orestis, or Orestida, a part of Macedonia. Cicero, On the Responses of the Haruspices, ch. 16.

Orĕtæ, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, on the Euxine sea.

Oretāni, a people of Spain, whose capital was Oretum, now Oreto. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 11; bk. 35, ch. 7.

Oretillia, a woman who married Caligula, by whom she was soon after banished.

Orēum, one of the principal towns of Eubœa. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 6.

Orga, or Orgas, a river of Phrygia, falling into the Mæander. Strabo.—Pliny.

Orgessum, a town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 27.

Orgetŏrix, one of the chief men of the Helvetii, while Cæsar was in Gaul. He formed a conspiracy against the Romans, and, when accused, he destroyed himself. Cæsar.

Orgia, festivals in honour of Bacchus. They are the same as the Bacchanalia, Dionysia, &c., which were celebrated by the ancients to commemorate the triumph of Bacchus in India. See: Dionysia.

Oribăsus, a celebrated physician, greatly esteemed by the emperor Julian, in whose reign he flourished. He abridged the works of Galenus, and of all the most respectable writers on physic, at the request of the emperor. He accompanied Julian into the east, but his skill proved ineffectual in attempting to cure the fatal wound which his benefactor had received. After Julian’s death, he fell into the hands of the barbarians. The best edition of his works is that of Dundas, 4to, Leiden, 1745.——One of Actæon’s dogs, ab ὀρος, mons, and (βαινω, scando. Ovid, Metamorphoses.

Orĭcum, or Orĭcus, a town of Epirus, on the Ionian sea, founded by a colony from Colchis, according to Pliny. It was called Dardania, because Helenus and Andromache, natives of Troy or Dardania, reigned over the country after the Trojan war. It had a celebrated harbour, and was greatly esteemed by the Romans on account of its situation, but it was not well defended. The tree which produces the turpentine grew there in abundance. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 136.—Livy, bk. 24, ch. 40.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 89.—Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 1, &c.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 187.

Oriens, in ancient geography, is taken for all the most eastern parts of the world, such as Parthia, India, Assyria, &c.

Origen, a Greek writer, as much celebrated for the easiness of his manners, his humility, and modesty, as for his learning and the sublimity of his genius. He was surnamed Adamantus, from his assiduity; and became so rigid a christian that he made himself a eunuch, by following the literal sense of a passage in the Greek testament, which speaks of the voluntary eunuchs of Christ. He suffered martyrdom in his 69th year, A.D. 254. His works were excellent and numerous, and contained a number of homilies, commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and different treatises, besides the Hexapla, so called from its being divided into six columns, the first of which contained the Hebrew text, the second the same text in Greek characters, the third the Greek version of the Septuagint, the fourth that of Aquila, the fifth that of Symmachus, and the sixth Theodotion’s Greek version. This famous work first gave the hint for the compilation of our Polyglot Bibles. The works of Origen have been learnedly edited by the Benedictine monks, though the whole is not yet completed, in 4 vols., folio, Paris, 1733, 1740, and 1759. The Hexapla was published in 8vo, at Lipscomb, 1769, by Carl Friedrich Bahrdt.

Orīgo, a courtesan in the age of Horace. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 55.

Orinus, a river of Sicily.

Oriobătes, a general of Darius at the battle of Arbela, &c. Curtius, bk. 4.

Orīon, a celebrated giant sprung from the urine of Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury. These three gods, as they travelled over Bœotia, met with great hospitality from Hyrieus, a peasant of the country, who was ignorant of their dignity and character. They were entertained with whatever the cottage afforded, and, when Hyrieus had discovered that they were gods, because Neptune told him to fill up Jupiter’s cup with wine, after he had served it before the rest, the old man welcomed them by the voluntary sacrifice of an ox. Pleased with his piety, the gods promised to grant him whatever he required, and the old man, who had lately lost his wife, to whom he had promised never to marry again, desired them that, as he was childless, they would give him a son without another marriage. The gods consented, and they ordered him to bury in the ground the skin of the victim, into which they had all three made water. Hyrieus did as they commanded, and when, nine months after, he dug for the skin, he found in it a beautiful child, whom he called Urion, ab urinâ. The name was changed into Orion, by the corruption of one letter, as Ovid says, Perdidit antiquum littera prima sonum. Orion soon rendered himself celebrated, and Diana took him among her attendants, and even became deeply enamoured of him. His gigantic stature, however, displeased Œnopion king of Chios, whose daughter Hero or Merope he demanded in marriage. The king, not to deny him openly, promised to make him his son-in-law as soon as he delivered his island from wild beasts. This task, which Œnopion deemed impracticable, was soon performed by Orion, who eagerly demanded his reward. Œnopion, on pretence of complying, intoxicated his illustrious guest, and put out his eyes on the seashore, where he had laid himself down to sleep. Orion, finding himself blind when he awoke, was conducted by the sound to a neighbouring forge, where he placed one of the workmen on his back, and by his directions, went to a place where the rising sun was seen with the greatest advantage. Here he turned his face towards the luminary, and, as it is reported, he immediately recovered his eyesight, and hastened to punish the perfidious cruelty of Œnopion. It is said that Orion was an excellent workman in iron, and that he fabricated a subterraneous palace for Vulcan. Aurora, whom Venus had inspired with love, carried him away to the island of Delos, to enjoy his company with the greater security; but Diana, who was jealous of this, destroyed Orion with her arrows. Some say that Orion had provoked Diana’s resentment, by offering violence to Opis, one of her female attendants, or, according to others, because he had attempted the virtue of the goddess herself. According to Ovid, Orion died of the bite of a scorpion, which the earth produced, to punish his vanity in boasting that there was not on earth any animal which he could not conquer. Some say that Orion was the son of Neptune and Euryale, and that he had received from his father the privilege and power of walking over the sea without wetting his feet. Others made him son of Terra, like the rest of the giants. He had married a nymph called Sida before his connection with the family of Œnopion; but Sida was the cause of her own death, by boasting herself fairer than Juno. According to Diodorus, Orion was a celebrated hunter, superior to the rest of mankind by his strength and uncommon stature. He built the port of Zancle, and fortified the coast of Sicily against the frequent inundations of the sea, by heaping a mound of earth, called Pelorum, on which he built a temple to the gods of the sea. After death, Orion was placed in heaven, where one of the constellations still bears his name. The constellation of Orion, placed near the feet of the bull, is composed of 17 stars, in the form of a man holding a sword, which has given occasion to the poets often to speak of Orion’s sword. As the constellation of Orion, which rises about the 9th day of March, and sets about the 21st of June, is generally supposed to be accompanied, at its rising, with great rains and storms, it has acquired the epithet of aquosus, given it by Virgil. Orion was buried in the island of Delos, and the monument which the people of Tanagra in Bœotia showed, as containing the remains of this celebrated hero, was nothing but a cenotaph. The daughters of Orion distinguished themselves as much as their father; and when the oracle had declared that Bœotia should not be delivered from a dreadful pestilence before two of Jupiter’s children were immolated on the altars, they joyfully accepted the offer, and voluntarily sacrificed themselves for the good of their country. Their names were Menippe and Metioche. They had been carefully educated by Diana, and Venus and Minerva had made them very rich and valuable presents. The deities of hell were struck at the patriotism of the two females, and immediately two stars were seen to arise from the earth, which still smoked with the blood, and they were placed in the heavens in the form of a crown. According to Ovid, their bodies were burned by the Thebans, and from their ashes arose two persons whom the gods soon after changed into constellations. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 5, li. 121; bk. 11, li. 309.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 517.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bks. 8 & 13; Fasti, bk. 5, &c.—Hyginus, fable 125, & Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 44, &c.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 13.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 13; bk. 3, odes 4 & 27; Epodes, poem 10, &c.—Lucan, bk. 1, &c.—Catullus, Carmina.—Palæphatus, bk. 1.—Parthenius, Narrationes Amatoriae, ch. 20.

Orissus, a prince of Spain, who put Hamilcar to flight, &c.

Orisulla Livia, a Roman matron, taken away from Piso, &c.

Orītæ, a people of India, who submitted to Alexander, &c. Strabo, bk. 15.

Orithyia, a daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens by Praxithea. She was courted and carried away by Boreas king of Thrace, as she crossed the Ilissus, and became mother of Cleopatra, Chione, Zetus, and Calais. Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Apollonius, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Orpheus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 706; Fasti, bk. 5, li. 204.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 19; bk. 5, ch. 19.——One of the Nereides.——A daughter of Cecrops, who bore Europus to Macedon.——One of the Amazons, famous for her warlike and intrepid spirit. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Orĭtias, one of the hunters of the Calydonian boar. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 8.

Oriundus, a river of Illyricum. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 31.

Ormĕnus, a king of Thessaly, son of Cercaphus. He built a town which was called Ormenium. He was father of Amyntor. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 448.——A man who settled at Rhodes.——A son of Eurypylus, &c.

Ornea, a town of Argolis, famous for a battle fought there between the Lacedæmonians and Argives. Diodorus.

Orneates, a surname of Priapus, at Ornea.

Orneus, a centaur, son of Ixion and the Cloud. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 302.——A son of Erechtheus king of Athens, who built Ornea in Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 25.

Ornithiæ, a wind blowing from the north in the spring, and so called from the appearance of birds (ὀρνιθες, aves). Columella, bk. 11, ch. 2.

Ornītron, a town of Phœnicia between Tyre and Sidon.

Ornitus, a friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla in the Rutulian wars. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 677.

Ornospădes, a Parthian, driven from his country by Artabanus. He assisted Tiberius, and was made governor of Macedonia, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 37.

Ornytion, a son of Sisyphus king of Corinth, father of Phocus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 17.

Ornytus, a man of Cyzicus, killed by the Argonauts, &c. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 173.

Oroanda, a town of Pisidia, now Haviran. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 18.

Orobia, a town of Eubœa.

Orobii, a people of Italy, near Milan.

Orōdes, a prince of Parthia, who murdered his brother Mithridates, and ascended his throne. He defeated Crassus the Roman triumvir, and poured melted gold down the throat of his fallen enemy, to reproach him for his avarice and ambition. He followed the interest of Cassius and Brutus at Philippi. It is said that, when Orodes became old and infirm, his 30 children applied to him, and disputed in his presence their right to the succession. Phraates, the eldest of them, obtained the crown from his father, and to hasten him out of the world, he attempted to poison him. The poison had no effect; and Phraates, still determined on his father’s death, strangled him with his own hands, about 37 years before the christian era. Orodes had then reigned about 50 years. Justin, bk. 42, ch. 4.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 30.——Another king of Parthia, murdered for his cruelty. Josephus, bk. 18, Jewish Antiquities.——A son of Artabanus king of Armenia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 33.——One of the friends of Æneas in Italy, killed by Mezentius. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 732, &c.

Orœtes, a Persian governor of Sardis, famous for his cruel murder of Polycrates. He died B.C. 521. Herodotus.

Oromĕdon, a lofty mountain in the island of Cos. Theocritus, poem 7.——A giant. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 48.

Orontas, a relation of Artaxerxes, sent to Cyprus, where he made peace with Evagoras, &c. Polyænus, bk. 7.

♦Orontes, a satrap of Mysia, B.C. 385, who rebelled from Artaxerxes, &c. Polyænus.——A governor of Armenia. Polyænus.——A king of the Lycians during the Trojan war, who followed Æneas, and perished in a shipwreck. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 117; bk. 6, li. 34.——A river of Syria (now Asi), rising in Cœlosyria, and falling, after a rapid and troubled course, into the Mediterranean, below Antioch. According to Strabo, who mentions some fabulous accounts concerning it, the Orontes disappeared under ground for the space of five miles. The word Oronteus is often used as Syrius. Dionysius Periegetes.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 248.—Strabo, bk. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 20.

♦ ‘Orantes’ replaced with ‘Orontes’

Orophernes, a man who seized the kingdom of Cappadocia. He died B.C. 154.

Orōpus, a town of Bœotia, on the borders of Attica, near the Euripus, which received its name from Oropus, a son of Macedon. It was the frequent cause of quarrels between the Bœotians and the Athenians, whence some have called it one of the cities of Attica, and was at last confirmed in the possession of the Athenians by Philip king of Macedon. Amphiaraus had a temple there. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 34.—Strabo, bk. 9.——A small town of Eubœa.——Another in Macedonia.

Orosius, a Spanish writer, A.D. 416, who published a universal history, in seven books, from the creation to his own time, in which, though learned, diligent, and pious, he betrayed a great ignorance of the knowledge of historical facts, and of chronology. The best edition is that of Havercamp, 4to, Leiden, 1767.

Orospeda, a mountain of Spain. Strabo, bk. 3.

Orpheus, a son of Œager by the muse Calliope. Some suppose him to be the son of Apollo, to render his birth more illustrious. He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according to some, from Mercury, upon which he played with such a masterly hand, that even the most rapid rivers ceased to flow, the savage beasts of the forest forgot their wildness, and the mountains moved to listen to his song. All nature seemed charmed and animated, and the nymphs were his constant companions. Eurydice was the only one who made a deep impression on the melodious musician, and their nuptials were celebrated. Their happiness, however, was short; Aristaeus became enamoured of Eurydice, and, as she fled from her pursuer, a serpent, that was lurking in the grass, bit her foot, and she died of the poisonous wound. Her loss was severely felt by Orpheus, and he resolved to recover her, or perish in the attempt. With his lyre in his hand, he entered the infernal regions, and gained an easy admission to the palace of Pluto. The king of hell was charmed with the melody of his strains; and, according to the beautiful expressions of the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus forgot his perpetual thirst, and even the Furies relented. Pluto and Proserpine were moved with his sorrow, and consented to restore him Eurydice, provided he forbore looking behind till he had come to the extremest borders of hell. The conditions were gladly accepted, and Orpheus was already in sight of the upper regions of the air, when he forgot his promises, and turned back to look at his long-lost Eurydice. He saw her, but she instantly vanished from his eyes. He attempted to follow her, but he was refused admission; and the only comfort he could find, was to soothe his grief at the sound of his musical instrument, in grottoes, or on the mountains. He totally separated himself from the society of mankind; and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his coldness to their amorous passion, or, according to others, by his unnatural gratifications and impure indulgencies, attacked him while they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, and after they had torn his body to pieces, they threw his head into the Hebrus, which still articulated the words “Eurydice! Eurydice” as it was carried down the stream into the Ægean sea. Orpheus was one of the Argonauts, of which celebrated expedition he wrote a poetical account, still extant. This is doubted by Aristotle, who says, according to Cicero, that there never existed an Orpheus, but that the poems which pass under his name are the compositions of a Pythagorean philosopher named Cecrops. According to some of the moderns, the Argonautica, and the other poems attributed to Orpheus, are the production of the pen of Onomacritus, a poet who lived in the age of Pisistratus tyrant of Athens. Pausanias, however, and Diodorus Siculus, speak of Orpheus as a great poet and musician, who rendered himself equally celebrated by his knowledge of the art of war, by the extent of his understanding, and by the laws which he enacted. Some maintain that he was killed by a thunderbolt. He was buried at Pieria in Macedonia, according to Apollodorus. The inhabitants of Dion boasted that his tomb was in their city, and the people of mount Libethrus, in Thrace, claimed the same honour, and further observed, that the nightingales, which built their nests near his tomb, sang with greater melody than all other birds. Orpheus, as some report, after death received divine honours, the muses gave an honourable burial to his remains, and his lyre became one of the constellations in the heavens. The best edition of Orpheus is that of Gesner, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1764. Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 38.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 645; Georgics, bk. 4, li. 457, &c.—Hyginus, fable 14, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, fable 1, &c.; bk. 11, fable 1.—Plato, Republic, bk. 10.—Horace, bk. 1, odes 13 & 35.—Orpheus.

Orphĭca, a name by which the orgies of Bacchus were called, because they had been introduced in Europe from Egypt by Orpheus.

Orphne, a nymph of the infernal regions, mother of Ascalaphus by Acheron. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 542.

Orsedĭce, a daughter of Cinyras and Metharme. Apollodorus.

Orseis, a nymph who married Hellen. Apollodorus.

Orsillus, a Persian who fled to Alexander, when Bessus murdered Darius. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Orsilŏchus, a son of Idomeneus, killed by Ulysses in the Trojan war, &c. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 13, li. 260.——A son of the river Alpheus.——A Trojan killed by Camilla in the Rutulian wars, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, lis. 636 & 690.

Orsīnes, one of the officers of Darius at the battle of Arbela. Curtius, bk. 10, ch. 1.

Orsippus, a man of Megara, who was prevented from obtaining a prize at the Olympic games, because his clothes were entangled as he ran. This circumstance was the cause that, for the future, all the combatants were obliged to appear naked. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.

Marcus Ortalus, a grandson of Hortensius, who was induced to marry by a present from Augustus, who wished that ancient family not to be extinguished. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 37.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Suetonius, Tiberius.

Orthagŏras, a man who wrote a treatise on India, &c. Ælian, de Natura Animalium.——A musician in the age of Epaminondas.——A tyrant of Sicyon, who mingled severity with justice in his government. The sovereign authority remained upwards of 100 years in his family.

Orthæa, a daughter of Hyacinthus. Apollodorus.

Orthe, a town of Magnesia. Pliny.

Orthia, a surname of Diana at Sparta. In her sacrifices it was usual for boys to be whipped. See: Diamastigosis. Plutarch, Theseus, &c.

Orthosia, a town of Caria. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 25.——Of Phœnicia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 20.

Orthrus, or Orthos, a dog which belonged to Geryon, from which and the Chimæra sprung the Sphinx and the Nemæan lion. He had two heads, and was sprung from the union of Echidna and Typhon. He was destroyed by Hercules. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 310.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Ortōna. See: Artona.

Ortygia, a grove near Ephesus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 16.——A small island of Sicily, within the bay of Syracuse, which formed once one of the four quarters of that great city. It was in this island that the celebrated fountain Arethusa arose. Ortygia is now the only part remaining of the once famed Syracuse, about two miles in circumference, and inhabited by 18,000 souls. It has suffered, like the towns on the eastern coast, by the eruptions of Ætna. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 694.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 403.——An ancient name of the island of Delos. Some suppose that it received this name from Latona, who fled thither when changed into a quail (ὀρτυξ) by Jupiter, to avoid the pursuit of Juno. Diana was called Ortygia, as being born there; as also Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 651; Fasti, bk. 5, li. 692.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 124.

Ortygius, a Rutulian killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 573.

Orus, or Horus, one of the gods of the Egyptians, son of Osiris and Isis. He assisted his mother in avenging his father, who had been murdered by Typhon. Orus was skilled in medicine, he was acquainted with futurity, and he made the good and the happiness of his subjects the sole object of his government. He was the emblem of the sun among the Egyptians, and he was generally represented as an infant, swathed in variegated clothes. In one hand he held a staff, which terminated in the head of a hawk, in the other a whip with three thongs. Herodotus, bk. 2.—Plutarch, Iside et Osiride.—Diodorus, bk. 1.——The first king of Trœzene. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30.

Oryander, a satrap of Persia, &c. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Oryx, a place of Arcadia on the Ladon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Osaces, a Parthian general, who received a mortal wound from Cassius. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 5, ltr. 20.

Osca, a town of Spain, now Huesca, in Arragon. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 10.

Oschophŏria, a festival observed by the Athenians. It receives its name ἀπο του φερειν τας ὀσχας, from carrying boughs hung up with grapes, called ὀσχαι. Its original institution is thus mentioned by Plutarch, Theseus. Theseus, at his return from Crete, forgot to hang out the white sail by which his father was to be apprised of his success. This neglect was fatal to Ægeus, who threw himself into the sea and perished. Theseus no sooner reached the land, than he sent a herald to inform his father of his safe return, and in the mean time he began to make the sacrifices which he vowed when he first set sail from Crete. The herald, on his entrance into the city, found the people in great agitation. Some lamented the king’s death, while others, elated at the sudden news of the victory of Theseus, crowned the herald with garlands in demonstration of their joy. The herald carried back the garlands on his staff to the sea-shore, and after he had waited till Theseus had finished his sacrifice, he related the melancholy story of the king’s death. Upon this, the people ran in crowds to the city, showing their grief by cries and lamentations. From that circumstance, therefore, at the feast of the Oschophoria, not the herald but his staff is crowned with garlands, and all the people that are present always exclaim ἐλελευ, ιου, ιου, the first of which expresses haste, and the other a consternation or depression of spirits. The historian further mentions that Theseus, when he went to Crete, did not take with him the usual number of virgins, but that, instead of two of them, he filled up the number with two youths of his acquaintance, whom he made pass for women, by disguising their dress, and by using them to the ointment and perfumes of women, as well as by a long and successful imitation of their voice. The imposition succeeded; their sex was not discovered in Crete, and when Theseus had triumphed over the Minotaur, he, with these two youths, led a procession with branches in their hands, in the same habit which is still used at the celebration of the Oschophoria. The branches which were carried were in honour of Bacchus or of Ariadne, or because they returned in autumn when the grapes were ripe. Besides this procession, there was also a race exhibited, in which only young men whose parents were both alive were permitted to engage. It was usual for them to run from the temple of Bacchus to that of Minerva, which was on the sea-shore. The place where they stopped was called ὀσχοφοριον, because the boughs which they carried in their hands were deposited there. The reward of the conqueror was a cup called τεντα πλοα, five-fold, because it contained a mixture of five different things—wine, honey, cheese, meal, and oil. Plutarch, Theseus.