Chapter M (10)

=Octāvia=, a Roman lady, sister to the emperor Augustus, and celebrated
for her beauty and virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, and after
his death, Marcus Antony. Her marriage with Antony was a political
step to reconcile her brother and her husband. Antony proved for
some time attentive to her, but he soon after despised her for
Cleopatra, and when she attempted to withdraw him from this unlawful
amour by going to meet him at Athens, she was secretly rebuked, and
totally banished from his presence. This affront was highly resented
by Augustus, and though Octavia endeavoured to pacify him by
palliating her husband’s behaviour, he resolved to revenge her cause
by arms. After the battle of Actium and the death of Antony, Octavia,
forgetful of the injuries she had received, took into her house all
the children of her husband and treated them with maternal tenderness.
Marcellus her son by her first husband was married to a niece of
Augustus, and publicly intended as a successor to his uncle. His
sudden death plunged all his family into the greatest grief. Virgil,
whom Augustus patronized, undertook upon himself to pay a melancholy
tribute to the memory of a young man whom Rome regarded as her future
father and patron. He was desired to repeat his composition in the
presence of Augustus and of his sister. Octavia burst into tears as
soon as the poet began; but when he mentioned, _Tu Marcellus eris_,
she swooned away. This tender and pathetic encomium upon the merit
and the virtues of young Marcellus was liberally rewarded by Octavia,
and Virgil received 10,000 sesterces for every one of the verses.
Octavia had two daughters by Antony, Antonia Major and Antonia Minor.
The elder married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, by whom she had Cnæus
Domitius the father of the emperor Nero, by Agrippina the daughter
of Germanicus. Antonia Minor, who was as virtuous and as beautiful
as her mother, married Drusus the son of Tiberius, by whom she
had Germanicus and Claudius, who reigned before Nero. The death
of Marcellus continually preyed upon the mind of Octavia, who died
of melancholy about 10 years before the christian era. Her brother
paid great regard to her memory, by pronouncing himself her funeral
oration. The Roman people also showed their respect for her virtues
by their wish to pay her divine honours. _Suetonius_, _Augustus_.
――_Plutarch_, _Antonius_, &c.――――A daughter of the emperor Claudius
by Messalina. She was betrothed to Silanus, but by the intrigues of
Agrippina, she was married to the emperor Nero in the 16th year of
her age. She was soon after divorced on pretence of barrenness, and
the emperor married Poppæa, who exercised her enmity upon Octavia by
causing her to be banished into Campania. She was afterwards recalled
at the instance of the people, and Poppæa, who was resolved on her
ruin, caused her again to be banished to an island, where she was
ordered to kill herself by opening her veins. Her head was cut off
and carried to Poppæa. _Suetonius_ in _Claudius_, ch. 27; _Nero_,
chs. 7 & 35.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 12.

=Octāviānus=, or =Octāvius Cæsar=, the nephew of Cæsar the dictator.
After the battle of Actium and the final destruction of the Roman
republic, the servile senate bestowed upon him the title and surname
of _Augustus_, as more expressive of his greatness and dignity.
_See:_ Augustus.

=Octāvius=, a Roman officer who brought Perseus king of Macedonia a
prisoner to the consul. He was sent by his countrymen to be guardian
to Ptolemy Eupator the young king of Egypt, where he behaved with
the greatest arrogance. He was assassinated by Lysias, who was before
regent of Egypt. The murderer was sent to Rome.――――A man who opposed
Metellus in the reduction of Crete by means of Pompey. He was obliged
to retire from the island.――――A man who banished Cinna from Rome,
and became remarkable for his probity and fondness of discipline. He
was seized and put to death by order of his successful rivals Marius
and Cinna.――――A Roman who boasted of being in the number of Cæsar’s
murderers. His assertions were false, yet he was punished as if he
had been accessary to the conspiracy.――――A lieutenant of Crassus
in Parthia. He accompanied his general to the tent of the Parthian
conqueror, and was killed by the enemy as he attempted to hinder them
from carrying away Crassus.――――A governor of Cilicia. He died in his
province, and Lucullus made applications to succeed him, &c.――――A
tribune of the people at Rome, whom Tiberias Gracchus his colleague
deposed.――――A commander of the forces of Antony against Augustus.
――――An officer who killed himself, &c.――――A tribune of the people,
who debauched a woman of Pontus from her husband. She proved
unfaithful to him, upon which he murdered her. He was condemned
under Nero. _Tacitus_, _Annals_ & _Histories_.――_Plutarch_, _Lives_.
――_Florus._――_Livy_, &c.――――A poet in the Augustan age, intimate
with Horace. He also distinguished himself as an historian. _Horace_,
bk. 1, satire 10, li. 82.

=Octodūrus=, a village in the modern country of Switzerland, now called
_Martigny_. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 3, ch. 1.

=Octogesa=, a town of Spain, a little above the mouth of the Iberus,
now called _Mequinensa_. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 1, ch. 61.

=Octolophum=, a place of Greece. _Livy_, bk. 31.

=Ocyălus=, one of the Phæacians with Alcinous. _Homer_, _Odyssey_.

=Ocypĕte=, one of the Harpies, who infected whatever she touched.
The name signifies _swift flying_. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 265.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9.――――A daughter of Thaumas.――――A
daughter of Danaus.

=Ocy̆roe=, a daughter of Chiron by Chariclo, who had the gift of
prophecy. She was changed into a mare. _See:_ Melanippe. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 638, &c.――――A woman, daughter of Chesias,
carried away by Apollo, as she was going to a festival at Miletus.

=Odenātus=, a celebrated prince of Palmyra. He early inured himself to
bear fatigues, and by hunting leopards and wild beasts, he accustomed
himself to the labours of a military life. He was faithful to the
Romans; and when Aurelian had been taken prisoner by Sapor king
of Persia, Odenatus warmly interested himself in his cause, and
solicited his release by writing a letter to the conqueror and
sending him presents. The king of Persia was offended at the liberty
of Odenatus; he tore the letter, and ordered the presents which
were offered to be thrown into a river. To punish Odenatus, who had
the impudence, as he observed, to pay homage to so great a monarch
as himself, he ordered him to appear before him, on pain of being
devoted to instant destruction, with all his family, if he dared to
refuse. Odenatus disdained the summons of Sapor, and opposed force
to force. He obtained some advantages over the troops of the Persian
monarch, and took his wife prisoner with a great and rich booty.
These services were seen with gratitude by the Romans; and Gallienus,
the then reigning emperor, named Odenatus as his colleague on the
throne, and gave the title of Augustus to his children and to his
wife, the celebrated Zenobia. Odenatus, invested with new power,
resolved to signalize himself more conspicuously by conquering the
northern barbarians, but his exaltation was short, and he perished by
the dagger of one of his relations, whom he had slightly offended in
a domestic entertainment. He died at Emessa, about the 267th year of
the christian era. Zenobia succeeded to all his titles and honours.

=Odessus=, a seaport town at the west of the Euxine sea in Lower Mœsia,
below the mouths of the Danube. _Ovid_, bk. 1, _Tristia_, poem 9,
li. 57.

=Odeum=, a musical theatre at Athens. _Vitruvius_, bk. 5, ch. 9.

=Odīnus=, a celebrated hero of antiquity, who flourished about 70 years
before the christian era, in the northern parts of ancient Germany,
or the modern kingdom of Denmark. He was at once a priest, a soldier,
a poet, a monarch, and a conqueror. He imposed upon the credulity
of his superstitious countrymen, and made them believe that he could
raise the dead to life, and that he was acquainted with futurity.
When he had extended his power, and increased his fame by conquest
and by persuasion, he resolved to die in a different manner from
other men. He assembled his friends, and with a sharp point of a
lance he made on his body nine different wounds in the form of a
circle, and as he expired he declared he was going into Scythia,
where he should become one of the immortal gods. He further added
that he would prepare bliss and felicity for such of his countrymen
as lived a virtuous life, who fought with intrepidity, and who died
like heroes in the field of battle. These injunctions had the desired
effect; his countrymen superstitiously believed him, and always
recommended themselves to his protection whenever they engaged in a
battle, and they entreated him to receive the souls of such as had
fallen in war.

=Odītes=, a son of Ixion, killed by Mopsus at the nuptials of Pirithous.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, li. 457.――――A prince killed at the
nuptials of Andromeda. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 97.

=Odoācer=, a king of the Heruli, who destroyed the western empire of
Rome, and called himself king of Italy, A.D. 476.

=Odomanti=, a people of Thrace on the eastern banks of the Strymon.
_Livy_, bk. 45, ch. 4.

=Odŏnes=, a people of Thrace.

=Odry̆sæ=, an ancient people of Thrace, between Abdera and the river
Ister. The epithet of _Odrysius_ is often applied to a Thracian.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, li. 490; bk. 13, li. 554.――_Statius_,
_Achilleis_, bk. 1, li. 184.――_Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 53.

=Odyssēa=, one of Homer’s epic poems, in which he describes in 24 books
the adventures of Ulysses on his return from the Trojan war, with
other material circumstances. The whole of the action comprehends no
more than 55 days. It is not so esteemed as the Iliad of that poet.
_See:_ Homerus.

=Odyssēum=, a promontory of Sicily, at the west of Pachynus.

=Œa=, a city of Africa, now Tripoli. _Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 4.――_Silius
Italicus_, bk. 3, li. 257.――――Also a place in Ægina. _Herodotus_,
bk. 5, ch. 83.

=Œagrus=, or =Œager=, the father of Orpheus by Calliope. He was king
of Thrace, and from him mount Hæmus, and also the Hebrus, one of the
rivers of the country, have received the appellation of _Œagrius_,
though Servius, in his commentaries, disputes the explanation of
Diodorus, by asserting that the Œagrus is a river of Thrace, whose
waters supply the streams of the Hebrus. _Ovid_, _Ibis_, li. 414.
――_Apollonius_, bk. 1, _Argonautica_.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 4,
li. 524.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 5, li. 463.――_Diodorus._
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 3.

=Œanthe= and =Œanthia=, a town of Phocis, where Venus had a temple.
_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 38.

=Œax=, a son of Nauplius and Clymene. He was brother to Palamedes, whom
he accompanied to the Trojan war, and whose death he highly resented
on his return to Greece, by raising disturbances in the family of
some of the Grecian princes. _Dictys Cretensis._――_Apollodorus_,
bk. 2.――_Hyginus_, fable 117.

=Œbălia=, the ancient name of Laconia, which it received from king
Œbalus, and thence _Œbalides puer_ is applied to Hyacinthus as a
native of the country, and _Œbalius sanguis_ is used to denominate
his blood. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 1.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.
――――The same name is given to Tarentum because built by a Lacedæmonian
colony, whose ancestors were governed by Œbalus. _Virgil_, _Georgics_,
bk. 4, li. 125.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 12, li. 451.

=Œbălus=, a son of Argalus or Cynortas, who was king of Laconia. He
married Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus, by whom he had Hippocoon,
Tyndarus, &c. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 1.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3,
ch. 10.――――A son of Telon and the nymph Sebethis, who reigned in the
neighbourhood of Neapolis in Italy. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 734.

=Œbăres=, a satrap of Cyrus, against the Medes. _Polyænus_, bk. 7.――――A
groom of Darius son of Hystaspes. He was the cause that his master
obtained the kingdom of Persia, by his artifice in making his horse
neigh first. _See:_ Darius I. _Herodotus_, bk. 3, ch. 85.――_Justin_,
bk. 1, ch. 10.

=Œchălia=, a country of Peloponnesus in Laconia, with a small town of
the same name. This town was destroyed by Hercules, while Eurytus
was king over it, from which circumstance it was often called
_Eurytopolis_.――――A small town of Eubœa, where, according to some,
Eurytus reigned, and not in Peloponnesus. _Strabo_, bks. 8, 9, & 10.
――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 291.――_Ovid_, _Heroides_, poem 9;
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 9, li. 136.――_Sophocles_, _Trachiniæ_, li. 74
& _Scholia_.

=Œclīdes=, a patronymic of Amphiaraus son of Œcleus. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, fable 7.

=Œcleus.= _See:_ Oicleus.

=Œcumenius=, wrote in the middle of the 10th century a paraphrase of
some of the books of the New Testament in Greek, edited in two vols.,
folio, Paris, 1631.

=Œdipŏdia=, a fountain of Thebes in Bœotia.

=Œdĭpus=, a son of Laius king of Thebes and Jocasta. As being descended
from Venus by his father’s side, Œdipus was born to be exposed to
all the dangers and the calamities which Juno could inflict upon the
posterity of the goddess of beauty. Laius the father of Œdipus was
informed by the oracle, as soon as he married Jocasta, that he must
perish by the hands of his son. Such dreadful intelligence awakened
his fears, and to prevent the fulfilling of the oracle, he resolved
never to approach Jocasta; but his solemn resolutions were violated
in a fit of intoxication. The queen became pregnant, and Laius, still
intent to stop this evil, ordered his wife to destroy her child as
soon as it came into the world. The mother had not the courage to
obey, yet she gave the child as soon as born to one of her domestics,
with orders to expose him on the mountains. The servant was moved
with pity, but to obey the commands of Jocasta, he bored the feet of
the child, and suspended him with a twig by the heels to a tree on
mount Cithæron, where he was soon found by one of the shepherds of
Polybus king of Corinth. The shepherd carried him home; and Peribœa
the wife of Polybus, who had no children, educated him as her own
child, with maternal tenderness. The accomplishments of the infant,
who was named Œdipus, on account of the swelling of his feet (οἰδεω
_tumeo_, ποδες _pedes_), soon became the admiration of the age. His
companions envied his strength and his address; and one of them, to
mortify his rising ambition, told him he was an illegitimate child.
This raised his doubts; he asked Peribœa, who, out of tenderness,
told him that his suspicions were ill-founded. Not satisfied with
this, he went to consult the oracle of Delphi, and was there told not
to return home, for if he did, he must necessarily be the murderer of
his father, and the husband of his mother. This answer of the oracle
terrified him; he knew no home but the house of Polybus, therefore he
resolved not to return to Corinth, where such calamities apparently
attended him. He travelled towards Phocis, and in his journey, met in
a narrow road Laius on a chariot with his arm-bearer. Laius haughtily
ordered Œdipus to make way for him. Œdipus refused, and a contest
ensued, in which Laius and his arm-bearer were both killed. As Œdipus
was ignorant of the quality and of the rank of the men whom he had
just killed, he continued his journey, and was attracted to Thebes by
the fame of the Sphynx. This terrible monster, which Juno had sent to
lay waste the country [_See:_ ♦Sphinx], resorted in the neighbourhood
of Thebes, and devoured all those who attempted to explain, without
success, the enigmas which he proposed. The calamity was now become
an object of public concern, and as the successful explanation of an
enigma would end in the death of the Sphynx, Creon, who at the death
of Laius had ascended the throne of Thebes, promised his crown and
Jocasta to him who succeeded in the attempt. The enigma proposed was
this: What animal in the morning walks upon four feet, at noon upon
two, and in the evening upon three? This was left for Œdipus to
explain; he came to the monster and said, that man, in the morning
of life, walks upon his hands and his feet; when he has attained the
years of manhood, he walks upon his two legs; and in the evening,
he supports his old age with the assistance of a staff. The monster,
mortified at the true explanation, dashed his head against a rock and
perished. Œdipus ascended the throne of Thebes, and married Jocasta,
by whom he had two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters,
Ismene and Antigone. Some years after, the Theban territories were
visited with a plague; and the oracle declared that it should cease
only when the murderer of king Laius was banished from Bœotia. As
the death of Laius had never been examined, and the circumstances
that attended it never known, this answer of the oracle was of the
greatest concern to the Thebans; but Œdipus, the friend of his people,
resolved to overcome every difficulty by the most exact inquiries.
His researches were successful, and he was soon proved to be the
murderer of his father. The melancholy discovery was rendered the
more alarming when Œdipus considered, that he had not only murdered
his father, but that he had committed incest with his mother. In the
excess of his grief he put out his eyes, as unworthy to see the light,
and banished himself from Thebes, or, as some say, was banished by
his own sons. He retired towards Attica, led by his daughter Antigone,
and came near Colonus, where there was a grove sacred to the Furies.
He remembered that he was doomed by the oracle to die in such a place,
and to become the source of prosperity to the country in which his
bones were buried. A messenger upon this was sent to Theseus king of
the country, to inform him of the resolution of Œdipus. When Theseus
arrived, Œdipus acquainted him, with a prophetic voice, that the gods
had called him to die in the place where he stood; and to show the
truth of this he walked, himself, without the assistance of a guide,
to the spot where he must expire. Immediately the earth opened, and
Œdipus disappeared. Some suppose that Œdipus had not children by
Jocasta, and that the mother murdered herself as soon as she knew the
incest which had been committed. His tomb was near the Areopagus, in
the age of Pausanias. Some of the ancient poets represent him in hell,
as suffering the punishment which crimes like his seemed to deserve.
According to some, the four children which he had were by Euriganea
the daughter of Periphas, whom he married after the death of Jocasta.
_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Hyginus_, fable 66, &c.――_Euripides_,
_Phœnician Women_, &c.――_Sophocles_, _Œdipus Tyrannus_ & _Colonus_,
Antigone, &c.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 1.――_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk.
11, ch. 270.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 5, &c.――_Statius_, _Thebaid_,
bk. 8, li. 642.――_Seneca_, _Œdipus_.――_Pindar_, _Olympian_, ch. 2.
――_Diodorus_, bk. 5.――_Athenæus_, bks. 6 & 10.

♦ ‘Sphynx’ replaced with ‘Sphinx’ to match listing

=Œme=, a daughter of Danaus by Crino. _Apollodorus._

=Œnanthes=, a favourite of young Ptolemy king of Egypt.

=Œne=, a small town of Argolis. The people were called _Œneadæ_.

=Œnea=, a river of Assyria. _Ammianus._

=Œneus=, a king of Calydon in Ætolia, son of Parthaon, or Portheus, and
Euryte. He married Althæa the daughter of Thestius, by whom he had
Clymenus, Meleager, Gorge, and Dejanira. After Althæa’s death, he
married Peribœa the daughter of Hipponous, by whom he had Tydeus. In
a general sacrifice, which Œneus made to all the gods upon reaping
the rich produce of his fields, he forgot Diana, and the goddess,
to revenge this unpardonable neglect, incited his neighbours to take
up arms against him, and, besides, she sent a wild boar to lay waste
the country of Calydonia. The animal was at last killed by Meleager
and the neighbouring princes of Greece, in a celebrated chase, known
by the name of the chase of the Calydonian boar. Some time after,
Meleager died, and Œneus was driven from his kingdom by the sons of
his brother Agrius. Diomedes, however, his grandson, soon restored
him to his throne; but the continual misfortunes to which he was
exposed rendered him melancholy. He exiled himself from Calydon, and
left his crown to his son-in-law Andremon. He died as he was going
to Argolis. His body was buried by the care of Diomedes, in a town of
Argolis, which from him received the name of _Œnoe_. It is reported
that Œneus received a visit from Bacchus, and that he suffered the
god to enjoy the favours of Althæa, and to become the father of
Dejanira, for which Bacchus permitted that the wine of which he was
the patron should be called among the Greeks by the name of Œneus
(οἰνος). _Hyginus_, fable 129.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 8.――_Homer_,
_Iliad_, bk. 9, li. 539.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2,
ch. 25.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, li. 510.

=Œniadæ=, a town of Acarnania. _Livy_, bk. 26, ch. 24; bk. 38, ch. 11.

=Œnĭdes=, a patronymic of Meleager son of Œneus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 8, fable 10.

=Œnoe=, a nymph who married Sicinus, the son of Thoas king of Lemnos.
From her the island of Sicinus had been called Œnoe.――――Two villages
of Attica were also called Œnoe. _Herodotus_, bk. 5, ch. 74.――_Pliny_,
bk. 4, ch. 7.――――A city of Argolis, where Œneus fled when driven
from Calydon. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 25.――――A town of Elis in the
Peloponnesus. _Strabo._――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 8.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 1, &c.

=Œnŏmaus=, a son of Mars, by Sterope the daughter of Atlas. He was
king of Pisa in Elis, and father of Hippodamia, by Evarete daughter
of Acrisius, or Eurythoa the daughter of Danaus. He was informed
by the oracle that he should perish by the hands of his son-in-law,
therefore as he could skilfully drive a chariot he determined to
marry his daughter only to him who could outrun him, on condition
that all who entered the list should agree to lay down their life,
if conquered. Many had already perished, when Pelops son of Tantalus
proposed himself. He previously bribed Myrtilus the charioteer of
Œnomaus, by promising him the enjoyment of the favours of Hippodamia,
if he proved victorious. Myrtilus gave his master an old chariot,
whose axletree broke on the course, which was from Pisa to the
Corinthian isthmus, and Œnomaus was killed. Pelops married Hippodamia,
and became king of Pisa. As he expired, Œnomaus entreated Pelops to
revenge the perfidy of Myrtilus, which was executed. Those that had
been defeated when Pelops entered the lists, were Marmax, Alcathous,
Euryalus, Eurymachus, Capetus, Lasius, Acrias, Chalcodon, Lycurgus,
Tricolonus, Prias, Aristomachus, Æolius, Eurythrus, and Chronius.
_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 17; bk. 6, ch. 11, &c.――_Apollonius Rhodius_, bk. 1.
――_Propertius_, bk. 1, poem 2, li. 20.――_Ovid_, _Ibis_, li. 367;
_Ars Amatoria_, bk. 2, li. 8; _Heroides_, poem 8, li. 70.

=Œnon=, a part of Locris on the bay of _Corinth_.

=Œnōna=, an ancient name of the island Ægina. It is also called
_Œnopia_. _Herodotus_, bk. 8, ch. 46.――――Two villages of Attica are
also called Œnona, or rather Œnoe.――――A town of Troas, the birthplace
of the nymph Œnone. _Strabo_, bk. 13.

=Œnōne=, a nymph of mount Ida, daughter of the river Cebrenus in
Phrygia. As she had received the gift of prophecy, she foretold to
Paris, whom she married before he was discovered to be the son of
Priam, that his voyage into Greece would be attended with the most
serious consequences, and the total ruin of his country, and that he
should have recourse to her medicinal knowledge at the hour of death.
All these predictions were fulfilled; and Paris, when he had received
the fatal wound, ordered his body to be carried to Œnone, in hopes
of being cured by her assistance. He expired as he came into her
presence; and Œnone was so struck at the sight of his dead body, that
she bathed it with her tears, and stabbed herself to the heart. She
was mother of Corythus by Paris, and this son perished by the hand
of his father when he attempted, at the instigation of Œnone, to
persuade him to withdraw his affection from Helen. _Dictys Cretensis._
――_Ovid_, _de Remedia Amoris_ li. 457; _Heroides_, poem 5.――_Lucan_,
bk. 9.

=Œnŏpia=, one of the ancient names of the island Ægina. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li. 473.

=Œnopĭdes=, a mathematician of Chios. _Diodorus_, bk. 1.

=Œnopion=, a son of Ariadne by Theseus, or, according to others, by
Bacchus. He married Helice, by whom he had a daughter called Hero,
or Merope, of whom the giant Orion became enamoured. The father,
unwilling to give his daughter to such a lover, and afraid of
provoking him by an open refusal, evaded his applications, and at
last put out his eyes when he was intoxicated. Some suppose that
this violence was offered to Orion after he had dishonoured Merope.
Œnopion received the island of Chios from Rhadamanthus, who had
conquered most of the islands of the Ægean sea, and his tomb was
still seen there in the age of Pausanias. Some suppose, and with more
probability, that he reigned not at Chios, but at Ægina, which from
him was called Œnopia. _Plutarch_, _Theseus_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1,
ch. 4.――_Diodorus._――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 4.――_Apollonius Rhodius_,
bk. 3.

=Œnōtri=, the inhabitants of Œnotria.

=Œnōtria=, a part of Italy, which was afterwards called _Lucania_.
It received this name from Œnotrus the son of Lycaon, who settled
there with a colony of Arcadians. The Œnotrians afterwards spread
themselves into Umbria and as far as Latium, and the country of the
Sabines, according to some writers. The name of Œnotria is sometimes
applied to Italy. That part of Italy where Œnotrus settled, was
before inhabited by the Ausones. _Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 8,
ch. 11.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 3.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 1, li.
536; bk. 7, li. 85.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 220.

=Œnotrĭdes=, two small islands on the coast of Lucania, where some of
the Romans were banished by the emperors. They were called Ischia and
Pontia.

=Œnōtrus=, a son of Lycaon of Arcadia. He passed into Magna Græcia
with a colony, and gave the name of Œnotria to that part of the
country where he settled. _Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 1,
ch. 11.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 3.

=Œnūsæ=, small islands near Chios. _Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 31.
――_Thucydides_, bk. 8.――――Others on the coast of the Peloponnesus,
near Messenia. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 17.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.

=Œonus=, a son of Licymnius, killed at Sparta, where he accompanied
Hercules; and as the hero had promised Licymnius to bring back his
son, he burnt his body and presented the ashes to the afflicted
father. From this circumstance arose a custom of burning the dead
among the Greeks. _Scholia_, _Homer_, _Iliad_.――――A small river of
Laconia. _Livy_, bk. 34, ch. 28.

=Œnoe=, an island of Bœotia formed by the Asopus. _Herodotus_, bk. 9,
ch. 50.

=Œta=, now _Banina_, a celebrated mountain between Thessaly and
Macedonia, upon which Hercules burnt himself. Its height has given
occasion to the poets to feign that the sun, moon, and stars arose
behind it. Mount Œta, properly speaking, is a long chain of mountains
which runs from the straits of Thermopylæ and the gulf of Malia, in
a western direction, to mount Pindus, and from thence to the bay of
Ambracia. The straits or passes of mount Œta are called the straits
of Thermopylæ, from the hot baths and mineral waters which are in
the neighbourhood. These passes are not more than 25 feet in breadth.
_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Catullus_, poem 66, li. 54.――_Apollodorus_,
bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 20, &c.――_Ovid_, _Heroides_,
poem 9; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 216; bk. 9, li. 204, &c.
――_Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 8.――_Pliny_, bk. 25, ch. 5.――_Seneca_,
_Medea_.――_Lucan_, bk. 3, &c.――――A small town at the foot of mount
Œta near Thermopylæ.

=Œty̆lus=, or =Œty̆lum=, a town of Laconia, which received its name
from Œtylus, one of the heroes of Argos. Serapis had a temple there.
_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 25.

=Ofellus=, a man whom, though unpolished, Horace represents as a
character exemplary for wisdom, economy, and moderation. _Horace_,
bk. 2, satire 2, li. 2.

=Ofi=, a nation of Germany. _Tacitus_, _Germania_, ch. 28.

=Ogdolăpis=, a navigable river flowing from the Alps. _Strabo_, bk. 6.

=Ogdōrus=, a king of Egypt.

=Oglosa=, an island in the Tyrrhene sea, east of Corsica, famous for
wine, and now called _Monte Christo_. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 6.

=Ogmius=, a name of Hercules among the Gauls. _Lucian_, _Hercules_.

=Ogoa=, a deity of Mylassa in Caria, under whose temple, as was
supposed, the sea passed. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 10.

=Ogulnia lex=, by Quintus and Cnæus Ogulnius, tribunes of the people,
A.U.C. 453. It increased the number of pontifices and augurs from
four to nine. The addition was made to both orders from plebeian
families.――――A Roman lady as poor as she was lascivious. _Juvenal_,
satire 6, li. 351.

=Ogy̆ges=, a celebrated monarch, the most ancient of those that reigned
in Greece. He was son of Terra, or, as some suppose, of Neptune,
and married Thebe the daughter of Jupiter. He reigned in Bœotia,
which from him is sometimes called _Ogygia_, and his power was also
extended over Attica. It is supposed that he was of Egyptian or
Phœnician extraction; but his origin, as well as the age in which
he lived, and the duration of his reign, are so obscure and unknown,
that the epithet of _Ogygian_ is often applied to everything of
dark antiquity. In the reign of Ogyges there was a deluge, which so
inundated the territories of Attica, that they remained waste for
near 200 years. This, though it is very uncertain, is supposed to
have happened about 1764 years before the christian era, and previous
to the deluge of Deucalion. According to some writers, it was owing
to the overflowing of one of the rivers of the country. The reign
of Ogyges was also marked by an uncommon appearance in the heavens,
and, as it is reported, the planet Venus changed her colour, diameter,
figure, and her course. _Varro_, _de Re Rustica_, bk. 3, ch. 1.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 5.――_Augustine_, _City of God_, bk. 18, &c.

=Ogy̆gia=, a name of one of the gates of Thebes in Bœotia. _Lucan_,
bk. 1, li. 675.――――One of the daughters of Niobe and Amphion, changed
into stones. _Apollodorus._――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 8.――――An ancient
name of Bœotia, from Ogyges, who reigned there.――――The island of
Calypso, opposite the promontory of Lacinium in Magna Græcia, where
Ulysses was shipwrecked. The situation, and even the existence of
Calypso’s island, is disputed by some writers. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 10.
――_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 1, lis. 52 & 85; bk. 5, li. 254.

=Ocy̆ris=, an island in the Indian ocean.

=Oicleus=, a son of Antiphates and Zeuxippe, who married Hypermnestra
daughter of Thestius, by whom he had Iphianira, Polybœa, and
Amphiaraus. He was killed by Laomedon when defending the ships which
Hercules had brought to Asia, when he made war against Troy. _Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 15.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 8;
bk. 3, ch. 6.――_Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 17.

=Oīleus=, a king of the Locrians. His father’s name was Odoedocus,
and his mother’s Agrianome. He married Eriope, by whom he had Ajax,
called _Oileus_ from his father, to discriminate him from Ajax the
son of Telamon. He had also another son called Medon, by a courtesan
called Rhene. Oileus was one of the Argonauts. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk.
1, li. 45.――_Apollonius_, bk. 1.――_Hyginus_, fables 14 & 18.――_Homer_,
_Iliad_, bks. 13 & 15.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.

=Olane=, one of the mouths of the Po.――――A mountain of Armenia.

=Olanus=, a town of Lesbos.

=Olastræ=, a people of India. _Lucan_, bk. 3, li. 249.――_Pliny_, bk. 6,
ch. 20.

=Olba=, or =Olbus=, a town of Cilicia.

=Olbia=, a town of Sarmatia at the confluence of the Hypanis and the
Borysthenes, about 15 miles from the sea, according to Pliny. It was
afterwards called _Borysthenes_ and _Miletopolis_, because peopled
by a Milesian colony, and is now supposed to be _Oczakow_. _Strabo_,
bk. 7.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.――――A town of Bithynia. _Mela_, bk. 1,
ch. 19.――――A town of Gallia Narbonensis. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 5.――――The
capital of Sardinia. _Claudian._

=Olbius=, a river of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 14.

=Olbus=, one of Æetes’ auxiliaries. _Valerius Flaccus_, bk. 6, li. 639.

=Olchinium=, or =Olcinium=, now _Dulcigno_, a town of Dalmatia, on the
Adriatic. _Livy_, bk. 45, ch. 26.

=Olbades=, a people of Spain. _Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 5.

=Oleăros=, or =Oliaros=, one of the Cyclades, about 16 miles in
circumference, separated from Paros by a strait of seven miles.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 126.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7,
li. 469.――_Strabo_, bk. 10.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.

=Oleatrum=, a town of Spain near Saguntum. _Strabo._

=Olen=, a Greek poet of Lycia, who flourished some time before the age
of Orpheus, and composed many hymns, some of which were regularly
sung at Delphi, on solemn occasions. Some suppose that he was the
first who established the oracle of Apollo at Delphi where he first
delivered oracles. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 35.

=Olenius=, a Lemnian killed by his wife. _Valerius Flaccus_, bk. 2,
li. 164.

=Olĕnus=, a son of Vulcan, who married Lethæa, a beautiful woman, who
preferred herself to the goddesses. She and her husband were changed
into stones by the deities. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, li. 68.
――――A famous soothsayer of Etruria. _Pliny_, bk. 28, ch. 2.

=Olĕnus=, or =Olenum=, a town of Peloponnesus between Patræ and Cyllene.
The goat Amalthæa, which was made a constellation by Jupiter, is
called _Olenia_, from its residence there. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 22.
――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 3.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Apollodorus_,
bk. 1, ch. 8.――――Another in Ætolia.

=Oleorus=, one of the Cyclades, now _Antiparo_.

=Olgasys=, a mountain of Galatia.

=Oligyrtis=, a town of Peloponnesus.

=Olinthus=, a town of Macedonia. _See:_ Olynthus.

=Olisipo=, now _Lisbon_, a town of ancient Spain on the Tagus, surnamed
_Felicitas Julia_ (_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 22), and called by some
Ulysippo, and said to be founded by Ulysses. _Mela_, bk. 3, ch. 1.
――_Solinus_, bk. 23.

=Olitingi=, a town of Lusitania. _Mela_, bk. 3, ch. 1.

=Olīzon=, a town of Magnesia in Thessaly. _Homer._

=Titus Ollius=, the father of Poppæa, destroyed on account of his
intimacy with Sejanus, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 13, ch. 45.――――A
river rising in the Alps, and falling into the Po, now called the
_Oglio_. _Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 103.

=Ollovĭco=, a prince of Gaul, called the friend of the republic by the
Roman senate. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 31.

=Olmiæ=, a promontory near Megara.

=Olmius=, a river of Bœotia, near Helicon, sacred to the Muses.
_Statius_, _Thebaid_, bk. 7, li. 284.

=Oloosson=, now _Alessone_, a town of Magnesia. _Homer._

=Olophyxus=, a town of Macedonia on mount Athos. _Herodotus_, bk. 7,
ch. 22.

=Olpæ=, a fortified place of Epirus, now _Forte Castri_.

=Olus= (untis), a town at the west of Crete.

=Olympeum=, a place of Delos.――――Another in Syracuse.

=Olympia= (orum), celebrated games which received their name either
from Olympia, where they were observed, or from Jupiter Olympius, to
whom they were dedicated. They were, according to some, instituted
by Jupiter after his victory over the Titans, and first observed by
the Idæi Dactyli, B.C. 1453. Some attribute the institution to Pelops,
after he had obtained a victory over Œnomaus and married Hippodamia;
but the more probable, and indeed the more received opinion is, that
they were first established by Hercules in honour of Jupiter Olympius,
after a victory obtained over Augias, B.C. 1222. Strabo objects
to this opinion, by observing that if they had been established in
the age of Homer, the poet would have undoubtedly spoken of them,
as he is in every particular careful to mention the amusements and
diversions of the ancient Greeks. But they were neglected after
their first institution by Hercules, and no notice was taken of them,
according to many writers, till Iphitus, in the age of the lawgiver
of Sparta, renewed them, and instituted the celebration with greater
solemnity. This reinstitution, which happened B.C. 884, forms a
celebrated epoch in Grecian history, and is the beginning of the
Olympiad. _See:_ Olympias. They, however, were neglected for some
time after the age of Iphitus, till Corœbus, who obtained a victory,
B.C. 776, reinstituted them to be regularly and constantly celebrated.
The care and superintendence of the games were entrusted to the
people of Elis, till they were excluded by the Pisæans, B.C. 364,
after the destruction of Pisa. These obtained great privileges
from this appointment; they were in danger neither of violence nor
war, but they were permitted to enjoy their possessions without
molestation, as the games were celebrated within their territories.
Only one person superintended till the 50th Olympiad, when two were
appointed. In the 103rd Olympiad, the number was increased to 12,
according to the number of the tribes of Elis. But in the following
Olympiad, they were reduced to eight, and afterwards increased to 10,
which number continued till the reign of Adrian. The presidents were
obliged solemnly to swear that they would act impartially, and not
take any bribes, or discover why they rejected some of the combatants.
They generally sat naked, and held before them the crown which was
prepared for the conqueror. There were also certain officers to
keep good order and regularity, called ἀλυται, much the same as the
Roman lictors, of whom the chief was called ἀλυταρχης. No women were
permitted to appear at the celebration of the Olympian games, and
whoever dared to trespass this law was immediately thrown down from
a rock. This, however, was sometimes neglected, for we find not
only women present at the celebration, but also some among the
combatants, and some rewarded with the crown. The preparations for
these festivals were great. No person was permitted to enter the
lists if he had not regularly exercised himself 10 months before the
celebration at the public gymnasium of Elis. No unfair dealings were
allowed, and whoever attempted to bribe his adversary was subjected
to a severe fine. No criminals, nor such as were connected with
impious and guilty persons, were suffered to present themselves as
combatants; and even the father and relations were obliged to swear
that they would have recourse to no artifice which might decide the
victory in favour of their friends. The wrestlers were appointed
by lot. Some little balls, superscribed with a letter, were thrown
into a silver urn, and such as drew the same letter were obliged to
contend one with the other. He who had an odd letter remained the
last, and he often had the advantage, as he was to encounter the last
who had obtained the superiority over his adversary. He was called
ἐφεδρος. In these games were exhibited running, leaping, wrestling,
boxing, and the throwing of the quoit, which was called altogether
πενταθλον, or _quinquertium_. Besides these, there were horse and
chariot races, and also contentions in poetry, eloquence, and the
fine arts. The only reward that the conqueror obtained, was a crown
of olive; which, as some suppose, was in memory of the labours of
Hercules, which was accomplished for the universal good of mankind,
and for which the hero claimed no other reward than the consciousness
of having been the friend of humanity. So small and trifling a
reward stimulated courage and virtue, and was more the source
of great honours than the most unbounded treasures. The statues
of the conquerors, called Olympionicæ, were erected at Olympia,
in the sacred wood of Jupiter. Their return home was that of a
warlike conqueror; they were drawn in a chariot by four horses, and
everywhere received with the greatest acclamations. Their entrance
into their native city was not through the gates, but, to make it
more grand and more solemn, a breach was made in the walls. Painters
and poets were employed in celebrating their names; and indeed the
victories severally obtained at Olympia are the subjects of the most
beautiful odes of Pindar. The combatants were naked; a scarf was
originally tied round the waist, but when it had entangled one of
the adversaries, and been the cause that he lost the victory, it was
laid aside, and no regard was paid to decency. The Olympic games were
observed every fifth year, or, to speak with greater exactness, after
a revolution of four years, and in the first month of the fifth year,
and they continued for five successive days. As they were the most
ancient and the most solemn of all the festivals of the Greeks, it
will not appear wonderful that they drew so many people together,
not only inhabitants of Greece, but of the neighbouring islands
and countries. _Pindar_, _Olympian_, chs. 1 & 2.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 67, &c.――_Diodorus_, bk. 1, &c.――_Plutarch_,
_Theseus_, _Lycurgus_, &c.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 10, li. 1.
――_Cicero_, _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 1, ch. 46.――_Lucian_,
_Anacharsis_.――_Tzetzes_, _Lycophron_.――♦_Aristotle._――_Statius_,
_Thebaid_, bk. 6.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Preface_.――_Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 49.――――A town of Elis in Peloponnesus,
where Jupiter had a temple with a celebrated statue 50 cubits high,
reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. The Olympic games
were celebrated in the neighbourhood. _Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 3, ch. 8.

♦ ‘Aristotel’ replaced with ‘Aristotle’

=Olympias=, a certain space of time which elapsed between the
celebration of the Olympic games. The Olympic games were celebrated
after the expiration of four complete years, whence some have said
that they were observed every fifth year. This period of time was
called Olympiad, and became a celebrated era among the Greeks,
who computed their time by it. The custom of reckoning time by the
celebration of the Olympic games was not introduced at the first
institution of these festivals, but, to speak accurately, only the
year in which Corœbus obtained the prize. This Olympiad, which has
always been reckoned the first, fell, according to the accurate and
learned computations of some of the moderns, exactly 776 years before
the christian era, in the year of the Julian period 3938, and 23
years before the building of Rome. The games were exhibited at the
time of the full moon, next after the summer solstice; therefore
the Olympiads were of unequal length, because the time of the full
moon differs 11 days every year, and for that reason they sometimes
began the next day after the solstice, and at other times four weeks
after. The computations by Olympiads ceased, as some suppose, after
the 364th, in the year 440 of the christian era. It was universally
adopted, not only by the Greeks, but by many of the neighbouring
countries, though still the Pythian games served as an epoch to
the people of Delphi and to the Bœotians, the Nemæan games to the
Argives and Arcadians, and the Isthmian to the Corinthians and the
inhabitants of the Peloponnesian isthmus. To the Olympiads history
is much indebted. They have served to fix the time of many momentous
events, and indeed before this method of computing time was observed,
every page of history is mostly fabulous, and filled with obscurity
and contradiction, and no true chronological account can be properly
established and maintained with certainty. The mode of computation,
which was used after the suppression of the Olympiads and of the
consular fasti of Rome, was more useful as it was more universal;
but while the era of the creation of the world prevailed in the east,
the western nations in the sixth century began to adopt with more
propriety the christian epoch, which was propagated in the eighth
century, and at last, in the tenth, became legal and popular.――――A
celebrated woman, who was daughter of a king of Epirus, and who
married Philip king of Macedonia, by whom she had Alexander the Great.
Her haughtiness, and more probably her infidelity, obliged Philip
to repudiate her, and to marry Cleopatra the niece of king Attalus.
Olympias was sensible of this injury, and Alexander showed his
disapprobation of his father’s measures by retiring from the court to
his mother. The murder of Philip, which soon followed this disgrace,
and which some have attributed to the intrigues of Olympias, was
productive of the greatest extravagancies. The queen paid the highest
honour to her husband’s murderer. She gathered his mangled limbs,
placed a crown of gold on his head, and laid his ashes near those of
Philip. The administration of Alexander, who had succeeded his father,
was, in some instances, offensive to Olympias; but when the ambition
of her son was concerned, she did not scruple to declare publicly
that Alexander was not the son of Philip, but that he was the
offspring of an enormous serpent which had supernaturally introduced
itself into her bed. When Alexander was dead, Olympias seized the
government of Macedonia, and to establish her usurpation, she cruelly
put to death Aridæus, with his wife Eurydice, as also Nicanor the
brother of Cassander, with 100 leading men of Macedonia, who were
inimical to her interest. Such barbarities did not long remain
unpunished; Cassander besieged her in Pydna, where she had retired
with the remains of her family, and she was obliged to surrender
after an obstinate siege. The conqueror ordered her to be accused,
and to be put to death. A body of 200 soldiers were directed to put
the bloody commands into execution, but the splendour and majesty
of the queen disarmed their courage, and she was at last massacred
by those whom she had cruelly deprived of their children, about 316
years before the christian era. _Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 6; bk. 9, ch. 1.
――_Plutarch_, _Alexander_.――_Curtius._――_Pausanias._――――A fountain of
Arcadia which flowed for one year and the next was dry. _Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 29.

=Olympiodōrus=, a musician who taught Epaminondas music. _Cornelius
Nepos._――――A native of Thebes in Egypt, who flourished under
Theodosius II., and wrote 22 books of history, in Greek, beginning
with the seventh consulship of Honorius, and the second of Theodosius,
to the period when Valentinian was made emperor. He wrote also
an account of an embassy to some of the barbarian nations of the
north, &c. His style is censured by some as low, and unworthy of
an historian. The commentaries of Olympiodorus on the _Meteora_ of
Aristotle, were edited with Aldus Manutius, 1550, in folio.――――An
Athenian officer, present at the battle of Platæa, where he behaved
with great valour. _Plutarch._

=Olympius=, a surname of Jupiter at Olympia, where the god had a
celebrated temple and statue, which passed for one of the seven
wonders of the world. It was the work of Phidias. _Pausanias_,
bk. 7, ch. 2.――――A native of Carthage, called also Nemesianus.
_See:_ Nemesianus.――――A favourite at the court of Honorius, who
was the cause of Stilicho’s death.

=Olympus=, a physician of Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who wrote some
historical treatises. _Plutarch_, _Antonius_.――――A poet and musician
of Mysia, son of Mæon and disciple to Marsyas. He lived before the
Trojan war, and distinguished himself by his amatory elegies, his
hymns, and particularly the beautiful airs which he composed, and
which were still preserved in the age of Aristophanes. _Plato_,
_Minos_.――_Aristotle_, _Politics_, bk. 8.――――Another musician of
Phrygia, who lived in the age of Midas. He is frequently confounded
with the preceding. _Pollux_, bk. 4, ch. 10.――――A son of Hercules
and Eubœa. _Apollodorus._――――A mountain of Macedonia and Thessaly,
now _Lacha_. The ancients supposed that it touched the heavens with
its top; and, from that circumstance, they have placed the residence
of the gods there, and have made it the court of Jupiter. It is about
one mile and a half in perpendicular height, and is covered with
pleasant woods, caves, and grottoes. On the top of the mountain,
according to the notions of the poets, there was neither wind nor
rain, nor clouds, but an eternal spring. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 1,
&c.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bks. 2, 6, &c.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_.
――_Lucan_, bk. 5.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――――A
mountain of Mysia, called the Mysian Olympus, a name which it still
preserves.――――Another in Elis.――――Another in Arcadia.――――Another in
the island of Cyprus, now _Santa Croce_. Some suppose the Olympus of
Mysia and of Cilicia to be the same.――――A town on the coast of Lycia.

=Olympusa=, a daughter of Thespius. _Apollodorus._

=Olynthus=, a celebrated town and republic of Macedonia, on the isthmus
of the peninsula of Pallene. It became famous for its flourishing
situation, and for its frequent disputes with the Athenians and
Lacedæmonians, and with king Philip, who destroyed it, and sold
the inhabitants for slaves. _Cicero_, _Against Verres_.――_Plutarch_,
_de Cohibenda Ira_, &c.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 2.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1,
ch. 127.――_Curtius_, bk. 8, ch. 9.

=Olyras=, a river near Thermopylæ, which, as the mythologists report,
attempted to extinguish the funeral pile on which Hercules was
consumed. _Strabo_, bk. 9.

=Olyzon=, a town of Thessaly.

=Omarius=, a Lacedæmonian sent to Darius, &c. _Curtius_, bk. 3, ch. 13.

=Ombi= and =Tentyra=, two neighbouring cities of Egypt, whose
inhabitants were always in discord one with another. _Juvenal_,
satire 15, li. 35.

=Ombri.= _See:_ ♦Umbria.

♦ ‘Umbri’ replaced with ‘Umbria’ to match listing

=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.