Chapter M (11)

=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:

_Ire jubet Pylades carum moriturus Orestem,
Hic negat; inque vicem pugnat uterque mori._

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_.