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.