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_.
=Osci=, a people between Campania and the country of the Volsci, who
assisted Turnus against Æneas. Some suppose that they are the same
as the _Opici_, the word Osci being a diminutive or abbreviation
of the other. The language, the plays, and ludicrous expressions
of this nation, are often mentioned by the ancients, and from their
indecent tendency some suppose the word _obscænum_ (_quasi oscenum_)
is derived. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 4, ch. 14.――_Cicero_, _Letters
to his Friends_, bk. 7, ltr. 1.――_Livy_, bk. 10, ch. 20.――_Strabo_,
bk. 5.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 730.
=Oscius=, a mountain, with a river of the same name, in Thrace.
_Thucydides._
=Oscus=, a general of the fleet of the emperor Otho. _Tacitus_, bk. 1,
_Histories_, bk. 17.
=Osi=, a people of Germany. _Tacitus_, _Germania_, chs. 28 & 43.
=Osinius=, a king of Clusium, who assisted Æneas against Turnus.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 655.