NYMPILEUS.
 

OASIS.
 

Acte  or Athos, in Chaleidiee.—4. A sea-port

town of the Chersonesus Taurica (now Crimea),

on the Cimmerian Bosporus, twenty-five stadia

(two and a half geographical miles) from Panti¬

capaeum. —5. A place on the coast of Bithynia,

thirty stadia (three geographical miles) west of

the mouth of the River Oxines.—6. A place in

Cilicia, between Celenderis and Solog.

  Nymph^eus  (Nvpijiaiog).   1.  (Now Ninfa or

Nimpa), a small river of Latium, falling into the

sea above Astura; of some note as contributing

to the formation  of the Pomptine Marshes. It

now no longer reaches the sea, but falls into a

little lake, called Lago di Monaci —2. A harbor

on the western side  of the island of Sardinia,

between  the  Promontorium Mercurii and the

town of Tillium —3. Also called Nymphius (now

Basilimfa), a small river of Sophene in Armenia,

a> tributary of the Upper Tigris,  flowing from

l.orth to south past Martyropolis, in  the valley

between Mons Niphates and Mons Masius.

  Nymphidius Sabinus, commander of the prae¬

torian troops,  together with Tigellinus, toward

the latter end  of Nero's reign.  On the death of

Nero, A.D. 68, he attempted to seize the throne,

but was murdered by the friends of Galba.

  Nymphis (Nvp<j>tg), son of Xenagoras, a native

of the Pontic Heraelea,  lived about B.C.  250.

He was a  person of distinction in his  native

land, as well as a historical writer  of some note.

He wrote a work on Alexander  and his  suc¬

cessors in twenty four books, and  also a history

of Heraelea in thirteen books.   [The fragments

of NympHs are collected by J C.Orelli in his

edition of Memnon,  Leipzig,  1816, p. 95-102,

and by C. Muller, Fragm  Grasc. Hist., vol. iii,

p. 12-16 ]

  Nymphodorus (Nvpfibbupog).  1. A  Greek his-

 orian of Amphipolis, of uncertain date, the au-

 fior of a work on the Laws or Customs of Asia

(Nbpipa 'Aaiag), vid.  at end of No.  2.—2. Of

Syracuse, likewise a historian, seems to have

lived about the time of Pbilip and Alexander the

Great. He wrote a Periplus of Asia, and a work

on Sicily.   [The fragments of these  works are

given by Miiller, Fragm. Grasc. Hist, vol. ii, p.

375-381 ; Muller considers the  existence of

No. 1 doubtful, and adduces some arguments to

show that these works are by one and the same

author, viz., the Nymphodorus of Syracuse.]

  [Nymphodorus  (Nvu<pbbapog), a citizen of Ab¬

dera,  whose sister married Sitalces, king of

Thrace.  The Athenians,  who had  previously

regarded Nymphodorus as their  enemy, made

him their proxenus in B.C. 431, and,  through

his mediation, obtained the alliance of Sitalces.

He also subsequently testified his friendship for

the Athenians by several other acts of kindness,

and thus did them good service.]

   [Nysa or Nyssa (Nficra or Ntimro)   1. A queen

of Bithynia, wife of Nicomedes II, and mother

of Nicomedes III.—2. A sister of Mithradates

the Great, who was taken  prisoner by Lucullus

at Cabira, and thus escaped the fate of the other

sisters and wives of the king, who were put to

death shortly after at Pharnacia.—3. A daughter

of'Mithradates the Great, who hadbeen betrothed

to tne King of Cyprus, but accompanied her fa¬

 ther in his flight  to  the kingdom of Bosporus,

 where she ultimately shared his fate, putting an

 end to her life bi  poison, B C. 63 ]

         569
 

  Nysa or Nyssa (NSoa, NtJo '.'}, was the i©

gendar; scene of the nurtjre of Bacchus (Dia.

nysus), whence the  name was applied to sev¬

eral  places which were  sacred to  that  goo..

1. In India, in  the district  of Goryaaa, at  the

northwestern corner of the Punjab, near  the

confluence of the Rivers Cophen and Choaspes,

probably the same place as Nagatra or Dionyso-

polis (now Nagar or Nuggar).  Near it was a

mountain of like name.—2. A city or mountain

in ^Ethiopia.—3 (Now Sultan-Hisar, ruins a lit¬

tle west of Nazeli), a city of Caria, on the south¬

ern slope of Mount Messogis, built on both sides

of the ravine of the brook Eudon, which  falls

into  the Maaander.  It  was  said  to have been

named after the queen  of one of the Antiochi,

having been previously called Athymbra and

Pythopolis—4.  A city of Cappadoeia, near the

Halys, on the  road from  Caesarea to Aneyra:

the  bishopric of St. Gregory of Nyssa —5. A

town in Thrace, between the Rivers Nestus and

Strymon — 6. A town in Boaotia, near Mount

Helicon

  Nys-eus, Nysiits, Ntseus,  or  Nysigena, a

surname  of Bacchus (Dionysus), derived from

Nysa, a mountain or city (see above), where tho

god was said to have been brought up by nymphs

  Nyseides or Nysiades, the nymphs of Nysa,

who  are said to have reared Bacchus (Dionysus),

and whose names are Cissei's, Nysa, Erato, Eri-

phia, Bromia, and Polyhymno.

  Nyx (Nii?), called Nox by the Romans, was a

personification of Night.  Homer calls her the

subduer of gods and men, and relates that Jupi¬

ter (Zeus) himself stood in awe of her.  In the

ancient cosmogonies Night  is one of the  very

first  created beings,  for she  is described as the

daughter of Chaos, and the  sister of Erebus, by

whom she became  the mother of Miner  and

Hemera.  She is further said to have given birth,

without a husband, to Moros, the Keres, Thana-

tos,  Hypnos, Dreams, Momus, Oizys, the Hes¬

perides, Moarae, Nemesis, and similar beings.

In later poets, with whom she is merely the per¬

sonification of the darkness of  night, she is

sometimes described as a wingea goddess, and

sometimes as riding in  a chariot, covered with

a dark garment, and accompanied by the stars

in her course.   Her residence was ir U-e dark¬

ness of Hades.





                    0.



  Oanus ("ilavog: now Frascolari), a small river

on the southern coast of Sicily, near Camariaa

  [Oaracta (QdpaKTa, 'OopdxBa, or  OvopoxBa:

now Dsjisme or Khishme, also Brokht), a large

and  fertile island lying off the coast  of Carma¬

nia,  in the Persian  Gulf; in it was found the

tomb of Erythras, from whom the Erythraean

Sea was fabled to have been named.]

  Oarus  ("Oapoc), a considerable river men¬

tioned by Herodotus as rising in the country of

the Thyssagetae, and falling  into the Palus Maeo-

tis (now Sea of Azov) east of the Tanal's (now

Don).  As there is no river which very well an¬

swers this description, Herodotus is supposed

to refer to one of the eastern tributaries of the

Don, such as the Sal or the  Manyteh.

  Oasis  ("Oaaig, Avaaig,  and m later writers

"Slamg) is the Gr< ek form of an Egyptian wor^