0RPH1D1US BENIGNUS.
 

ORXINES
 

ol Bacchus (Dionysus), and the fury of his wor¬

shippers.—Orphic Societies and Mysteries. About

the time of the first development of Greek phi¬

losophy, societies were formed, consisting of

persons called the followers of Orpheus (ol 'Op-

iptKol), who, under  the pretended guidance of

Orpheus, dedicated themselves to the worship

of Bacchu3  (Dionysus).  They  performed the

rites of a mystical worship, but instead of con¬

fining their notions to  the initiated, they pub-

 isbed them to others, and committed them to

 iterary works.   The Bacchus  (Dionysus)  to

whose wjrship the Orphic rites were annexed,

was Bacchus (Dionysus) Zagreus, closely con¬

nected with Ceres (Demeter) and Cora (Proser¬

pina).   The Orphic legends and poems related

in great part to this  Bacchus (Dionysus), who

was combined, as an infernal deity, with Pluto

(Hades  , and upon whom the Orphic theolo-

gers founded their hopes of the purification and

ultimate immortality of the soul.   But their

mode of celebrating this worship was very dif¬

ferent from the popular rites of Bacchus. The

Orphic worshippers of Bacchus did not indulge

in unrestrained pleasure and frantic enthusi¬

asm, but rather aimed at an ascetic  puritv of

life and manners.   All this part of the my.hol-

ogy of Orpheus, which connects him with Bac¬

chus (Dionysus), must be considered as a later

invention, quite irreconcilable with the original

legend,  in which he is the servant of Apollo and

the Muses : but it is almost hopeless to explain

the transition.  Many  poems ascribed  to Or¬

pheus were current as early as the time  of the

Pisistratids.  Vid Onomacritus.  They are oft¬

en quoted by Plato, and the allusions to them

Li later writers are very frequent.  The extant

poems,  which bear the name of Orpheus,  are

the forgeries of Christian  grammarians and

philosophers  of the Alexandrean  school;  but

among the fragments, which form a part  of the

collection, are some  genuine remains of that

Orphic  poetry which  was known to Plato, and

which  must be assigned to the period of Ono¬

macritus, or perhaps a little earlier.  The Or¬

phic literature, which in this sense may be call¬

ed genuine, seems to have included  Hymns, a

 Theogony,  Oracles, &c.   The apocryphal pro¬

ductions which have come down to us are, 1.

Argonaulica, an epic poem in one thousand three

hundred and eighty-four hexameters, giving  an

 account of the expedition of the Argonauts.  2.

 Hymns, eighty-seven  or eighty-eight in num¬

 ber, in  hexameters, evidently the productions

 of the Neo-Platonic school.   3. Lithica (AiBmd),

 treats of properties of stones, both precious and

 common, and their uses in divination.  4 Frag¬

 ments,  chiefly of the Theogony.  It  is in this

 class that we find  the genuine  remains  of the

 literature of the early Orphic theology, but  in¬

 termingled with others of a much later date.

 The best edition is by Hermann, Lips., 1805.

   [Oephidius Benignus, a legate of the Em¬

 peror Otho, fell in the battle of Bedriacum against

 the troops of Vitellius, A.D. 69.]

   [Orsabaris ('OpauBaptg), a daughter of Mith¬

 radates the Great, taken prisoner by Pompey,

 and served to adorn his triumph, B.C. 61.]

   [OrseI's  ('Opanig),  a nymph, mother by Hel-

 er of ^Eolus, Dorus, and Xuthus.]

   .Cksti.ochus rOpui'Ao^oc).  1. Son ofthe river-
 

god Alpheus and jif Telegone, fathe r of Diodes

prince  at Pheraa, and guest  friend of Ulysses

—2. Son of Diocles, grandson of No. 1, accom¬

panied Agamemnon to the Trojan war, and wa!

slain before Troy  by iEneas.—3. Son o<" Ido

meneus of Crete.—4. A Trojan, who accom¬

panied JEneas to Italy; he  was slain by Ca¬

milla.]

  [Oethagoeas ('OpBayopag).  1. A  geog"iph-

ical writer, whose  age is uncertain:  he wrote

a work on India, and another concerning th

Red Sea.—2 A flute player of Thebes ; accord¬

ing to Athenaeus, an instructor of Epaminondas

in flute-playing.]

  [Orthe ("OpBn), a  place in the Thessalian

district Perrhaabia,  mentioned  in the second

book ofthe Iliad ; supposed by Strabo to be the

Acropolis of Phalanna.]

  Oethia ('OpBla,  'OpBlg, or 'OpBaaia), a sur¬

name ofthe Diana (Artemis) who is also called

Iphigenia or Lygodesma, and must be regarded

as the  goddess of the moon.  Her worship was

probably brought to Sparta from Lemnos.  It

was at the altar of Diana (Artemis) Orthia tha!

Spartan boys had to undergo  the flogging called

diamastigosis.

  Oethosia ('OpBaaia).  1. A city of Caria, on

the Maaander, with a mountain of the  same

name,  where the Rhodians  defeated the Ca¬

rians,  B C.  167.—2. (Now Ortosa),  a city of

Phoanice,  south of the mouth of the Eleuthe-

rus, and twelve Roman miles from Tripolis.

  Orthrus  ("OpBpog), the two-headed dog of

Geryones, who was begotten by Typhon and

Echidna, and was  slain by Hercules.  Vid. p.

358, a.]

  [Ortona  (now Ortona a Mare), a  port-town

of the Frentani, according to the Itineraries on

the road from Aternum to Histonium ]

  Ortospana ot-um ('Oprbairava: now Cabull),

a considerable  city  of the  Paropamisadae,  at

the sources of a western tributary ofthe River

Cogs,  and at the junction of three roads, one

leading north into Bactria, and the others south

and east into India.  It was  also called Carura

or Cabura.

  Ortygia ('Oprvyia).  1. The ancient name ol

Delos.  Since Diana (Artemis) and Apollo were

born at Delos, the poets sometimes call the god¬

dess Ortygia, and give the name of Ortygia boves

to the cattle pastured by Apollo, The ancients

connected the name with Orlyx("Oprv!;), a quail

Vid. p. 435, b. — 2  An  island  near Syracuse

Vid. Syracus-e.—3. A grove near Ephesus, in

which the Ephesians pretended  that Apollo and

Diana (Artemis) were born.  Hence Propertius

calls the Cayster, which flowed near Ephesus,

Ortygius Cayster.

   [Ortygius, a Rutulian, one of the warriors

on  the side of Turnus in his  wars with iEneas,

slain by Caeneus ]

   Oeus.  Vid. Hoeus, Okion.

   [Orus ('Qpoc), a Greek warrior before Troy,

slain by Hector.]

   [Orxines ('Opl-lvng) or Oesines, a noble and

wealthy Persian, who traced his descent frorti

Cyrus. He  was present, and commanded  a

portion of the troops at Gaugamela.  At the

death  of Phrasaortes  Orxines assumed the sa

trapy  of Persis, which usurpation was over¬

looked bv Alexander; bu he was subsequent!!