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their shoulders: the object was to leap the greatest | oaths (Zevs opkoç), where they swore that they had distance, without regard to height. The discus, or gone through all the preparatory exercises required by quoit, was a heavy weight of a circular or oval shape; the laws, and that they would not be guilty of any neither this nor the javelin was aimed at a mark, but fraud, nor of any attempt to interfere with the fair he who threw farthest was the victor. In order to course of the games. Any one detected in bribing gain a victory in the pentathlon, it was necessary to his adversary to yield him the victory was heavily fined. conquer in each of its five parts.-4. Boxing (vyμn) After they had taken the cath, their relations and counwas introduced in the 23d Olympiad (B C. 688). The trymen accompanied them into the stadium, exhorting boxers had their hands and arms covered with thongs them to acquit themselves nobly.-The prizes in the of leather, called cestus, which served both to defend Olympic games were at first of some intrinsic value, them and to annoy their antagonists. Virgil (En., 5, like those given in the games described by Homer. 405) describes the cestus as armed with lead and iron; But, after the 7th Olympiad, the only prize given but this is not known to have been the case among was a garland of wild olive, cut from a tree in the the Greeks.-5. The Pancratium (TaуkράTIOν) con- sacred grove at Olympia, which was said to have sisted of boxing and wrestling combined. In this ex- been brought by Hercules from the land of the Hyperercise, and in the cestus, the vanquished combatant boreans. Palm-leaves were at the same time placed acknowledged his defeat by some sign; and this is in the hands of the victors, and their names, together supposed to be the reason why Spartans were forbid- with the games in which they had conquered, were den by the laws of Lycurgus to practise them, as it proclaimed by a herald. A victory at Olympia, bewould have been esteemed a disgrace to his country sides being the highest honour which a Greek could that a Spartan should confess himself defeated. In obtain, conferred so much glory on the state to which these games the combatants fought naked. The he belonged, that successful candidates were frequenthorse-races were of two kinds. 1. The chariot-race, ly solicited to allow themselves to be proclaimed citigenerally with four-horse chariots (inπQν тεhεiwv dрó- zens of states to which they did not belong. Fresh μos), was introduced in the 25th Olympiad (B.C. honours awaited the victor on his return home. He 680). The course (iπñоdрóμoç) had two goals in the entered his native city in triumph, through a breach middle, at the distance probably of two stadia from made in the walls for his reception; banquets were each other. The chariots started from one of these given to him by his friends, at which odes were sung goals, passed round the other, and returned along the in honour of his victory; and his statue was often other side of the hippodrome. This circuit was made erected, at his own expense or that of his fellow-cititwelve times. The great art of the charioteer con- zens, in the Altis, as the sacred grove at Olympia was sisted in turning as close as possible to the goals, but called. At Athens, according to a law of Solon, the without running against them or against the other Olympic victor was rewarded with a prize of 500 chariots. The places at the starting-post were as- drachmæ at Sparta the foremost place in battle was signed to the chariots by lot. There was another sort assigned him. Three instances are on record in which of race between chariots with two horses (dówpig or altars were built and sacrifices offered to conquerors ovvwpts). A race between chariots drawn by mules at the Olympic games.-It seems to be generally ad(nv) was introduced in the 70th Olympiad, and mitted that the chief object of this festival was to form abolished in the 84th-2. There were two sorts of a bond of union for the Grecian states. Besides this, races on horseback, namely, the xéλns, in which each the great importance which such an institution gave competitor rode one horse throughout the course, and to the exercises of the body must have had an imthe kann, in which, as the horse approached the mense influence in forming the national character. goal, the rider leaped from his back, and, keeping hold Regarded as a bond of union, the Olympic festival of the bridle, finished the course on foot.-In the 37th seems to have had but little success in promoting Olympiad (B.C. 632), racing on foot and wrestling be- kindly feelings between the Grecian states, and pertween boys was introduced.—There were also con-haps the rivalry of the contest may have tended to extests in poetry and music at the Olympian festival.All persons were admitted to contend in the Olympic games who could prove that they were freemen, that they were of genuine Hellenic blood, and that their characters were free from infamy and immorality. So great was the importance attached to the second of these particulars, that the kings of Macedon were obliged to make out their Hellenic descent before they were allowed to contend. The equestrian contests were necessarily confined to the wealthy, who displayed in them great magnificence; but the athletic exercises were open to the poorest citizens. An example of this is mentioned by Pausanias (6, 10, 1). In the equestrian games, moreover, there was no occasion for the owner of the chariot or horse to appear in person. Thus Alcibiades, on one occasion, sent seven chariots to the Olympic games, three of which obtained prizes. The combatants underwent a long and rigorous training, the nature of which varied with the game in which they intended to engage. Ten months before the festival they were obliged to appear at Elis, to enter their names as competitors, stating at the same time the prize for which they meant to contend. This interval of ten months was spent in preparatory exercises; and for a part of it, the last thirty days at least, they were thus engaged in the gymnasium at Elis. When the festival arrived, their names were proclaimed in the stadium, and after proving that they were not disqualified from taking part in the games, they were led to the altar of Jupiter the guardian of

asperate existing quarrels; but it undoubtedly furnished a striking exhibition of the nationality of the Greeks, of the distinction between them and other races. Perhaps the contingent effects of the ceremony were after all the most important. During its celebration, Olympia was a centre for the commerce of all Greece, for the free interchange of opinions, and for the publication of knowledge. The concourse of people from all Greece afforded a fit audience for literary productions, and gave a motive for the composition of works worthy to be laid before them. Poetry and statuary received an impulse from the demand made upon them to aid in perpetuating the victor's fame. But the most important and most difficult question connected with the subject is, whether their influence on the national character was for good or evil. The exercises of the body, on which these games conferred the greatest honour, have been condemned by some philosophers, as tending to unfit men for the active duties of a citizen (Aristot, Polit., 7, 14, 18.-Athenæus, 10, p. 413); while they are regarded by others as a most necessary part of a manly education, and as the chief cause of the bodily vigour and mental energy which marked the character of the Hellenic race. The description which we have given of the Olympic games will, for the most part, serve also for the other three great festivals of Grecce, namely, the Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian games. (Pausan, lib. 5, 6, seqq. -West's Pindar, Prelim. Diss.-Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthumsk., vol. 1, p. 108.-Potter's Grecian

Antiquities, vol. 1, p. 495.-Thirlwall's Greece, vol, 1, p. 384, seqq.- Encyclop. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 430, seqq.)-II. A name given to the aggregate of temples, altars, and other structures on the banks of the Alpheus in Elis, in the immediate vicinity of the spot where the Olympic games were celebrated. It was not, as many have incorrectly supposed, a city, nor did it at all resemble one. The main feature in the picture was the sacred grove Altis, planted, as legends told, by Hercules, and which he dedicated to Jupiter. (Pind., Olymp., 10, 51.) Throughout this grove were scattered in rich profusion the most splendid monuments of architectural, sculptural, and pictorial skill. The site was already celebrated as the seat of an oracle; but it was not until the Eleans had conquered the Pisatæ, and destroyed their city, that a temple was erected to the god with the spoils of the van. quished. This temple of the Olympian Jove was of Doric architecture, with a peristyle.. It was sixty-inence, was placed the temple of Ceres Chamyne. eight feet in height from the ground to the pediment, ninety-five in width, and two hundred and thirty in length. Its roof, at each extremity of which was placed a gilt urn, was covered with slabs of Pentelic marble. The architect was a native of the country, named Libo. In the centre of one of the pediments stood a figure of victory, with a golden shield, on which was sculptured a Medusa's head. Twenty-one gilt bucklers, the offering of the Roman general Mummius on the termination of the Achæan war, were also affixed to the outside frieze. The sculptures of the front pediment represented the race of Pelops and Enomaus, with Myrtilus and Hippodamia; also Jupiter, and the rivers Alpheus and Cladeus; these were all by Pæonius, an artist of Mende in Chalcidic Thrace. In the rear pediment, Alcmenes had sculptured the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ. The other parts of the building were enriched with subjects taken from the labours of Hercules. On entering the gates, which were of brass, the spectator passed the statue of Iphitus crowned by Ecechiria, on his right; and, advancing through a double row of columns supporting porticoes, reached the statue of Jupiter, the chef-d'œuvre of Phidias. The god was represented as seated on his throne, composed of gold, ebony, and ivory, studded with precious stones, and farther embellished with paintings and the finest carved work. (Pausan., 5, 11.) The Olympian deity was portrayed by the great OLYMPIAS, I. an Olympiad, or the space of time inAthenian artist in the sublime attitude and action con- tervening between any two celebrations of the Olymceived by Homer. (I., 1, 528, seqq.) The figure was pic games. (Vid. Olympia I.) The Greeks compuof ivory and gold, and of such vast proportions that, ted time by means of them, beginning with B C. 776, though seated, it almost reached the ceiling, which sug-each Olympiad being regarded as equal to four years. gested the idea that in rising it would bear away the roof. (Strabo, 354.) The head was crowned with olive. In the right hand it grasped an image of victory, and in the left a sceptre, curiously wrought of different metals, on which was perched an eagle. Both the sandals and vesture were of gold; the latter was also enriched with paintings of beasts and flowers by Pananus, the brother, or, as some say, the nephew, of Phidias. (Pausan., l. c.-Strabo, l. c.) An enclosure surrounded the whole, by which spectators were prevented from approaching too near; this was also decorated with paintings by the same artist, which are minutely described, together with the other ornamental appendages to the throne and its supporters, by Pausanias. The ivory parts of the statue were constantly rubbed with oil as a defence against the damp (Pausan., 5, 12), and officers, named paidpvvrai, or cleansers, were appointed to keep it well polished. The veil of the temple was of wool dyed with Phoenician purple, and adorned with Assyrian embroidery, presented by King Antiochus. Various other offerings are mentioned by Pausanias, to whom the student is referred for an account of these, as well as a description, &c., of the other buildings at Olympia. Among the altars, the most remarkable was that in the

temple of Pelops. It was entirely composed of ashes collected from the thighs of victims, which, being diluted with water from the Alpheus, formed a kind of cement.-A conspicuous feature at Olympia was the Cronius, or Hill of Saturn, often alluded to by Pindar, and on the summits of which priests named Basile offered sacrifices to the god every year at the vernal equinox. (Pind., Olymp., 10, 56.) Xenophon mentions (Hist. Gr., 7, 4, 14) that, in a war waged by the Eleans with the Arcadians, Mount Cronius was occupied and fortified by the latter. Below that hill stood the temple of Lucina Olympia, where Sosipolis, the protecting genius of Elis, was worshipped. The stadium was a mound of earth, with seats for the Hellanodica, who entered, as well as the runners, by a secret portico. The hippodrome, which was contiguous to the stadium, was likewise surrounded by a mound of earth, except in one part, where, on an emNot far from this were the Olympic gymnasia, for all sorts of exercises connected with the games.Olympia now presents scarcely any vestiges of the numerous buildings, statues, and monuments so elaborately detailed by Pausanias. Chandler could only trace "the walls of the cell of a very large temple, standing many feet high and well built, the stones all injured, and manifesting the labour of persons who have endeavoured by boring to get at the metal with which they were cemented. From a massive capital remaining, it was collected that the edifice had been of the Doric order." (Travels, vol. 2, ch. 76.) Mr. Revett adds, that "this temple appears to be rather smaller than that of Theseus at Athens, and in no manner agrees with the temple of the Olympian Jove." The ruins of this latter edifice, as Sir W. Gell reports, are to be seen towards the Alpheus, and fiftyfive geographic paces distant from the Hill of Saturn. There are several bushes that mark the spot, and the Turks of Lalla are often employed in excavating the stones. Between the temple and the river, in the descent of the bank, are vestiges of the hippodrome, or buildings serving for the celebration of the Olympic games. These accompany the road to Miracca on the right for some distance. The whole valley is very beautiful. (Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 3, p. 95, seqq.)

The last one (the 304th) fell on the 440th year of the Christian era. (Consult remarks at the commencement of the article Olympia I.)-II. daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, and wife of Philip, king of Macedon, by whom she had Alexander the Great. The conduct of Olympias had given rise to the suspicion that Alexander was not the son of Philip; and the brilliant career of the Macedonian conqueror made his flatterers assign to him for a parent the Father of the Gods. Olympias herself, in the intoxication of female vanity, hesitated not, at a later day, to sanction the story, and Jupiter was said to have approached her under the form of a serpent. (Consult Wieland, ad Lucian. Pseudomant., 13.-Sueton., Vit. Aug., 92.-Böttiger, Sabina, p. 212.) The haughtiness of Olympias, or, more probably, her infidelity, led Philip to repudiate her, and contract a second marriage with Cleopatra, the niece of King Attalus. The murder of Philip, which happened not long after, has been attributed by some to her intrigues, though with no great degree of probability. Alexander, after his accession to the throne, treated her with great respect, but did not allow her to take part in the government. At a subsequent period, after the death of Antipater, Polysperchon, in order to confirm his power, recalled

Olympias from Epirus, whither she had fled, and con- | fided to her the guardianship of the young son of Alexander. She now cruelly put to death Aridæus, son of Philip, with his wife Eurydice, as also Nicanor, the brother of Cassander, together with many leading men of Macedonia who were inimical to her interests. Her cruelties, however, did not remain long unpunished. Cassander besieged her in Pydna, and she was obliged to surrender after an obstinate siege, and was put to death. (Vid. Cassander.-Justin, lib. 7, 9, 11, 14, &c.)

passed for one of the seven wonders of the world (Vid. Olympia II.)-II. A poet. (Vid. Nemesianus. OLYMPUS, I. a celebrated mountain on the coast of Thessaly, forming the limit, when regarded as an entire range, between the latter country and Macedonia. The highest summit in the chain, to which the name of Olympus was specially confined by the poets, was fabled to be the residence of the gods, and well deserved the honour. Travellers who have visited these shores dwell with admiration on the colossal magnificence of Olympus, which seems to rise at once from OLYMPIODORUS, a name common to many individu- the sea to hide its snowy head amid the clouds. Dr. als. The most deserving of our notice are the fol- Holland, who beheld it from Litochori at its foot, oblowing: I. A native of Thebes in Egypt, flourished serves, "We had not before been aware of the extreme in the beginning of the fifth century of our era. He vicinity of the town to the base of Olympus, from the continued the history of Eunapius from 407 to 425 thick fogs which hung over us for three successive A.D. His work, entitled "Yan 'loropias (" Materials days while traversing the country; but on leaving it, for History"), or 'loтopikoì λóyo (“ Historical Narra- and accidentally looking back, we saw through an tives"), consisted of twenty-two books. Only a frag- opening in the fog a faint outline of vast precipices, ment of it has been preserved by Photius. The seeming almost to overhang the place, and so aërial in work began with the seventh consulship of the Em- their aspect, that for a few minutes we doubted whethperor Honorius, and was brought down to the acces- er it might not be a delusion to the eye. The fog, sion of Valentinian. It was dedicated to the younger however, dispersed yet more on this side, and partial Theodosius. The historian appears to have been em- openings were made, through which, as through arches, ployed also on public business, for he mentions his we saw the sunbeams resting on the snowy summits having been sent on a mission to Donatus, king of of Olympus, which rose into a dark blue sky far above the Huns. In his description of the African Oases, the belt of clouds and mist that hung upon the sides he speaks of wells being made to the depth of 200, of the mountain. The transient view we had of the 300, and even 500 cubits, and of the water rising up mountain from this point showed us a line of preciand flowing from the aperture. Some have supposed pices of vast height, forming its eastern front towards that these must have been Artesian wells. Olympio- the sea, and broken at intervals by deep hollows or dorus was a heathen. -II. An Alexandrean philoso- ravines, which were richly clothed with forest-trees. pher, who flourished about the year 430 B.C. He is The oak, chestnut, beech, plane-tree, &c., are seen in celebrated for his knowledge of the Aristotelian doc- great abundance along the base and skirts of the mounttrines, and was the master of Proclus, who attended ain; and, towards the summit of the first ridge, large upon his school before he was 20 years of age. This forests of pine spread themselves along the acclivities, philosopher is not to be confounded with a Platonist giving that character to the face of the mountain which of the same name who wrote a commentary upon Plato. is so often alluded to by the ancient poets." (TravHe is also to be distinguished from a peripatetic of a els, vol. 2, p. 27.) The modern name of the mountain still later age, who wrote a commentary on the Mete- with the Greeks is Elimbo, and with the Turks Semaorology of Aristotle.-III. A Platonic philosopher, who vat Evi. (Kruse, Hellas, vol. 1, p. 282.- Cramer's flourished towards the close of the sixth century. He Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 211, seqq.) "Few of the Grewas the author of Commentaries on four of Plato's di- cian mountains," remarks Dodwell, "soar to the height alogues, the first Alcibiades, the Phædon, Gorgias, and of Olympus." Plutarch (Vit. Emil. Paul.), citing the Philebus. The first of these contains a life of Plato, philosopher Xenagoras, says that it is more than ten in which we meet with certain particulars relative to stadia in height, and M. Bernouille makes it 1017 toises the philosopher not to be found elsewhere. This (6501 English feet). It forms a gigantic mass, and Olympiodorus was a native of Alexandrea, and enjoy-occupies a very extensive space. Its southern side ed great reputation in that capital, as will appear from a distich appended to his commentary on the Gorgias. The title which his commentaries bear appears to indicate by the words άñò pwvis ("from the mouth" of Olympiodorus) that they were copied down by the hearers of the philosopher. Sainte-Croix, however, thinks that this phrase is merely employed to indicate that the doctrine contained in the commentaries was traditional in its nature. (Magasin. Encycl., 3 ann., vol. 1, p. 195.) Fragments of the commentary on the Phædon are given in Fischer's edition of four Platonic dialogues (Lips., 1783, 8vo), and in Foster's edition of five of Plato's dialogues (Oxon., 1752, 8vo). Fragments of the commentary on the Gorgias were published by Routh, in his edition of the Gorgias and Euthydemus (Oxon., 1784, 8vo). The commentary or scholia on the Philebus will be found in Stallbaum's edition of that dialogue (Lips., 1820, 8vo). The commentary on the first Alcibiades forms the second part of Creuzer's Initia Philosophiae ac Theologiæ, &c. (Francf., 1820, 8vo).—IV. A native of Alexandrea, a peripatetic, who flourished during the latter half of the sixth century. He was the author of a commentary on the Meteorology of Aristotle, which was edited by Aldus, Venet., 1551, fol. (Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 7, p. 132, &c.)

OLYMPÍUS, I. a surname of Jupiter at Olympia, where the god had a celebrated temple and statue, which

constitutes the boundary of Thessaly, and its northern base encloses the plains of Macedon. To the west it branches out towards Othrys, where its remote swells are blended with those of Pindus, which terminates in the Adriatic with the abrupt and stormy promontory of Acroceraunia. Its rugged outline is broken into many summits, from which circumstance Homer gives it the epithet of Tоkvdεipág. It is never completely free from snow, and Hesiod (Theog., 118) characterizes it with the epithet of vipóɛic. Homer, in his Iliad, calls it ȧyávvipoc, whereas in his Odyssey he says that it is never agitated by the wind, rain, or snow, but enjoys a clear and luminous air. (I., 1, 420. — Od., 6, 45.) Nothing is easier, says an ingenious author, than to reconcile these apparent contradictions. M. Boivin, indeed, employs for this purpose a climax of singular conjecture. He supposes a heavenly Olympus, which he turns upside down, with its foot in the heavens, where it never snows, and its summit towards the earth; to which part he conceives Homer gave the epithet of snowy. As the gods and mortals were Anticephali, he maintains that Homer imagined mountains to be in similar situations! (Mem. de Litt. dans 'Hist. de l'Acad. des Inser., &c., vol. 7.) But the poet represents the seat of the gods as on the summit of Olympus, under the clouds, and of course he does not imagine it turned upside down.-Olympus is full of breaks, glens, and forests, whence it had the epithets

tash, or "the perforated rock." (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 257, seq.)—V. A mountain on the castern coast of Cyprus, just below the promontory Dinaretum. It is now Monte Santa-Croce. This mountain had on it a temple sacred to Venus Acræa, from which women were excluded; the mountain itself was shaped like a breast. (Strab., 683.—Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 379, 385.)

of woĥúkruɣos and πоhudévôрeos. (Dodwell's Tour, | a natural aperture in the cliff; it is now called Delikvol. 2, p. 105, seqq.)-Near the top Dodwell encountered large quantities of snow, and at last reached a part where the mountain became bare of all vegetation, and presented only a cap of snow and ice, on which it was impossible to be sustained or to walk. At this time it was the middle of July; the heat was extreme towards the base of the mountain, as well as in the plain, while the masses of snow near its summit gave no signs of melting. The view from the highest ac- OLYNTHUS, a powerful city of Macedonia, in the cessible part of Olympus is described as being very district of Chalcidice, at the head of the Sinus Toroextensive and grand. The mountain seemed to touch naicus. It was founded probably by the ChalcidPelion and Ossa, and the vale of Tempe appeared only ians and Eretrians of Euboea. (Strabo, 447.) He a narrow gorge, while the Peneus was scarcely percep- rodotus relates, that it was afterward held by the Bot. tible. There are hardly any quadrupeds to be seen tiæi, who had been expelled from the Thermaic Gulf beyond the half height of Olympus, and scarcely do by the Macedonians; but on the revolt of Potidæa, even birds pass this limit.-The idea has been started, and other towns on this coast, from the Persians, it on mere conjecture, however, that the name Olympus was beseiged and taken by Artabazus, a commander may have some reference to the idea of a "limit" or of Xerxes, who put all the inhabitants to the sword, "boundary," and it is a curious fact that the positions and delivered the town to Critobulus of Torone and of most, if not all, of the mountains that bear this the Chalcidians. (Herod., 8, 127.) Perdiccas, some name would seem to countenance the assertion. The years after, persuaded the Bottiæi and Chalcidians to most remarkable instances, after the one we have just abandon their other towns and make Olynthus their been considering, are the following.II. A range of principal city, previous to their engaging in hostility mountains in the southwestern angle of Bithynia. with the Athenians. (Thucyd., 1, 58.) In this war, Mount Olympus, the loftiest of the range, rose above the Olynthians obtained some decisive advantages Prusa, and was one of the highest summits in Asia over that republic; and the expedition of Brasidas enMinor, being covered with snow during great part of abled them effectually to preserve their freedom and the year. (Browne's Travels, in Walpole's Collec-independence, which was distinctly recognised by tion, vol. 2, p. 112.) The lower parts, and the plains treaty. From this time, the republic of Olynthus at the foot, especially on the western side, had from gradually acquired so much power and importance the earliest period been occupied by the Mysians, among the northern states of Greece, that it roused whence it was generally denominated the Mysian the jealousy and excited the alarm of the more powerOlympus. (Plin., 5, 32.) Its sides were covered ful of the southern republics, Athens and Lacedæmon. with vast forests, which afforded shelter to wild beasts, The Olynthians, apparently proceeding on the federand not unfrequently to robbers, who erected strong-al system, afterward so successfully adopted by the holds there. (Strab., 574.) We read in Herodotus, Achæans, incorporated into their alliance all the smallthat, in the time of Croesus, an immense wild boar, er towns in their immediate vicinity; and, by deissuing from the woods of Olympus, laid waste the grees, succeeded in detaching several important places fields of the Mysians, and became so formidable that from the dominions of Amyntas, king of Macedonia, the inhabitants were obliged to send a deputation to who had not the power of protecting himself from the Lydian monarch to request his aid for deliverance these encroachments. At length, however, a deputa from the monster. (Herod., 1, 36.) The lower re- tion from the Chalcidic cities of Apollonia and Acangions of this great mountain are still covered with ex- thus, whose independence was at that time immeditensive forests, but the summit is rocky, and destitute ately threatened by Olynthus, having directed the atof vegetation. The Turks call it Anadoli Dagh. tention of Sparta, then at the height of its political (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 178.)—III. A mount- importance, to this rising power, it was determined, ain range of Lycia, on the eastern coast, above the in a general assembly of the Peloponnesian states, to Sacrum Promontorfum. A city of the same name was despatch an army of ten thousand men into Thrace. situate in a part of the range. Mount Olympus would (Xen., Hist. Gr., 5, 2, 14.) Teleutias, brother of appear to be the chain to which Homer alludes in the Agesilaus, and one of the most distinguished comOdyssey (5, 282, seqq.), under the name of the Soly-manders of Sparta, was appointed to conduct the mæan mountains, whence he supposes Neptune to have beheld in his wrath Ulysses sailing towards Phoenicia. The mountains rising at the back of the perpendicular cliffs which line the shore in this quarter, attain to the height of six and seven thousand feet. The highest, as we learn from Captain Beaufort, bears the name of Adratchan, and appears to answer to the Olympus of Strabo. (Caramania, p. 43.-Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 257.)-IV. A city of Lycia, alluded to in the preceding paragraph. It ranked among the six communities of Lycia. (Strab., 666.) Cicero also bears testimony to its importance and opulence. Having become the residence and haunt of pirates, it was captured by Servilius Isauricus, and became afterward a mere fortress. (Cic. in Verr., 1, 21.- Eutrop, 6, 3.- Plin., 5, 27.) Strabo states, that it was the stronghold of the pirate Zenicetus; and the situation was so elevated that it commanded a view of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia. (Strab., 671.) We are indebted to Captain Beaufort for the discovery of the ruins of this place, which exist in a small circular plain, surrounded by the chain of Adratchan (vid. Olympus III.), and at a little distance from the sea. The only way leading to the site is by

war. Having collected his forces, and those of Amyntas and his allies, he marched against the Olynthians, who ventured to give him battle before their walls; but, after a well-fought action, they were compelled to take refuge within their city. Ir a skirmish, however, which happened not long after, the Peloponnesian forces, in their disorderly pursuit of a body of Olynthian cavalry close to the town, were thrown into confusion by a sortie of the enemy, which communicated such a panic to the whole army, that, notwithstanding the efforts of Teleutias to stop the flight of his troops, a total rout ensued, and he himself was slain. (Hist. Gr., 5, 3.) This disaster, instead of disheartening, called forth fresh exertions on the part of the Spartan government. Agesipolis one of the kings, was ordered to take the command, and prosecute the war with vigour. This young mon arch had already obtained some advantages over the enemy, when he was seized with a disorder, which, baffling all remedies, soon proved fatal: he died a Aphyte, near the temple of Bacchus. Polybiades, his successor, had thus the credit of putting an end to the war; for the Olynthians, left to their own resources, found themselves unable to cope with their powerful

and persevering antagonists, and were at length forced | ter the murder of Iphitus, Hercules fell into a malady, to sue for peace, which was granted on condition that and was told by the oracle at Delphi that he would they should acknowledge their dependance on Sparta, not be restored to health, unless he allowed himself to and take part in all its wars. (Xen., Hist. Gr., 5, 4, be sold as a slave for the space of three years, and 27.) Olynthus, though awed and humbled, was far gave the purchase-money to Eurytus as a compensafrom being effectually subdued; and not many years tion for the loss of his son. Accordingly, in obedielapsed before it renewed its attempts to form a con- ence to the oracle, he was conducted by Mercury to federacy, and again dismember the Macedonian states. Lydia, and there sold to Omphale. During the period In consequence of the alliance which it entered into of his slavery with this queen, he assumed female atwith Amphipolis, once the colony of Athens, it be- tire, sat by her side spinning with her women, and came involved in hostilities with the Athenians, sup- from time to time received chastisement at the hand ported by Philip, son of Amyntas, who had just as- of Omphale, who, arrayed in his lion-skin, and armed cended the throne of Macedon; and Potidea and Me- with his club, playfully struck him with her sandal for thone were successively wrested from its dominion. his awkward way of holding the distaff. He became *Indeed, Olynthus itself could not long have resisted by this queen the father of Agelaus, from whom, acsuch powerful enemies, had not jealousy, or some se- cording to Apollodorus, came the race of Croesus cret cause, spread disunion among the allies and in- (őbev kaì тò Kpoícov yévoç.-Apollod., 2, 7, 7). Some duced them to form other designs. Shortly after, we writers make the Lydian Heraclide to have sprung find Philip and the Olynthians in league against Ath- from this union, and not the line of Croesus; but the ens, with the view of expelling that power from weight of authority is in favour of the opinion that the Thrace. (Demosth., Olynth., 2, p. 19) Amphipolis Heraclidæ of Lydia claimed descent from Hercules was besieged and taken by assault; Potidæa surren- and a female slave of Iardanus. (Creuzer, Fragm. dered, and was restored to Olynthus, which for a time Hist., p. 186, seqq.-Hellanic., ap. Steph. Byz., s. v. became as flourishing and powerful as at any former 'AKEλn.-Diod. Sic., 4, 31-Dio Chrysost, Oral., 4, period of its history. Of the circumstances which p. 236, b.)—The myth of Hercules and Omphale is induced this republic to abandon the interests of Ma- an astronomical one. The hero in this legend reprecedon in favour of Athens, we are not well informed; sents the Sun-god, who has descended to the ouμpaλós but the machinations of the party hostile to Philip led (omphalos), or "navel" of the world, amid the signs to a declaration of war against that monarch; and the of the southern hemisphere, where he remains for Athenians were easily prevailed upon by the eloquence a season shorn of his strength. Hence the Lydian of Demosthenes to send forces to the support of Olyn- custom of solemnizing the festival of the star of day thus under the command of Chares. Although these by an exchange of attire on the part of the two troops were at first successtul, it was evident that they sexes; and hence the fable of the Grecian writers, were unable effectually to protect the city against the that Hercules had assumed, during his servitude with formidable army of Philip. The Olynthians, beaten Omphale, the garb of a female. (Creuzer, Symbolik, in two successive actions, were soon confined within par Guigniaut, vol. 2, pt. 1, p. 179.) Walker, howtheir walls; and, after a siege of some duration, were ever, takes a moral view of the legend which we have compelled to surrender, not without suspicion of treach-just been considering, and regards it as expressing the ery on the part of Eurysthenes and Lasthenes, who were then at the head of affairs. On obtaining possession of this important city, Philip gave it up to plunder, reduced the inhabitants to slavery, and razed the walls to the ground. (Diod. Sic., 16, 53.-Demosth., Phil., 3. p. 113.-Justin, 8, 4.- Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 249, seqq.)

OMBOS, a city of Egypt, a little north of Syene, on the eastern side of the Nile. The Antonine Itinerary calls it Ambos (p. 165), and Ptolemy, Ombi ("Ouboi. The edition of Erasmus has 'Oubpot by a mistake of the press.) Pliny speaks of the Ombilis Præfectura, whence we may conclude that Ombos was at one period the capital of a Nome. (Plin., 5, 9.) Its position is now found in the name of Koum-Ombo, or the Hill of Ombo. Between the inhabitants of this place and Tentyra constant hostilities prevailed, the former adoring, the latter killing, the crocodile. A horrible instance of religious fury, which took place in consequence of their mutual discord, is the subject of the 15th satire of Juvenal. (Consult Ruperti ad Sat. cit.) In relation to the Ombites worshipping the crocodile, while the inhabitants of Tentyra and other places destroyed it, we may cite the explanation of two of the French savans (Chabrol and Jomard, Descript. de l'Egypte, vol. 1.—Antiq., c. 4, p. 8, seqq.). They suppose, that the crocodile was revered by those cities which were more or less removed from the immediate vicinity of the Nile, by reason of its swimming towards them when the river began to overflow its banks, and thus bringing the first intelligence of the approach of the inundation. (Compare Creuzer, Comment. Herod., p 84)

OMPHALE, a queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus. She married Tmolus, who, at his death, left her mistress of his kingdom. Omphale had been informed of the great exploits of Hercules, and wished to see so illustrious a hero. Her wish was soon gratified. Af

abasement of power amid sensual indulgence. (Analysis of Beauty, p. 32.)

ONCEUM, a town of Arcadia, near Thelpusa, on the banks of the river Ladon. The place was famed for a temple of Ceres, and the legend connected with it was as follows: When Ceres was in search of her daughter Proserpina, Neptune continually followed her. To elude him, she changed herself into a mare, and mingled with the mares of Oncus; but the sea-god assumed the form of a horse, and thus became the father of the celebrated steed Arion. (Pausanias, 8, 25, 4.)

ONCHESMUS, a town of Epirus, on the coast, situate, according to Strabo (324), opposite the western extremity of Corcyra. Dionysius of Halicarnassus pretended that the real name of this place was Anchise Portus, derived from Anchises the father of Æneas. (Ant. Rom., 1, 32.) Cicero seems to refer to the port of Onchesmus, when he speaks of the wind Onchesmites as having favoured his navigation from Epirus to Brundisium. (Ep. ad Att., 7, 2.- Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 96.) Pouqueville gives Santi Quaranta as the modern name of Onchesmus (vol. 2, p. 133), or, more correctly, of a small place near it' (vol. 2, p. 104).

ONCHESTUS, I. a river of Thessaly, rising near Cynoscephala, and falling into the Sinus Pelasgicus. It is supposed to correspond to the modern Patrassi. (Liv., 33, 6.—Polyb., 18, 3.—Steph. Byz., s. v.) Some have thought it to be the same with the river which Herodotus calls Onochonus (7, 196), but without any good reason. The Onochonus, whose waters were drained by the army of Xerxes, falls into the Peneus, and is probably the river Rejani. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 390.)-II. A city of Boeotia, northwest of Thebes, and south of the lake Copais. It received its name from Onchestus, a son of Neptune, whose temple and grove are often celebrated by the