Orion
Orion, a mythical giant, afterwards a constellation
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- the constellation Orion, whose rising and setting are attended by storms; acc. to the myth, a hunter transported to heaven, Ov. F. 5, 493; Hyg. Fab. 195; Verg. A. 1, 535; 4, 52; Hor. C. 1, 28, 21; 3, 27, 18; Lact. 4, 5, 21 et saep.
Orion autem talis fuisse confingitur, ut omnia maria transire potuisset et profundissimi quamvis gurgitis undas superare humeris
qua Procyonve furit, qua Lemnius ignifer urit, / spectat et ensiferum videt Oriona severum, / ignes infestos mortalibus atque molestos
ensifer Orion rutilantibus emicat astris
~on, centinodium idem
➳ ŏr- Virg. En. 1, 535 ; 4, 52 ; 10, 763.
(Ὀρίων,) a son of Hyrieus, of Ilyria, in Boeotia, a very handsome giant and hunter, and said to have been called by the Boeotians Candaon. (Hom. Od. 11.309; Strab. ix. p.404; Tzetz. ad Lyc. 328.) Once he came to Chios (Ophiusa), and fell in love with Aero, or Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, by the nymph Helice. He cleared the island from wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as Oenopion constantly deferred the marriage, Orion one day being intoxicated forced his way into the chamber of the maiden. Oenopion now implored the assistance of Dionysus, who caused Orion to be thrown into a deep sleep by satyrs, in which Oenopion blinded him. Being informed by an oracle that he should recover his sight, if he would go towards the east and expose his eye-balls to the rays of the rising sun, Orion following the sound of a Cyclops' hammer, went to Lemnos, where Hephaestus gave to him Cedalion as his guide. When afterwards He had recovered his sight, Orion returned to Chios to take vengeance, but as Oenopion had been concealed by his friends, Orion was unable to iind him, and then proceeded to Crete, where he lived as a hunter with Artemis. (Apollod. 1.4.3; Parthen. Erot. 20; Theon, ad Arat. 638 ; Hygin. Poet. Astr. 2.34.) The cause of his death, which took place either in Crete or Chios, is differently stated. According to some Eos, who loved Orion for his beauty, carried him off, but as the gods were angry at this, Artemis killed him with an arrow in Ortygia (Homrn. Od. 5.121); according to others he was beloved by Artemis, and Apollo, indignant at his sister's affection for him, asserted that she was unable to hit with her bow a distant point which he showed to her in the sea. She thereu:pon took aim, and hit it, but the point was the head of Orion, who had been swimming in the sea. (hygin. 1. c.; Ov. Fast. 5.537.) A third account states that he harboured an improper love for Artemis, that he challenged her to a game of discus, or that he violated Upis, on which account Artemis shot him, or sent a monstrous scorpion which killed him. (Serv. ad Aen. 1.539 ; Hor. Carm. 2.4.72; Apollod. 1.4.5.) A fourth account, lastly, states that he boasted he would conquer every animal, and would clear the earth from all wild beasts; but the earth sent forth a scerpion by which He was killed. (Ov. Fast. 5.539, &c.) Asclepius wanted to recall him to life. but was slain by Zeus with a flash of lighting. [Asclepius.] The accounts of his parentage and birth-place are varying in the different writers, for some call him a son of Poseidon and Euryale (Apollod, 1.4.3), and others say that He was born of the earth, or a son of Oenopion. (Serv. ad Aen. 1.539, 10.763.) He is further called a Theban, or Taiagraean, but probably because Hyria, his native place, sometimes belonged to Tanagra, and sometimes to Thebes. (Hygin. Poet. Astr. 2.34; Paus. 9.20 § 3; Strab. ix. p.404.) After his death, Orion was placed amniong the stars (Hom. Il. 18.486, &c., 22.29, Od. 5.274), where he appears as a giant with a girdle, sword, a lion's skin and a club. As the rising and setting of the constellation of Orion was believed to be accompanied by storms and rain, he is often called imbrifer, nimbosus, or aquosus. His tomb was shown at Tanagra. (Paus. 9.20.3.) [L.S]
and ORUS (Ὠρίων and Ὦρος,) names of more than one ancient grammarian. The mode in which they are mentioned by the authorities who speak of them is so confused, that it is a matter of the greatest difficulty to distinguish the different writers, and to assign to them their respective productions. The subject has been investigated with great care and acuteness by Ritschl, and the following are the leading results at which he has arrived.
Suidas speaks of two writers of the name of Orion, and one of the name of Orus. Orion of Thebes in Egypt
The first Orion Suidas makes a native of Thebes in Egypt. Works ἀνθολόγιον
Orion of Thebes was the author of an ἀνθολόγιον in three books, dedicated to Endocia, the wife of the younger Theodosius. Orion of Alexandria
The second Orion Suidas describes as an Alexandrian grammarian. Works
Orion the Alexandrian was the author of,-- 1. an ἀνθυλόγιον 2.Ἀττικῶν λέξεων συναγωγή 3. A work on etymology 4. A panegyric on the emperor Hadrian. Orus of Alexandria
Orus is said by Suidas (as the text stands) to have been a grammarian of Alexandria, who taught at Constantinople, the author of a treatise περὶ διχρόνων, a treatise περὶ ἐθνικῶν, one on orthography, and several others. Now Orus and Orion are mentioned some hundreds of times in the Etymologicum Magnum, the Etymologicum Gudianum, and the Etymologicum of Zonaras. But they are neither of them ever styled Alexandrians, while a Milesian Orus is often quoted, here and there a Theban Orus is spoken of, and also a Milesian Orion: and these quotations apportion the writings referred to not only quite differently from Suidas, but not even uniformly as regards these etymological works as compared with each other and themselves. Both a Theban Orion and a Theban Orus are quoted as writing on etymology; a Milesian Orion and Orus περὶ ἐθνικῶν ; a Milesian Orus (not an Alexandrian, as Suidas says) on orthography. Now in the midst of this confusion it happens fortunately enough that the etymological work of Orion is still extant; and in it he is distinctly spoken of as a Theban, who taught at Caesarea. The ἀνθολόγιον πρὸς Εὐδοκίαν, in three books, is likewise extant in manuscript, bearing the name of the same author. The dedication of this work to Eudocia fixes the period when the Theban Orion lived to about the middle of the fifth century after Christ. This is confirmed by what Marinus says in his life of Proclus (100.8), that the latter studied under a grammarian of the name of Orion, who was descendd from the Egyptian priestly class. It would appear from this, that Orion taught at Alexandria before he went to Caesarea. There is no reason whatever for considering these to be distinct persons, as Fabricius does (vol. vi. p. 374). Works Panegyric on Hadrian
The Alexandrian Orion, who is said by Suidas to have written a panegyric on the emperor Hadrian, would probably be a contemporary of that emperor. It is probably by a mistake that Suidas attributes to him a work on etymology: of the other works assigned to him we know nothing further. Orion the Theban Works Lexicon
The lexicon of Orion the Theban was first introduced to the notice of philologers by Ruhnken. Editions
It was published under the editorship of Sturz at Leipzig in 1820. Orus
In like manner Ritschl distinguishes two grammarians of the name of Orus. In many passages of the Etymologica Orus is quoted and called a Milesian. In others he is quoted without any such distinctive epithet. It might seem a tolerably easy mode of reconciling this with the statement of Suidas to suppose that the Alexandrian Orus, as being the more celebrated, is mentioned without any distinctive epithet, while the Milesian is always thus distinguished. But it is decisive against this supposition, that, besides the internal evidence that the articles taken from Orus and those taken from Orus the Milesian are really taken from one and the same author, all the works attributed by Suidas to the Alexandrian Orus are quoted as the works of the Milesian Orus in the Etymologica. From this, combined with the circumstance that the quotations made by Orus exhibit a more extensive acquaintance with ancient and somewhat rare authors than was to be expected in a Byzantine grammarian of the fourth century, and that in the passages in the Etymologica no author later than the second century is quoted by Orus, Ritschl concludes that there were two grammarians of the name of Orus; one a Milesian, who lived in the second century, and was the author of the works mentioned by Suidas: the other, an Alexandrine grammarian, who taught at Constantinople not earlier than the middle of the fourth century after Christ, and of whose works, if he was the author of any, we possess no remains.
A comparison of the Etymologicum Magnum and the Etymologicum Gudianum with the lexicon of Orion shows that the various articles of the latter have been incorporated in the two former, though not always in exactly the same form as that in which they appear in Orion. It is found also that in the Etymologicum Magnum a very large number of the citations professedly taken from Orus are also found in Orion. Ritschl has shown that it is impossible to substitute in all these passages the name of Orion, as the Orus spoken of is sometimes distinctly called ὁ Μιλήσιος ; and that moreover it is not necessary to attempt it, for an article in the Etymologicum Magnum, which ends with the words οὕτως Ὦρος· ἀλλὰ καὶ Ὠρίων καὶ Ἡρωδιανὸς περὶ παθών, renders it all but certain that Orion had borrowed a large number of his articles from Orus without acknowledgment. This is confirmed by a comparison of various passages. Orion cites the older authorities by name. Orus he never so quotes; and in this he followed the example of various other grammarians, who were rather given to make use of the labours of their more immediate predecessors without acknowledgment. It is of course possible enough that in a few passages of the Etymologicum Magnum, the nume of orus has been accidentally substituted for that of Orion. Works
It appears that Orus was the author of the following works: 1. A commentary on the orthography of Ierodianus. 2. A treatise of his own on orthography, arranged in alphabetical order (Suidas s. v. Ὦρος. Zonaras quotes Orus ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ αὐτοῦ ὀρθογραφίᾳ) The treatises on the diphthongs αι and ει mentioned by Suidas, were probably portions of this work. 3. Περὶ ἐθνικῶν. 4. Περὶ διχρόνων. 5. Περὶ ἐγκλιτικῶν μορίων. Of this we know nothing further. 6. Fabricius mentions a treatise Περὶ πολυσήμων or πολυσημάντων λέξεων as extant in manuscript. Of this likewise nothing further is known.Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 374 7. Περὶ πάθους. This is omitted by Suidas, but is quoted in the Etymologica. 8. Λύσεις προτάσεων τῶν Ἡρωδιανοῦ.
An Ἰλιακὴ προσῳδία is attributed to Orus in the Etymol. Magn. (536, 54); probably from a confusion with the work of Herodianus on the same subject.
Fabricius (vol. vi. p. 374) speaks of an Etymologicum Ori Milesii, on the authority, as he supposes, of Fulvius Ursinus, whom Fabricius understands to say that he possessed it in manuscript. But Ritschl has shown that the passage of Ursinus does not convey any such Assertion.
The πίναξ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ, spoken of by Suidas, would indicate that Orus was the author of other treatises besides those mentioned, of which we know nothing. The name Orus is sometimes found written Horus. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. pp. 193, 374, 601, 603; Ritschl, de Oro et Orione commentatio, Breslau, 1834; and an elaborate article on Orion by Ritschl in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopädie. [C.P.M]
- , Ὠρίων, a mythical giant, afterwards a constellation, C., V., H., O.
(Ὠρίων). A celebrated giant, said by one legend to have been the son of Poseidon and Euryalé. His father, according to this same account, gave him the power of wading through the depths of the sea, or, as others say, of walking on its surface. He married Sidé, whom Heré cast into Erebus for contending with her in beauty (Apollod.i.4.3). Another and more common account makes Hyria, a town of Boeotia, to have been the birthplace of Orion , and the story of his origin is told as follows: As Zeus, Poseidon, and Hermes were taking a ramble upon earth, they came, late in the evening, to the house of a farmer named Hyrieus. Seeing the wayfarers, Hyrieus, who was standing at his door, invited them to enter, and pass the night in his humble abode. The gods accepted the kind invitation, and were hospitably entertained. Pleased with their host, they inquired if he had any wish which he desired to have gratified. Hyrieus replied that he once had a wife whom he tenderly loved, and that he had sworn never to marry another. She was dead; he was childless; his vow was binding; and yet he was desirous of being a father. The gods took the hide of his only ox, which he, on discovering their true nature, had sacrificed in their honour: they buried it in the earth; and ten months afterwards a boy came to light, whom Hyrieus named Urion or Orion (ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρεῖν, Ovid, Fasti, v. 495 foll.; Hyg. Fab. 195). This legend owes its origin to the name Orion , and was the invention of the Athenians (Müller, Orchom. p. 99). In Hyginus, Hyrieus is Byrseus, from the hide (βύρσα).
When Orion grew up, he went, according to this same account, to the island of Chios, where he became enamoured of Aero or Meropé, the daughter of Oenopion, son of Dionysus and Ariadné. He sought her in marriage; but, while wooing, seized a favourable opportunity and offered her violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, and having made Orion drunk, blinded him, and cast him on the seashore. The blinded hero contrived to reach Lemnos, and came to the forge of Hephaestus, who, taking pity on him, gave him Cedalion (Guardian), one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the Sun. Placing Cedalion on his shoulder, Orion proceeded to the East; and there, meeting the sun-god, was restored to vision by his beams. Anxious for revenge on Oenopion, he returned to Chios; but the Chians, aware of his intention, concealed the object of his search under the ground, and Orion , unable to find him, returned to Crete. The death of Orion is variously related. As all the legends relating to him are evidently later than the time of Homer, none ventures to assign any other cause to it than the goddess Artemis, whose wrath (though Homer rather says the contrary) he drew on himself. Some said that he attempted to offer violence to the goddess herself; others to Opis, one of her Hyperborean maidens, and that Artemis slew him with her arrows; others, again, that it was for presuming to challenge the goddess at the discus. It was also said that, when he came to Crete, he boasted to Leto and Artemis that he was able to kill anything that would come from the earth. Indignant at his boast, they sent a scorpion, which stung him, and he died. It was said, finally, that Artemis loved Orion , and was even about to marry him. Her brother was highly displeased, and often reproached her, but to no purpose. At length, observing one day Orion wading through the sea with his head just above the waters, he pointed it out to his sister, and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the water. To show her skill she took aim and hit it, thus slaying Orion (Astr. ii. 34). Asclepius attempted to restore him to life, but was slain by Zeus with a thunderbolt.
(Ὠρίων). A Greek scholar, a native of the Egyptian Thebes, who flourished in the fifth century A.D., and wrote at Alexandria or Constantinople an etymological lexicon and an anthology of gnomes or maxims from the Greek poets. The lexicon is edited by Sturz (Leipzig, 1820).
- earthborn, or a son of Poseidon and Euryale: Apollod. 1.4.2
- can stride across the sea: Apollod. 1.4.2
- woos Merope: Apollod. 1.4.3
- blinded by Oenopion: Apollod. 1.4.3
- healed by the sun's rays: Apollod. 1.4.3
- loved by Dawn and carried off to Delos: Apollod. 1.4.3
- slain by Artemis in Delos: Apollod. 1.4.2, Apollod. 1.4.3
- tomb of: Paus. 9.20.3