Editing Ogyges

{{Short description|Primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Ogyges
| deity_of = King of [[Boeotia]]
| member_of = 
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| other_names = Ogygus
| affiliation = 
| cult_center = 
| abode = Boeotia
| consort = [[Thebe (Greek myth)|Thebe]]
| parents = ?[[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthon]]; [[Poseidon]] and [[Alistra (mythology)|Alistra]]; [[Boeotus (son of Poseidon)|Boeotus]]; ?Cadmus
| siblings = unknown
| offspring = [[Eleusis (mythology)|Eleusis]], ?Cadmus, [[Aulis (mythology)|Aulis]], [[Alalcomenia]], and [[Thelxinoe|Thelxinia]]
| predecessor = [[Calydnus]]
| successor = ?[[Cadmus]]
| Roman_equivalent = 
| Etruscan_equivalent = 
}}

'''Ogyges''', also spelled '''Ogygus''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: {{Langx|Grc|Ὠγύγης or Ὤγυγος|Ogygos}}), is a primeval [[mythology|myth]]ological ruler in [[ancient Greece]], generally of [[Boeotia]],<ref>Hammond and Scullard, "OGYGUS" p. 748; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.5.1 9.5.1].</ref> but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of [[Attica]].

==Etymology==
Though the original etymology and meaning are "uncertain",<ref>Hammond and Scullard, "OGYGUS", p. 748.</ref> the name ''Ogyges'' may be related to the Greek [[Okeanos]] (Ὠκεανός), the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] who personified the great world [[ocean]].<ref>Fontenrose, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC&pg=PA236 p. 236].</ref> The Greek word ''Ogygios'' (Ὠγύγιος), meaning ''Ogygian'', came to mean "primeval, primal," or "from earliest ages" and also "gigantic".<ref>[[Liddell & Scott]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*)wgu/gios "Ὠγύγιος"].</ref>

== Family ==
Stories of Ogyges's descent differs widely. Besides Ogyges being one of the aborigines of Boeotia, there are tales that regard him as the son of [[Poseidon]] (by [[Alistra (mythology)|Alistra]]),<ref name=":0">[[Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#1206 1206] [https://archive.org/details/isaakioukaiiann00mlgoog/page/950/mode/1up?view=theater (Gk text)]</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} [[Boeotus (son of Poseidon)|Boeotus]]<ref>[[Corinna]], 671 as cited in [[Denys Page|D.L. Page]], ''Poetae melici graeci'' (1962)</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Simon Hornblower|Hornblower, Simon]]|title=Lykophron, Alexandra: Greek Text, Translation, Commentary, and Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|location=Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom|pages=432}}</ref> or even [[Cadmus]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}. [[Theophilus of Antioch|Theophilus]], in the 2nd century (''Apologia ad Autolycum''), says he was one of the [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]].

Ogyges was the husband of [[Thebe (Greek myth)|Thebe]], from whom the land of Thebes in Greece is said to derive its name.<ref>Tzetzes ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#1206 1206] [https://archive.org/details/isaakioukaiiann00mlgoog/page/n1012/mode/1up?view=theater (Gk text)] with the historian Lycus as the authority</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} His children are listed variously as two sons: [[Eleusis (mythology)|Eleusinus]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 1.38.7</ref> (for whom the city Eleusis was named) and Cadmus (noted above as his father in other traditions); and three daughters: [[Aulis (mythology)|Aulis]], [[Alalcomenia]], and [[Thelxinoë|Thelxinia]].<ref name="stoa.org">''[[Suda]]'' s.v. [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=pi,2212 ''Praxidike'']</ref>

==Mythology==

=== Reign ===
Ogyges is also known as king of the [[Ectenes]], who according to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] were the first inhabitants of Boeotia, where the city of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]] would later be founded.<ref name="Seyffert">Entry "Ogyges" in Oskar Seyffert, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', Revised and edited by Henry Nettleship and J.E. Sandys, New York: Meridian Books, 1956.</ref> As such, he became the first ruler of Thebes, which was, in that early time, named ''Ogygia'' (Ὠγυγία) after him. Subsequently, poets referred to the Thebans as ''Ogygidae'' (Ὠγυγίδαι).<ref name="Blakeney">Entry "Ogyges" in [[E. H. Blakeney]], ''Smith's Smaller Classical Dictionary'', Everyman's Library, London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1937.</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], writing from his travels in Boeotia in the 2nd century CE, said: "The first to occupy the land of Thebes are said to have been the Ectenes, whose king was Ogygus, an aboriginal. From his name is derived Ogygian, which is an epithet of Thebes used by most of the poets."<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.5.1 9.5.1].</ref>

In yet another version of the story, the Boeotian tradition is combined with that of another part of Greece: Ogyges was king of the Ectenes, who were the first people to occupy Boeotia, but he and his people later settled the area then known as [[Mount Athos|Acte]] (''Akte''). The land was subsequently called Ogygia in his honor but later known as Mount Athos. [[Sextus Julius Africanus]], writing after 221 CE, adds that Ogyges founded [[Eleusis]].<ref name="Chronography">Africanus, ''Chronography'', quoted in [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]], ''[[Praeparatio Evangelica]]'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_pe_10_book10.htm 10.10].</ref> In one account, his predecessor was called [[Calydnus|Kalydnos]], son of [[Uranus (mythology)|Ouranos]].<ref>[[Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron]], 1209</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Simon Hornblower|Hornblower, Simon]]|title=Lykophron, Alexandra: Greek Text, Translation, Commentary, and Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|location=Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom|pages=433}}</ref>

According to Africanus, Ogygus lived at the time of the [[The Exodus|Exodus]] of the House of Israel from Egypt.<ref name="Chronography" />

Ogyges is possibly the namesake for the [[phantom island]] [[Ogygia]], mentioned in [[Homer]]'s [[Odyssey]]. A long-standing tradition begun by [[Euhemerus]] in the late 4th century BC and supported by [[Callimachus]], endorsed by modern [[Malta|Maltese]] tradition, identifies Ogygia with the island of [[Gozo]], the second largest island in the [[Maltese archipelago]]. Another possibility for the island is the Niobid named [[Niobids|Ogygia]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The historian [[Josephus]] mentions Ogyges as the name of the oak by which the [[Hebrews|Hebrew]] patriarch [[Abraham|Abram]] dwelt while he lived near [[Hebron]].<ref>Josephus. ''Antiquities of the Jews.''  Book I. Chapter 10. Verse 4.  Retrieved from: http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm</ref> Furthermore, [[Og]], also called "Ogias the Giant", who was king of [[Bashan]] in the [[Old Testament]]; was described as a giant in Deut 3:11, viewed by the [[Hebrews]] as having aided [[Noah]] in building the [[Noah's Ark|Ark]], thus Noah allowed him to stay on the deck of the Ark.

===The deluge of Ogyges===
[[File:Boeotia ancient-en.svg|thumb|Map of ancient Boeotia. The area around the [[Lake Copais]] down to [[Attica]] is related with the [[Ancient Greek flood myths#Ogyges|Ogygian deluge]]]]
The first worldwide flood in Greek mythology, the [[Ogygian deluge]] occurred during his reign and derives its name from him, though some sources regard it as a local flood, such as an inundation of [[Lake Copais]], a large lake once in the center of Boeotia.<ref name="Seyffert"/> Other sources see it as a flood associated with Attica.<ref name="Blakeney"/> This latter view was accepted by Africanus, who says "that great and first flood occurred in Attica, when [[Phoroneus]] was king of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], as [[Acusilaus]] relates."

When this deluge has been considered global, a similarity is noticed with [[Noah]]'s flood in the [[Bible]]. Various dates have been assigned to the event, including 2136 BCE ([[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]), and 1793 BCE (Africanus).<ref name="Chronography"/>

Ogyges survived the deluge but many people perished. After his death, the devastated Attica was without kings for 189 years, until the time of [[Cecrops I|Cecrops]] (Cecrops Diphyes).<ref>[[Theodor Gaster|Gaster, Theodor H.]] [http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/floods.htm#Gaster Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020204111850/http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/floods.htm |date=2002-02-04 }}, Harper & Row, New York, 1969.</ref> Africanus says, "But after Ogyges, on account of the great destruction caused by the flood, what is now called Attica remained without a king one hundred and eighty-nine years until the time of Cecrops. For [[Philochorus]] asserts that that [[Actaeus|Actaeon]] who comes after Ogyges, and the fictitious names, never even existed."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eusebius|title=The Preparation for the Gospel|year=2012|publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781105706790|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1SzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA320|access-date=6 December 2016}}</ref>

It seems the [[deluge myth|deluge]] of [[Deucalion]] of Greek-mythology is the Greek version of the older legend. [[Deucalion]] and [[Pyrrha]] were the only survivors after the great deluge. Their son [[Hellen]], who became ruler of [[Phthia]] in southern [[Thessaly]], was the patriarch of the [[Hellenes]].

==See also==
*[[Mamre]]: the oak of Mamre is called Ogyges by Josephus Flavius
*[[Minyans]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Joseph Fontenrose|Fontenrose, Joseph]], ''Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins'', University of California Press, 1959. {{ISBN|9780520040915}}.
* [[N. G. L. Hammond|Hammond, N.G.L.]] and [[Howard Hayes Scullard]] (editors), ''[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', second edition, Oxford University Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-19-869117-3}}.
* Harding, Phillip, ''The Story of Athens: The Fragments of the Local Chronicles of Attika'', Routledge, 2007. {{ISBN|9781134304479}}.
* [[Simon Hornblower|Hornblower, Simon]], ''Lykophron, Alexandra: Greek Text, Translation, Commentary, and Introduction.'' Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom. 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-19-957670-8|978-0-19-881064-3}}
*Liddell, Henry George,  Robert Scott. ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie'', Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DO%3Aentry+group%3D3%3Aentry%3Dogygus-bio-1 "Ogygus" ]
*[[Suda|Suida]], ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. [https://topostext.org/work/240 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

==External links==
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Ogyges|short=x}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Ogyges|short=x}}

{{Theban Kings}}

[[Category:Kings of Athens]]
[[Category:Theban kings]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Autochthons of classical mythology]]
[[Category:Children of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Mythological people from Attica]]
[[Category:Mythological Thebans]]
[[Category:Mythological Boeotians]]
[[Category:Flood myths]]