Orgies. Drunken revels. The riotous feasts of Bacchus were so designated.
Orion (Ori′on). A handsome hunter, of great stature, who was blinded by Oenopion for a grievous wrong done to Merope, and was therefore expelled from Chios. The sound of the Cyclops’ hammers led him to the abode of Vulcan, who gave him a guide. He then consulted an oracle, and had his sight restored, as Longfellow says, by fixing
“His blank eyes upon the sun.”
He was afterward slain by Diana and placed amongst the stars, where his constellation is one of the most splendid.
Orithyia (Ori′thy′ia). A daughter of Erechtheus, whose lover, Boreas, carried her off while she was wandering by the river Ilissus. Her children were Zetus and Calais, two winged warriors who accompanied the Argonauts.
Ormuzd (Or′muzd). In Persian mythology the creator of all things.
Oros (O′ros). The Egyptian Apollo.
Orphans, see Orbona.
Orpheus (Or′pheus) was son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was married to Eurydice; but she was stung by a serpent, and died. Orpheus went down to Hades to claim her, and played so sweetly with his lute that Pluto allowed Eurydice to return to the earth with Orpheus, but on condition that he did not look behind him until he had reached the terrestrial regions. Orpheus, however, in his anxiety to see if she were following him, looked round, and Eurydice disappeared from his sight, instantly and forever.
“Orpheus’ lute was strung with poets’ sinews.”
Shakespeare.