Octogesa, a town of Spain, a little above the mouth of the Iberus, now called Mequinensa. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 61.
Octolophum, a place of Greece. Livy, bk. 31.
Ocyălus, one of the Phæacians with Alcinous. Homer, Odyssey.
Ocypĕte, one of the Harpies, who infected whatever she touched. The name signifies swift flying. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 265.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.——A daughter of Thaumas.——A daughter of Danaus.
Ocy̆roe, a daughter of Chiron by Chariclo, who had the gift of prophecy. She was changed into a mare. See: [Melanippe]. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 638, &c.——A woman, daughter of Chesias, carried away by Apollo, as she was going to a festival at Miletus.
Odenātus, a celebrated prince of Palmyra. He early inured himself to bear fatigues, and by hunting leopards and wild beasts, he accustomed himself to the labours of a military life. He was faithful to the Romans; and when Aurelian had been taken prisoner by Sapor king of Persia, Odenatus warmly interested himself in his cause, and solicited his release by writing a letter to the conqueror and sending him presents. The king of Persia was offended at the liberty of Odenatus; he tore the letter, and ordered the presents which were offered to be thrown into a river. To punish Odenatus, who had the impudence, as he observed, to pay homage to so great a monarch as himself, he ordered him to appear before him, on pain of being devoted to instant destruction, with all his family, if he dared to refuse. Odenatus disdained the summons of Sapor, and opposed force to force. He obtained some advantages over the troops of the Persian monarch, and took his wife prisoner with a great and rich booty. These services were seen with gratitude by the Romans; and Gallienus, the then reigning emperor, named Odenatus as his colleague on the throne, and gave the title of Augustus to his children and to his wife, the celebrated Zenobia. Odenatus, invested with new power, resolved to signalize himself more conspicuously by conquering the northern barbarians, but his exaltation was short, and he perished by the dagger of one of his relations, whom he had slightly offended in a domestic entertainment. He died at Emessa, about the 267th year of the christian era. Zenobia succeeded to all his titles and honours.
Odessus, a seaport town at the west of the Euxine sea in Lower Mœsia, below the mouths of the Danube. Ovid, bk. 1, Tristia, poem 9, li. 57.
Odeum, a musical theatre at Athens. Vitruvius, bk. 5, ch. 9.
Odīnus, a celebrated hero of antiquity, who flourished about 70 years before the christian era, in the northern parts of ancient Germany, or the modern kingdom of Denmark. He was at once a priest, a soldier, a poet, a monarch, and a conqueror. He imposed upon the credulity of his superstitious countrymen, and made them believe that he could raise the dead to life, and that he was acquainted with futurity. When he had extended his power, and increased his fame by conquest and by persuasion, he resolved to die in a different manner from other men. He assembled his friends, and with a sharp point of a lance he made on his body nine different wounds in the form of a circle, and as he expired he declared he was going into Scythia, where he should become one of the immortal gods. He further added that he would prepare bliss and felicity for such of his countrymen as lived a virtuous life, who fought with intrepidity, and who died like heroes in the field of battle. These injunctions had the desired effect; his countrymen superstitiously believed him, and always recommended themselves to his protection whenever they engaged in a battle, and they entreated him to receive the souls of such as had fallen in war.
Odītes, a son of Ixion, killed by Mopsus at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 457.——A prince killed at the nuptials of Andromeda. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 97.