Ophion (world ruler)

Ophion ( ancient Greek Ὀφίων ), also Ophioneus ( ancient Greek Ὀφιονεύς ), is a deity of Greek mythology .

The myth about Ophion probably goes back to the pre-Socratic Pherecytes of Syros . According to him, Ophion and his wife Eurynome were the first to rule the world. According to Pherekydes, Ophion had several children who are collectively called Ophionids (Ὀφιονίδαι), but whose individual names have not been passed down. In the battle for world domination, Kronos defeated Ophion in a duel. At the same time, his wife defeated Rhea Ophion's wife Eurynome. They plunged the two of them into Tartaros (according to Lycophrons Alexandra ) or Okeanos (according to Apollonios Rhodios , who apparently does not see Okeanos as a person but as a place). The titan couple Kronos and Rhea took control until they were deposed by Zeus .

The myth about Ophion was not widespread in antiquity and contradicts other, more common versions of the myth. In the epics of Homer and Hesiod Theogony Ophion does not occur. Eurynome is mentioned by both authors, but does not have the function of a world ruler. In the version of the myth based on Pherecydes of Syros, Ophion takes on the role of Uranus . That is why Ophion was occasionally equated with Uranus in ancient times, and later with Oceanus. Because of his belonging to the generation before the gods and because of a Scholion to Lycophron, Ophion is also counted among the titans .

The origin of this myth is unknown. The late antique author Eusebius of Caesarea assumed that Pherecydes had borrowed it from the Phoenician culture. Apollonios Rhodios handed down the myth as part of a song by Orpheus . It is unclear whether this reflects actual elements of an Orphic tradition or whether Apollonios Rhodios himself invented the song based on Pherecydes.

Although this is not mentioned in the original sources, later authors introduced Ophion according to his name in the shape of a snake (Greek ὄφις, 'ophis' ).

literature

• Otto Höfer : Ophion 1 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.1, Leipzig 1902, Col. 924 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Ernst Wüst : Ophion 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XVIII, 1, Stuttgart 1939, Col. 643-645.
• Lutz Käppel : Ophion 1. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01478-9 , column 1254.

Web links

• Ophion in the Theoi Project (English)
• Ophion in the Greek Myth Index (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pherecytes of Syros , quoted in Origenes contra Celsum 4, 42 = The fragments of the pre-Socratics , fragment 7 B4; see also Scholia in Aeschylum  - in Prometheum vinctum 955-963; Scholia in Aratum 16; Scholia in Aristophanem  - in nubes 247a; Scholia in Hesiodum  - in opera et dies 111a; Scholia in Homerum  - in Iliadem 18, 398-399c; Nonnos , Dionysiaca , 2, 572-574; 8, 160-164.
2. ↑ The Ophionids also appear in Callimachus , fragment 54c, 7.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Stephan Busch: Orpheus with Apollonios Rhodios . In: Hermes . tape 21 , no. 3 , 1993, p. 311-312 .
4. ↑ Lykophron, Alexandra 1191-1107; Apollonios Rhodios , Argonautika 1, 501-506.
5. ^ ^{A b} Martin Litchfield West : Three Presocratic Cosmologies . In: The Classical Quarterly . tape 13 , no. 2 , 1963, p. 161-163 .
6. ↑ Scholia in Lycophronem, 1191.
7. ^ Eusebius of Caesarea , Praeparatio evangelica 1, 10.
8. ↑ Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautika 1, 501-506.
9. ^ Martin Litchfield West : The Orphic Poems . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1983, pp. 127 . ; Ingo Schaaf: Magic and ritual with Apollonios Rhodios Studies on their form and function in the Argonautics . De Gruyter, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-030961-4 , pp. 60 .