Ogyges
Ogyges (Ogygus, Ogygos, Ho Gygos[citation needed], Ωγύγος in Greek) is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia.[1] Though the original etymology and meaning are uncertain, the Greek word Ogygios (Ωγύγιος), meaning Ogygian, came to be synonymous with "primeval," "primal," or "from earliest ages."[2]
There are competing stories about him in Greek mythology. According to Pausanius, writing from his travels in Boeotia in the second century CE, "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."[3] But according to the scholiast of Lycophron, this was Egyptian Thebes. Stephanus Byzantius, in the sixth century CE, says he was the first king of Lycia.
He was also said to be the first king of Attica. In one version of the story the Boeotian and Attic traditions are combined: he was king of the Ectenes, who were the first people to occupy the land of Thebes, and settled in the area then known as Acte (Akte). The land was subsequently called Ogygia in his honor but later known as Attica.
Stories of his descent also differ widely, some legends claiming him as the son of either Cadmus or Poseidon, others claiming him to be an autochthon of Boeotia or a son of Boiotos. Theophilus, in the fourth century CE (ad Autol.), says he was one of the Titans.
He was the husband of Thebe, from whom the land of Thebes in Greece is said to derive its name. His children are listed variously as two sons: Eleusinus (for whom the city Elesis was named) and Cadmus (noted above as his father in other traditions); and three daughters: Aulis, Alalcomenia, and Thelvinia.
Efforts to link his legend to the biblical tradition have him living at the time of the Exodus of the House of Israel from Egypt.[4] Other sources say that during his reign Phoroneus was ruling the Argives.
The first Deluge, or at least a great flood in Attica, called the Ogygian deluge, occurred during his reign and derives its name from him. Because some versions say this flood covered the whole world, a similarity has been noticed with Noah's flood in the Bible. Various dates have been assigned to this event, including 10,000 BCE (Plato), 2136 BCE (Varro), and 1796 BCE (Sextus Julius Africanus). He survived the flood but many people perished. After the death of Ogyges, due to the flood's devastation, Attica was without kings for 189 years, until the time of Cecrops (Cecrops Diphyes).[5].
Ogyges is possibly the namesake for the phantom island Ogygia, mentioned in Homer's Odyssey
Notes
- ^ Entry "Ogygus" in N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press: 1970.
- ^ Entry Ωγύγιος at Henry George Liddel, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- ^ Pausanius, Description of Greece, 9.5.1, translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Omerod, Loeb Classical Library, 1918.
- ^ Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, 10.10.
- ^ Gaster, Theodor H. Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament, Harper & Row, New York, 1969.