Ophion

2025-07-26T23:28:30Z

2600:4040:7B92:5300:C4C2:6A2B:3A1B:E373: /* Mythology */

{{Short description|Serpent Titan in Greek mythology}}
{{about|a figure in Greek mythology|the genus of parasitic wasps|Ophion (insect)}}
In some versions of [[Greek mythology]], '''Ophion''' ({{IPAc-en|oʊ|ˈ|f|aɪ|ə|n}}; {{langx|grc|Ὀφίων}} "serpent"; ''gen''.: Ὀφίωνος), also called '''Ophioneus''' ({{lang|grc|Ὀφιονεύς}}) ruled the world with '''Eurynome''' before the two of them were cast down by [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]].

==Mythology==
[[Pherecydes of Syros]]'s ''Heptamychia'' is the first attested mention of Ophion. In it, at the time of creation, the primordial figure ''Zas'' ("Life") does battle with Ophion and defeats him, casting him down into [[Oceanus]], the [[cosmic ocean|primordial sea]]. This parallels the ''[[Chaoskampf]]'' motif found in other mythical traditions, such as the battle between [[Marduk]] and [[Tiamat]] in the ''[[Enūma Eliš]]'', or between [[Baal]] and [[Yam (god)|Yam]]/[[Lotan]] in the ''[[Baal Cycle]].''

The story was apparently popular in [[Orpheus|Orphic]] poetry, of which only fragments survive.

[[Apollonius of Rhodes]] in his ''[[Argonautica]]'' (1.495f) summarizes a song of [[Orpheus]]:

:He sang how the earth, the heaven and the sea, once mingled together in one form, after deadly strife were separated each from the other; and how the stars and the moon and the paths of the sun ever keep their fixed place in the sky; and how the mountains rose, and how the resounding rivers with their nymphs came into being and all creeping things. And he sang how first of all Ophion and Eurynome, daughter of [[Oceanus]], held the sway of snowy [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]], and how through strength of arm one yielded his prerogative to Cronos and the other to Rhea, and how they fell into the waves of Oceanus; but the other two meanwhile ruled over the blessed [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]]-gods, while [[Zeus]], still a child and with the thoughts of a child, dwelt in the Dictaean cave; and the earthborn [[Cyclopes]] had not yet armed him with the bolt, with thunder and lightning; for these things give renown to Zeus.

[[Lycophron]] (1191) relates that Zeus' mother, Rhea, is skilled in [[Greek wrestling|wrestling]], having cast the former queen Eurynome into [[Tartarus]].

[[Nonnus]] in his ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' has Hera say (8.158f):

:I will go to the uttermost bounds of Oceanus and share the hearth of primeval [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]; thence I will pass to the house of [[Harmonia (Greek goddess)|Harmonia]] and abide with Ophion.

''Harmonia'' here is probably an error in the text for ''Eurynome''. Ophion is mentioned again by Nonnus (12.43):

:Beside the oracular wall she saw the first tablet, old as the infinite past, containing all the things in one: upon it was all that Ophion lord paramount had done, all that ancient Cronus accomplished.

We also have fragments of the writings of the early philosopher [[Pherecydes of Syros]] (6th century <small>B.C.E.</small>), who devised a myth or legend in which powers known as Zas and [[Chronos]] ("Time") and Chthonie ("Of the Earth") existed from the beginning and in which Chronos creates the universe. Some fragments of this work mention a birth of Ophioneus and a battle of the gods between Cronus (not Chronos) on one side and Ophioneus and his children on the other in which an agreement is made that whoever pushes the other side into ''Ogenos'' will lose, and the winner will hold heaven.

[[Eusebius of Caesarea]] in his ''[[Praeparatio Evangelica]]'' (1.10) cites [[Philo of Byblos]] as declaring that Pherecydes took Ophion and the Ophionidae from the Phoenicians.

== See also ==
* [[Ophites]]

== References ==
* [[Martin Litchfield West]], "Three Presocratic Cosmologies." In: ''[[The Classical Quarterly]]''. '''13'''(2), 1963, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/637606?refreqid=excelsior%3A1c2eeadb02b058601fb75fc23b19a7e4&seq=8#page_thumbnails_tab_contents pp. 161–163].

[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Snake gods]]

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Ophion