Ophiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cultu ...

to what is now Portuguese territory near the mouth of the river

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

. It means Land of Serpents.

The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni''

The 4th century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

poet

Rufius Festus Avienius Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi. Avienius is not identical with the historian F ...

, writing on geographical subjects in ''Ora Maritima'' ("Seacoasts"), a document inspired by a Greek mariners' Periplus, related that the '' Oestriminis'' (''Extreme West'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) was peopled by the ''Oestrimni'', a people who had been living there for a long time; they had to flee their homeland after an invasion of serpents. These people could be linked to the ''Saephe'' (

Saefs The Sefes sometimes also known as Cempsi were a people of ancient Iberia said to have lived on the coast of modern day Portugal and Galicia. In his poem '' Ora Maritima'', the 4th century Roman author Avienius wrote that they were neighbours of th ...

) or ''Ophis'' ("People of the Serpents") and the ''Dragani'' ("People of the Dragons"), who came to those lands and built the territorial entity the Greeks termed ''Ophiussa''. The expulsion of the Oestrimni, from ''Ora Maritima:'' The "serpent people" of the semi-mythical Ophiussa in the far west are noted in ancient Greek sources.

Land of the ''Ophi''

The ''Ophi'' people lived mainly in the inland mountains of Northern Portugal (and Galicia). Others say they lived mainly by the estuaries of the rivers Douro and

. The ''Ophi'' worshiped serpents, hence ''Land of Serpents''. There have surfaced a few archeological findings that could be related to this people or culture. Some believe that the

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

sometimes represented as a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, from the original Winged Serpent, or

Wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...

(the traditional Portuguese ''Serpe Real''), old crest of the crown of the Kings of Portugal and later of the Emperors of Brazil, is linked to local people or to the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

who later invaded the area and could also have been influenced by the ''Ophi'' cult.

''Ophi'' legend

A legend relates that on the summer

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...

a maiden-serpent, a

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

goddess, reveals hidden treasures to people journeying through forests. This maiden would live in the city of Porto. Festivities related to this goddess occurred during the solstice. During the rest of the year, she would change into a snake living under or among rocks, and shepherds would set aside some milk from their flocks as an offering to her.

Notes

External links

Ora Maritima
(in Latin) at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for rese ...

Culto a la serpiente en el mundo Antiguo
Serpent cult in the Ancient Word (in Spanish)

{{Portugal topics Ancient Portugal Lusitanian mythology

The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni''

Land of the ''Ophi''

''Ophi'' legend

See also

Notes

External links