Opora (mythology)

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Opora ( grc, Ὀπώρα, Opṓra, autumn, fruit) is a minor goddess connected to fruit, the harvest, especially wine harvest, and the season of autumn. She is a fairly obscure goddess, although she features in a little-known myth centered around her romance with the stellar god Sirius, the Dog Star.

A close equivalent in Roman mythology is found in the fertility goddess Pomona.

Etymology

The ancient Greek noun Opora referred to the part of the year between the rising of the stars Sirius and Arcturus, that is the end of July, all August and part of September at the end of summer; later it was used for late summer and autumn. In extension of its use for fruit-time it could refer to fruit itself, and figuratively to summer-bloom.

The word apparently derives from the base of meaning "late, after" and meaning "hour, time". Robert Beekes suggests the Proto-Indo-European roots ''*h₁opi'' meaning 'at, on' and ''*h₁os-r/n-'' meaning 'harvest-time, summer'. It seems to be a contraction of an original form ''*ὀποσάρα'' (*op-osára) or ''*op-ohara'', ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root ''*(s)h₁ósr̥'' or ''*h₁ósh₂r'', meaning the harvest season.

The later Greek word for autumn, (''phthinópōron''), covering September through November, is derived from her name and literally translates to 'end of the opora'.

Mythology

Her parentage is not specified in any surviving text.

Opora accompanies Irene, the goddess of peace and plenty, along with Theoria (who represents festive delegation) in Athenian comedian Aristophanes's comedy ''Peace''; the god of commerce Hermes suggests to the character of Trygaeus, a middle-aged Athenian man who brought about a peaceful end to the Peloponnesian War, to marry Opora, whom he liberated from a celestial prison. Trygaeus's name ( grc, Τρυγαῖος, Trugaîos) seems to derive from the Ancient Greek noun (''trúgē'') which means grain crop, and in particular grape crop, denoting Opora's connection to the wine harvest and viticulture.

Opora has only one myth in whose plot she is central. While on a mission on the earth back when stars still made visits, the dog star Sirius sees Opora and falls madly in love with her. When he is unable to be with her, he starts burning with even greater heat due to his unrequited love. The humans, suffering, appeal to the gods for help. Boreas then, the god of the north wind, sends his sons to hand Opora over to Sirius while he cools down the heat with blasts of cold wind. It thus has parallels to the myth of Phaethon and the fiery chariot of his father. Sirius then goes on to glow every summer during harvest time in commemoration of this event and his great love, explaining the heat of the so-called dog days of summer, which was attributed to the star in antiquity.

The story is generally believed to have originated from the lost play entitled ''Opora'', by the Athenian playwright of Middle Comedy Amphis, and a work of the same name by Amphis's contemporary Alexis. The myth has been transmitted mostly though scholia written after their time, with the surviving manuscripts containing numerous corruptions, errors and transliteration mistakes; it is highly likely that these scholia also drew upon a lost work of Eratosthenes, which probably quoted the play by Alexis.

Iconography

A number of pictorial representations of the goddess Opora have passed down to our times. An ancient floor mosaic discovered in ancient Daphne in modern-day Turkey and now housed in the Baltimore Museum of Art depicts Opora in the company of two more divinities, Agros ("field") and Oinos ("wine") at dinner. Moreover, on two ancient Athenian vases, Opora appears carrying fruit and accompanying Dionysus, Dionysus's retinue, and Irene. She is also possibly represented on the reliefs of the temple of Serapis and Isis discovered on the site of the present church of Saint Eleutherios in Athens.

See also

* Vertumnus and Pomona
* Demeter and Persephone
* Dionysus

References

Bibliography

* Aristophanes, ''Peace'', in ''The Complete Greek Drama'', volume 2. translated by Eugene O'Neill Jr. New York. Random House. 1938
Online text and translation at the Perseus.tufts project.
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Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
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Greek goddesses
Alcohol goddesses
Deities of wine and beer
Agricultural goddesses
Fertility goddesses
Deeds of Hermes
Time and fate goddesses
Seasons
Companions of Dionysus
Autumn deities
Summer deities
Personifications in Greek mythology
Fruit