Ophiussa

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Ophiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the ancient Greeks to what is now Portuguese territory. It means Land of Serpents.

1 The expulsion of the Oestrimni
2 Land of the Ophi
3 Ophi legend
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] The expulsion of the Oestrimni

The 4th century Roman poet Rufus Avienus Festus, writing on geographical subjects in Ora Maritima ("Seacoasts"), a document inspired by a Greek mariners' Periplus, related that the Oestriminis (Extreme West in Latin) was peopled by the Oestrimni, a people that 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 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. Most authors relate these peoples to the first wave of Indo-European migrations into Iberia, of the Urnfield culture (Proto-Celts or Celts). Some extravagant theories tried to relate them to Ancient Egypt (where a local tradition said that "serpents" from Karnak or Luxor had migrated to Europe).

The expulsion of the Oestrimni, from Ora Maritima:

Post illa rursum quae supra fati sumus,

magnus patescit aequoris fusi sinus

Ophiussam ad usque. rursum ab huius litore

internum ad aequor, qua mare insinuare se

dixi ante terris, quodque Sardum nuncupant,

septem dierum tenditur pediti via.

Ophiussa porro tanta panditur latus

quantam iacere Pelopis audis insulam

Graiorum in agro. haec dicta primo Oestrymnis est

locos et arva Oestrymnicis habitantibus,

post multa serpens effugavit incolas

vacuamque glaebam nominis fecit sui.

Back after the places we spoke of above,

there opens a great bay filled with water,

all the way to Ophiussa. Back from the shore of this place,

to the inland water, through which I said before that the sea insinuates itself

through the land, and which they call Sardum,

the journey extends for seven days on foot.

Ophiusa extends its side, being as large

as you hear the Island of Pelops

lying in the territory of the Greeks is. This land was originally called Oestrymnis

by those who inhabited the Oestrymnian countryside and region,

much later the serpent chased away the inhabitants

and gave the now empty land its name.^[1]

The "serpent people" of the semi-mythical Ophiussa in the far west are noted in ancient Greek sources.

[edit] 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 Tagus. 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, symbol of the city of Porto is related to this people, or to the Celts who later invaded the area and could also have been influenced by the Ophi cult.

[edit] Ophi legend

A legend relates that on the summer solstice a maiden-serpent, a Chthonic 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.