He is
proves the estimation in which he was held; for called by some authorities å native of Astypalaea,
he was employed in conjunction with Polygnotus by others of Aegina (Diog.
proves the estimation in which he was held; for called by some authorities å native of Astypalaea,
he was employed in conjunction with Polygnotus by others of Aegina (Diog.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
]
in the left a bow: and it bore the following in-
OʻMBRIUS ("Oubpos), i. e. the rain-giver, a scription (Paus. l. c. ) :-
surname of Zeus, under which he had an altar on
Υιός μέν με Μίκωνος Όνάτας εξετέλεσσεν,
Mount Hymettus in Attica. (Paus. i. 32. § 3 ;
Αυτός εν Αιγίνη δώματα ναιετάων.
comp. Hes. Op. et Di 587, 620. ) (L. S. ]
O'MPHALE ('Oupáin), a daughter of the 2. An Apollo at Pergamus, equally admired for
Lydian king Jardanus, and wife of Tmolus, after its size and its art (viii
. 42. § 4. 8. 7). This
whose death she undertook the government herself. btatue was in all probability different from that of
When Heracles, in consequence of the murder of Apollo Boupais, attended by Eileithyia, on which
Iphitus, was ill of a serious disease, and received we have an epigram by Antipater. (Anth. Pal
the oracle that he could not be released unless he ix. 238 ; Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 14. )
served some one for wages for the space of three 3. A Hermes, carrying a ram under his wing,
years, Hermes, accordingly, sold Heracles to Om- wearing a helmet on his head, and clad in a
phale, by whom he became the father of several chiton and chlamys. It was dedicated at Olympia
children. (Apollod. i. 9. $ 19, i. 6. 83, 7. $ 8; Soph. by the people of Pheneus in Arcadia ; and ihe
Truch. 253 ; Dionys. i. 28 ; Lucian, Dial. Deor. inscription stated that it was made by Onatas the
xiii. 2 ; comp. HERACLES. )
(L. S. ) Aeginetan, in conjunction with Calliteles, whom
OMPHA'LION (Oupallwv), painter, was ori- Pausanias takes for a son or disciple of Onatas
ginally the slave, and afterwards the disciple, of (v. 27. $ 5. & 8).
Nicias, the son of Nicomedes. He painted the 4. A bronze statue of the Black Demeter with
walls of the temple of Messene with figures of per the horse's bead, whose legend is related by Pau-
sonages celebrated in the mythological legends of sanias (viii. 42). The seat of the legend was a
Messenia. (Paus. iv. 31. 8 9. & 11, 12. ) (P. S. ) cave in Mount Elaeus near Phigaleia, which the
ONAETHUS ("Ovalbos), a statuary of un- Phigaleians had consecrated to the goddess, and
known time and country, who, with his brother had dedicated in it a wooden image, like a woman,
Thylacus and their sons, made the statue of Zeus, except that it had the head and mane of a horse,
which the Megarians dedicated at Olympia. (Paus and figures of dragons and other wild beasts were
v. 23. & 4. 8. 5. )
[P. S. ] growing out about the head : it was clothed in a
ONASIAS. (ONATAS. )
tunic down to the feet ; and bore on the right
ONASIME'DES ('Ovariuhons), a statuary, who hand a dolphin, and on the left a dove. This
made a statue of Dionysus, of solid bronze, which wooden image having been burnt at some un-
Pausanias saw at Thebes. (Paus. ix. 12. & 3. known period, it was not only not replaced, but
1. 4).
[P. S. ] the worship of the goddess was neglected ; until
ONA'SIMUS ('Ovdoruos), son of Apsines, was the Phigaleians, warned by the failure of their
an historian, or rather a sophist, of Cyprus or crops, and instructed by a Pythian oracle, em-
Sparta, in the time of the emperor Constantine the ployed Onatas to make a bronze statue of the
Great He wrote many works, some of which, goddess ; in the execution of which he was as-
bearing on the art of rhetoric, are enumerated by sisted somewhat by a picture or a wooden copy
Suidas. (Suid. s. vo. 'Ayivns, 'Ováowjos. ) [E. E. ] of the old image, but still more by dreams. (Paus.
O'NASUS ("Ovaoos), the author of a work | 1. c. ) This story is one of several indications of
on the Amazons, entitled 'Apacovis or 'Auafoviná, the thoroughly archaic style of the works of
which was supposed by Heyne (ad Apollod. ii. 5. Onatas.
§ 9) and others to have been an epic poem ; but it Passing from the statues of gods to those of
has been observed by Welcker (Epische Cyclus, p. men and heroes, we have
320) and Grote (Hist. of Greece, vol. i. p. 288), that 5. The bronze statues of the Grecian heroes
we may infer from the rationalising tendency of the casting lots to determine which of them should
citation from it (Schol. ad Theocr. xiii. 46; Schol. ad accept the challenge of Hector. (Hom. 1. vii. 175
Apollon. Rhod. i. 1207, 1236), that it was in prose. – 184. ) The group was dedicated at Olympia
ONATAS ('Ováras) of Aegina, the son of by the Achaeans in common. It consisted ori-
Micon, was a distinguished statuary and painter, ginally of ten figures ; but when Pausanias saw it,
contemporary with Polygnotus, Ageladas, and there were only nine, the statue of Ulysses having
Hegias. From the various notices of him it may been carried to Rome by Nero. The chieftains,
be collected that he flourished down to about oi. armed with spears and shields, stood together near
80, B. C. 460, that is, in the age immediately pre- the great temple, and opposite to them, on a sepa-
ceding that of Phidias. It is uncertain whether rate base, stood Nestor, holding the belmet into
his father Micon was the great painter of that which the lots had been thrown. The name of
Agamemnon was inscribed on his statue, in letters
The works of Onatas are frequently described by from right to left. The other statues bore no
Pausanias, who is, however, the only ancient writer names ; but one, distinguished by a cock upon the
who mentions him, with the exception of a single shield, was taken by Pausanias for Idomeneus ;
epigram in the Greek anthology. ' Pausanias also and on the inside of the shield of this situe was
says that, though he called himself an Aeginetan on the following inscription :-
De. me.
## p. 28 (#44) ##############################################
28
ONCUS.
ONESICRITU'S.
Πολλά μεν άλλα σοφου ποιήματα και τόδ' 'Ονάτα
of Onceium in Arcadia Demeter, after being me-
'Εργον, δι Αιγίνη γείνατο παίδα Μίκων.
tamorphosed into a horse, mixed among his herds,
and gave him the horse Arion, of which she was
There is no authority for ascribing to Onatas more the mother by Poseidon. (Paus. viii. 25. § 4, &c. ;
than this one statue in the group. (Paus v. 25. comp. Steph. Byz. s. v. )
[L. S. )
§ 5. s. 8—10. )
ONEIROS ("Ovelpos), a personification of
6. The bronze chariot, with a figure of a man in dream, and in the plural of dreams. According to
it, which was dedicated at Olympia by Deino- Homer Dreams dwell on the dark shores of the
menes, the son of Hieron, in memory of his father's western Oceanus (Od. xxiv. 12), and the deceitful
victories. On each side of the chariot were riding dreams come through an ivory gate, while the true
horses, with figures of boys upon them ; these ones issne from a gate made of horn. (Od. xix.
were made by Calamis. (Paus. vi. 12. § 1, viii. 562, &c. ) Hesiod (Theog. 212) calls dreams the
42. § 4. 6. 8. ) This work is one authority for the children of night, and Ovid (Mel. xi. 633), who
date of Onatas, since Hieron died B. C. 467. calls them children of Sleep, mentions three of
7. A group dedicated at Delphi by the Taren- them by name, viz. Morpheus, Icelus or Phobetor,
tines, being the tithe of the booty taken by them and Phantasus. Euripides called them sons of
in a war with the Peucetii. The statues, which Gaea, and conceived them as genü with black
were the work of Onatas and Calynthus (but the wings.
(LS. )
passage is here corrupt), represented horse and foot ONE'SAS ('Orno as), a gem engraver, whose
soldiers intermixed ; Opis, the king of the lapy- name appears on a beautiful intaglio, representing a
gians, and the ally of the Peucetians, was seen young Hercules, crowned with laurel, and on
prostrate, as if slain in the battle, and standing another gem, representing a girl playing the
over him were the hero Taras and the Lacedaemo- cithara, both in the Florentine collection. (Stosch.
nian Phalanthus, near whom was a dolphin. (Paus. Pierres Grarées, No. 46 ; Bracci, tav. 89. ) (P. S. )
x. 13. & 5. s. 10. )
ONESI'CRITUS ('OrnoikpiTOS), a Greek his-
Onatas was a painter, as well as a statuary ; torical writer, who accompanied Alexander on his
but only one of his works is mentioned: this one, campaigns in Asia, and wrote a history of them,
however, forms another authority for his date, and which is frequently cited by later authors.
He is
proves the estimation in which he was held; for called by some authorities å native of Astypalaea,
he was employed in conjunction with Polygnotus by others of Aegina (Diog. Laërt. vi. 75, 84; Arr.
to decorate the temple in which this picture was Ind. 18 ; Aelian, H. N. xvi. 39): it was probably
painted. The temple was that of Athena Areia at to this island origin that he was indebted for the
Plataeae, and the picture, which was painted on skill in nautical matters which afterwards prored
one of the walls of the portico (pronaos), represented so advantageous to him. He must bave been al-
the expedition of the Argive chieftains against ready advanced in years, as we are told that he
Thebes ; Euryganeia, the mother of Eteocles and had two sons grown up to manhood, when his at-
Polyneices (according to the tradition which Pau- tention was accidentally attracted to the philosophy
sanias followed), was introduced into the picture, of Diogenes the Cynic, of which he became an ar-
lamenting the mutual fratricide of her sons. (Paus. dent votary, so as to have obtained a name of emi-
ix. 4. & 1. 8. 2, 5. § 5. s. 11): it should be ob nence among the disciples of that master. (Diog.
served, however, that in the second passage the Laërt. I. c. ; Plut. Alex. 65. ) We have no account
MSS. have 'Ovacías, which Sylburg corrected into of the circumstances which led him to accompany
'Ovátas, on the authority of the first passage ; see Alexander into Asia, nor does it appear in what
also Müller, Aeginetica, p. 107: but Bekker and capacity he attended on the conqueror ; but during
Dindorf, on the contrary, correct the former pas- the expedition into India he was sent by the king
sage by the latter, and read 'Ovaolas in both. ) to hold a conference with the Indian philosophers
The scattered information of Pausanias respect- or Gymnosophists, the details of which bave been
ing Onatas has been critically gathered up by transmitted to us from his own account of the in-
Müller and Thierscb. Rathgeber has managed terview. (Strab. xv. p. 715; Plut. Alex. 65. )
to extend the subject over thirty columns of Ersch When Alexander constructed his fleet on the Hy-
and Gruber's Encyclopädie.
[P. S. ) daspes, he appointed Onesicritus to the important
ONATAS, a Pythagorean philosopher of Croton, station of pilot of the king's ship, or chief pilot of
from whose work, Tepi Seoû kal Selov, some ex- the fleet (ap XiKub epuntos), a post which he held
tracts are preserved by Stobaeus (Ec. Phys. i. not only during the descent of the Indus, but
38, p. 92, &c. , ed. Heeren. )
throughout the long and perilous voyage from the
ONCA ('Oyka), a surname of Athena, which mouth of that river to the Persian gulf. In this
she derived from the town of Oncae in Boeotia, capacity he discharged bis duties so much to the
where she had a sanctuary. (Aeschyl. Sept. 166, satisfaction of Alexander that, on his arrival at
489 ; Paus. ix. 12. § 2 ; Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. Susa, he was rewarded by that monarch with a
1062. )
(L. S. ) crown of gold, at the same time as Nearchus. (Arr.
ONCAEUS ('Oykalos), a surname of Apollo, Anab. vi. 2. $ 6, vii. 5. & 9, Ind. 18 ; Curt. ix. 10.
derived from Onceium on the river Ladon in Ar- $ 3, x. I. $ 10; Plut. Alex. 66, de Fort. Alex. p.
cadia, where he had a temple. (Paus. viii
. 25. $ 331, f. ) Yet Arrian blames him for want of judg-
5, &c. )
(L. S. ] ment, and on one occasion expressly ascribes the
ONCHESTUS ('Oyxnotós), a son of Poseidon, safety of the fleet to the firmness of Nearchus in
and founder of the town of Onchestus, where the overruling his advice. (Anab. vii. 20, Ind. 32. )
Onchestian Poseidon had a temple and a statue. We know nothing of his subsequent fortunes ; but
(Paus, ix. 26. & 3; Steph. Byz. $. V. ; Hom. Il. ii. from an anecdote related by Plutarch it seems pro-
506. ) Another tradition called this Onchestus a bable that he attached himself to Lysimachus, and
son of Boeotus.
(L. S. ] it was perhaps at the court of that monarch that he
ONCUS (“Oykos), a son of Apollo, and founder composed his historical work (Plut. Alex. 46).
## p. 29 (#45) ##############################################
ONESILUS.
29
ONOMACRITUS.
though, on the other hand, a passage of Lucian to the Persian, Thereupon Onesilus laid siege to
(Quomodo hist. conscr. c. 40), might lead us to in- Amatbus ; and as Dareius sent a large force to its
fer that this was at least commenced during the relief under the command of Artybius, Onesilus
lifetime of Alexander himself.
begged aid of the lonians. They readily complied
We learn from Diogenes Laërtius (vi. 84) that with his request ; and in the following year, B. C.
the history of Onesicritus comprised the whole life 498, two battles were fought between the contend-
of Alexander, including his youth and education ing parties, one by sea, in which the Ionians de-
(FWs 'Anétavopos #xon); but it is most frequently feated the Phoenician fleet, and the other by land,
cited in regard to the campaigns of that prince in in which the Cyprians were beaten by the Persinne.
Asian, or to the geographical description of the Onesilus fell in the battle ; his head was cut off
countries that he visited. Though an eye-witness by the inhabitants of Amathus, and hung over their
of much that he described, it appears that he inter-city-gates. At a later period, however, an oracle
mixed many fables and falsehoods with his nar- commanded them to take down his head and bury
rative, so that he early fell into discredit as an it, and also to offer sacrifices to him as a hero.
authority. Strabo is especially severe upon him, (Herod. v. 104, 108–110. ) (Gorgus, No. 2. )
and calls him « Ουκ 'Αλεξάνδρου μάλλον και των ONE'SIMUS, the son of Python, a Macedonian
Tapadó£wv åpxixubernios. " (xv. P. 698, comp. noble, who passed over to the Romans, when
ii. p. 70. ) Plutarch cites him as one of those who Perseus resolved to declare war against the latter,
related the fable of the visit of the Amazons to B. c. 169, and received in consequence magnificent
Alexander, for which he was justly ridiculed by rewards from the senate. (Liv. xliv. 16. )
Lysimachus (Alex. 46), and Arrian accuses him ONESTES, or ONESTUS ('Ovéotns, 'Overtos)
of falsely representing himself as the commander The Greek Anthology contains ten epigrams, in-
of the fleet, when he was in truth only the pilot. scribed 'Oveotov in the Vatican MS. ; but, as the
(Anab. vi. 2. & 6; comp. Suid. s. v. Néapxos). heading of the sixth and seventh is 'Oveotov Kopiva
Aulus Gellius (ix. 4) even associates him with Olou, and that of the ninth 'Oveotov Bušartlov, it
Aristeas of Proconnesus, and other purely fabulous would seem that there were two poets of the name ;
writers. But it is clear that these censures are but concerning neither of them have we any further
overcharged; and though some of the statements information. Brunck even suspected the correct-
cited from him are certainly gross exaggerations ness of the name altogether ; and thought it might
(see for instance Strab. xv. p. 698 ; Aelian. H. N. be a mistake for 'Oveolas, but this supposition is
avi. 39, xvii. 6), his work appears to have con founded on no evidence. Wine, love, and music
tained much valuable information concerning the are the subjects of the epigrams, which are dis-
remote countries for the first time laid open by the tinguished by no particular beauty. (Brunck, Anal.
expedition of Alexander. In particular he was vol. ii. p. 289 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. iii
. p. 3,
the first author that mentioned the island of Ta- vol. xiii. p. 926 ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. p.
probaue. (Strab. xv. p. 691 ; Plin. H. N. vi. 24. ) 485. )
(P. S. )
He is said to have imitated Xenophon in his style, ONEʻTOR ('Ovhtwp), the name of two mythical
though he fell short of him as a copy does of the personages, one a priest of Zeus on Mount Ida
original. (Diog. Laërt.
in the left a bow: and it bore the following in-
OʻMBRIUS ("Oubpos), i. e. the rain-giver, a scription (Paus. l. c. ) :-
surname of Zeus, under which he had an altar on
Υιός μέν με Μίκωνος Όνάτας εξετέλεσσεν,
Mount Hymettus in Attica. (Paus. i. 32. § 3 ;
Αυτός εν Αιγίνη δώματα ναιετάων.
comp. Hes. Op. et Di 587, 620. ) (L. S. ]
O'MPHALE ('Oupáin), a daughter of the 2. An Apollo at Pergamus, equally admired for
Lydian king Jardanus, and wife of Tmolus, after its size and its art (viii
. 42. § 4. 8. 7). This
whose death she undertook the government herself. btatue was in all probability different from that of
When Heracles, in consequence of the murder of Apollo Boupais, attended by Eileithyia, on which
Iphitus, was ill of a serious disease, and received we have an epigram by Antipater. (Anth. Pal
the oracle that he could not be released unless he ix. 238 ; Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 14. )
served some one for wages for the space of three 3. A Hermes, carrying a ram under his wing,
years, Hermes, accordingly, sold Heracles to Om- wearing a helmet on his head, and clad in a
phale, by whom he became the father of several chiton and chlamys. It was dedicated at Olympia
children. (Apollod. i. 9. $ 19, i. 6. 83, 7. $ 8; Soph. by the people of Pheneus in Arcadia ; and ihe
Truch. 253 ; Dionys. i. 28 ; Lucian, Dial. Deor. inscription stated that it was made by Onatas the
xiii. 2 ; comp. HERACLES. )
(L. S. ) Aeginetan, in conjunction with Calliteles, whom
OMPHA'LION (Oupallwv), painter, was ori- Pausanias takes for a son or disciple of Onatas
ginally the slave, and afterwards the disciple, of (v. 27. $ 5. & 8).
Nicias, the son of Nicomedes. He painted the 4. A bronze statue of the Black Demeter with
walls of the temple of Messene with figures of per the horse's bead, whose legend is related by Pau-
sonages celebrated in the mythological legends of sanias (viii. 42). The seat of the legend was a
Messenia. (Paus. iv. 31. 8 9. & 11, 12. ) (P. S. ) cave in Mount Elaeus near Phigaleia, which the
ONAETHUS ("Ovalbos), a statuary of un- Phigaleians had consecrated to the goddess, and
known time and country, who, with his brother had dedicated in it a wooden image, like a woman,
Thylacus and their sons, made the statue of Zeus, except that it had the head and mane of a horse,
which the Megarians dedicated at Olympia. (Paus and figures of dragons and other wild beasts were
v. 23. & 4. 8. 5. )
[P. S. ] growing out about the head : it was clothed in a
ONASIAS. (ONATAS. )
tunic down to the feet ; and bore on the right
ONASIME'DES ('Ovariuhons), a statuary, who hand a dolphin, and on the left a dove. This
made a statue of Dionysus, of solid bronze, which wooden image having been burnt at some un-
Pausanias saw at Thebes. (Paus. ix. 12. & 3. known period, it was not only not replaced, but
1. 4).
[P. S. ] the worship of the goddess was neglected ; until
ONA'SIMUS ('Ovdoruos), son of Apsines, was the Phigaleians, warned by the failure of their
an historian, or rather a sophist, of Cyprus or crops, and instructed by a Pythian oracle, em-
Sparta, in the time of the emperor Constantine the ployed Onatas to make a bronze statue of the
Great He wrote many works, some of which, goddess ; in the execution of which he was as-
bearing on the art of rhetoric, are enumerated by sisted somewhat by a picture or a wooden copy
Suidas. (Suid. s. vo. 'Ayivns, 'Ováowjos. ) [E. E. ] of the old image, but still more by dreams. (Paus.
O'NASUS ("Ovaoos), the author of a work | 1. c. ) This story is one of several indications of
on the Amazons, entitled 'Apacovis or 'Auafoviná, the thoroughly archaic style of the works of
which was supposed by Heyne (ad Apollod. ii. 5. Onatas.
§ 9) and others to have been an epic poem ; but it Passing from the statues of gods to those of
has been observed by Welcker (Epische Cyclus, p. men and heroes, we have
320) and Grote (Hist. of Greece, vol. i. p. 288), that 5. The bronze statues of the Grecian heroes
we may infer from the rationalising tendency of the casting lots to determine which of them should
citation from it (Schol. ad Theocr. xiii. 46; Schol. ad accept the challenge of Hector. (Hom. 1. vii. 175
Apollon. Rhod. i. 1207, 1236), that it was in prose. – 184. ) The group was dedicated at Olympia
ONATAS ('Ováras) of Aegina, the son of by the Achaeans in common. It consisted ori-
Micon, was a distinguished statuary and painter, ginally of ten figures ; but when Pausanias saw it,
contemporary with Polygnotus, Ageladas, and there were only nine, the statue of Ulysses having
Hegias. From the various notices of him it may been carried to Rome by Nero. The chieftains,
be collected that he flourished down to about oi. armed with spears and shields, stood together near
80, B. C. 460, that is, in the age immediately pre- the great temple, and opposite to them, on a sepa-
ceding that of Phidias. It is uncertain whether rate base, stood Nestor, holding the belmet into
his father Micon was the great painter of that which the lots had been thrown. The name of
Agamemnon was inscribed on his statue, in letters
The works of Onatas are frequently described by from right to left. The other statues bore no
Pausanias, who is, however, the only ancient writer names ; but one, distinguished by a cock upon the
who mentions him, with the exception of a single shield, was taken by Pausanias for Idomeneus ;
epigram in the Greek anthology. ' Pausanias also and on the inside of the shield of this situe was
says that, though he called himself an Aeginetan on the following inscription :-
De. me.
## p. 28 (#44) ##############################################
28
ONCUS.
ONESICRITU'S.
Πολλά μεν άλλα σοφου ποιήματα και τόδ' 'Ονάτα
of Onceium in Arcadia Demeter, after being me-
'Εργον, δι Αιγίνη γείνατο παίδα Μίκων.
tamorphosed into a horse, mixed among his herds,
and gave him the horse Arion, of which she was
There is no authority for ascribing to Onatas more the mother by Poseidon. (Paus. viii. 25. § 4, &c. ;
than this one statue in the group. (Paus v. 25. comp. Steph. Byz. s. v. )
[L. S. )
§ 5. s. 8—10. )
ONEIROS ("Ovelpos), a personification of
6. The bronze chariot, with a figure of a man in dream, and in the plural of dreams. According to
it, which was dedicated at Olympia by Deino- Homer Dreams dwell on the dark shores of the
menes, the son of Hieron, in memory of his father's western Oceanus (Od. xxiv. 12), and the deceitful
victories. On each side of the chariot were riding dreams come through an ivory gate, while the true
horses, with figures of boys upon them ; these ones issne from a gate made of horn. (Od. xix.
were made by Calamis. (Paus. vi. 12. § 1, viii. 562, &c. ) Hesiod (Theog. 212) calls dreams the
42. § 4. 6. 8. ) This work is one authority for the children of night, and Ovid (Mel. xi. 633), who
date of Onatas, since Hieron died B. C. 467. calls them children of Sleep, mentions three of
7. A group dedicated at Delphi by the Taren- them by name, viz. Morpheus, Icelus or Phobetor,
tines, being the tithe of the booty taken by them and Phantasus. Euripides called them sons of
in a war with the Peucetii. The statues, which Gaea, and conceived them as genü with black
were the work of Onatas and Calynthus (but the wings.
(LS. )
passage is here corrupt), represented horse and foot ONE'SAS ('Orno as), a gem engraver, whose
soldiers intermixed ; Opis, the king of the lapy- name appears on a beautiful intaglio, representing a
gians, and the ally of the Peucetians, was seen young Hercules, crowned with laurel, and on
prostrate, as if slain in the battle, and standing another gem, representing a girl playing the
over him were the hero Taras and the Lacedaemo- cithara, both in the Florentine collection. (Stosch.
nian Phalanthus, near whom was a dolphin. (Paus. Pierres Grarées, No. 46 ; Bracci, tav. 89. ) (P. S. )
x. 13. & 5. s. 10. )
ONESI'CRITUS ('OrnoikpiTOS), a Greek his-
Onatas was a painter, as well as a statuary ; torical writer, who accompanied Alexander on his
but only one of his works is mentioned: this one, campaigns in Asia, and wrote a history of them,
however, forms another authority for his date, and which is frequently cited by later authors.
He is
proves the estimation in which he was held; for called by some authorities å native of Astypalaea,
he was employed in conjunction with Polygnotus by others of Aegina (Diog. Laërt. vi. 75, 84; Arr.
to decorate the temple in which this picture was Ind. 18 ; Aelian, H. N. xvi. 39): it was probably
painted. The temple was that of Athena Areia at to this island origin that he was indebted for the
Plataeae, and the picture, which was painted on skill in nautical matters which afterwards prored
one of the walls of the portico (pronaos), represented so advantageous to him. He must bave been al-
the expedition of the Argive chieftains against ready advanced in years, as we are told that he
Thebes ; Euryganeia, the mother of Eteocles and had two sons grown up to manhood, when his at-
Polyneices (according to the tradition which Pau- tention was accidentally attracted to the philosophy
sanias followed), was introduced into the picture, of Diogenes the Cynic, of which he became an ar-
lamenting the mutual fratricide of her sons. (Paus. dent votary, so as to have obtained a name of emi-
ix. 4. & 1. 8. 2, 5. § 5. s. 11): it should be ob nence among the disciples of that master. (Diog.
served, however, that in the second passage the Laërt. I. c. ; Plut. Alex. 65. ) We have no account
MSS. have 'Ovacías, which Sylburg corrected into of the circumstances which led him to accompany
'Ovátas, on the authority of the first passage ; see Alexander into Asia, nor does it appear in what
also Müller, Aeginetica, p. 107: but Bekker and capacity he attended on the conqueror ; but during
Dindorf, on the contrary, correct the former pas- the expedition into India he was sent by the king
sage by the latter, and read 'Ovaolas in both. ) to hold a conference with the Indian philosophers
The scattered information of Pausanias respect- or Gymnosophists, the details of which bave been
ing Onatas has been critically gathered up by transmitted to us from his own account of the in-
Müller and Thierscb. Rathgeber has managed terview. (Strab. xv. p. 715; Plut. Alex. 65. )
to extend the subject over thirty columns of Ersch When Alexander constructed his fleet on the Hy-
and Gruber's Encyclopädie.
[P. S. ) daspes, he appointed Onesicritus to the important
ONATAS, a Pythagorean philosopher of Croton, station of pilot of the king's ship, or chief pilot of
from whose work, Tepi Seoû kal Selov, some ex- the fleet (ap XiKub epuntos), a post which he held
tracts are preserved by Stobaeus (Ec. Phys. i. not only during the descent of the Indus, but
38, p. 92, &c. , ed. Heeren. )
throughout the long and perilous voyage from the
ONCA ('Oyka), a surname of Athena, which mouth of that river to the Persian gulf. In this
she derived from the town of Oncae in Boeotia, capacity he discharged bis duties so much to the
where she had a sanctuary. (Aeschyl. Sept. 166, satisfaction of Alexander that, on his arrival at
489 ; Paus. ix. 12. § 2 ; Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. Susa, he was rewarded by that monarch with a
1062. )
(L. S. ) crown of gold, at the same time as Nearchus. (Arr.
ONCAEUS ('Oykalos), a surname of Apollo, Anab. vi. 2. $ 6, vii. 5. & 9, Ind. 18 ; Curt. ix. 10.
derived from Onceium on the river Ladon in Ar- $ 3, x. I. $ 10; Plut. Alex. 66, de Fort. Alex. p.
cadia, where he had a temple. (Paus. viii
. 25. $ 331, f. ) Yet Arrian blames him for want of judg-
5, &c. )
(L. S. ] ment, and on one occasion expressly ascribes the
ONCHESTUS ('Oyxnotós), a son of Poseidon, safety of the fleet to the firmness of Nearchus in
and founder of the town of Onchestus, where the overruling his advice. (Anab. vii. 20, Ind. 32. )
Onchestian Poseidon had a temple and a statue. We know nothing of his subsequent fortunes ; but
(Paus, ix. 26. & 3; Steph. Byz. $. V. ; Hom. Il. ii. from an anecdote related by Plutarch it seems pro-
506. ) Another tradition called this Onchestus a bable that he attached himself to Lysimachus, and
son of Boeotus.
(L. S. ] it was perhaps at the court of that monarch that he
ONCUS (“Oykos), a son of Apollo, and founder composed his historical work (Plut. Alex. 46).
## p. 29 (#45) ##############################################
ONESILUS.
29
ONOMACRITUS.
though, on the other hand, a passage of Lucian to the Persian, Thereupon Onesilus laid siege to
(Quomodo hist. conscr. c. 40), might lead us to in- Amatbus ; and as Dareius sent a large force to its
fer that this was at least commenced during the relief under the command of Artybius, Onesilus
lifetime of Alexander himself.
begged aid of the lonians. They readily complied
We learn from Diogenes Laërtius (vi. 84) that with his request ; and in the following year, B. C.
the history of Onesicritus comprised the whole life 498, two battles were fought between the contend-
of Alexander, including his youth and education ing parties, one by sea, in which the Ionians de-
(FWs 'Anétavopos #xon); but it is most frequently feated the Phoenician fleet, and the other by land,
cited in regard to the campaigns of that prince in in which the Cyprians were beaten by the Persinne.
Asian, or to the geographical description of the Onesilus fell in the battle ; his head was cut off
countries that he visited. Though an eye-witness by the inhabitants of Amathus, and hung over their
of much that he described, it appears that he inter-city-gates. At a later period, however, an oracle
mixed many fables and falsehoods with his nar- commanded them to take down his head and bury
rative, so that he early fell into discredit as an it, and also to offer sacrifices to him as a hero.
authority. Strabo is especially severe upon him, (Herod. v. 104, 108–110. ) (Gorgus, No. 2. )
and calls him « Ουκ 'Αλεξάνδρου μάλλον και των ONE'SIMUS, the son of Python, a Macedonian
Tapadó£wv åpxixubernios. " (xv. P. 698, comp. noble, who passed over to the Romans, when
ii. p. 70. ) Plutarch cites him as one of those who Perseus resolved to declare war against the latter,
related the fable of the visit of the Amazons to B. c. 169, and received in consequence magnificent
Alexander, for which he was justly ridiculed by rewards from the senate. (Liv. xliv. 16. )
Lysimachus (Alex. 46), and Arrian accuses him ONESTES, or ONESTUS ('Ovéotns, 'Overtos)
of falsely representing himself as the commander The Greek Anthology contains ten epigrams, in-
of the fleet, when he was in truth only the pilot. scribed 'Oveotov in the Vatican MS. ; but, as the
(Anab. vi. 2. & 6; comp. Suid. s. v. Néapxos). heading of the sixth and seventh is 'Oveotov Kopiva
Aulus Gellius (ix. 4) even associates him with Olou, and that of the ninth 'Oveotov Bušartlov, it
Aristeas of Proconnesus, and other purely fabulous would seem that there were two poets of the name ;
writers. But it is clear that these censures are but concerning neither of them have we any further
overcharged; and though some of the statements information. Brunck even suspected the correct-
cited from him are certainly gross exaggerations ness of the name altogether ; and thought it might
(see for instance Strab. xv. p. 698 ; Aelian. H. N. be a mistake for 'Oveolas, but this supposition is
avi. 39, xvii. 6), his work appears to have con founded on no evidence. Wine, love, and music
tained much valuable information concerning the are the subjects of the epigrams, which are dis-
remote countries for the first time laid open by the tinguished by no particular beauty. (Brunck, Anal.
expedition of Alexander. In particular he was vol. ii. p. 289 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. iii
. p. 3,
the first author that mentioned the island of Ta- vol. xiii. p. 926 ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. p.
probaue. (Strab. xv. p. 691 ; Plin. H. N. vi. 24. ) 485. )
(P. S. )
He is said to have imitated Xenophon in his style, ONEʻTOR ('Ovhtwp), the name of two mythical
though he fell short of him as a copy does of the personages, one a priest of Zeus on Mount Ida
original. (Diog. Laërt.
