In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Oreios, also Oreius, Orius or Oreus, (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
: Ὀρείου, Ὄρειον or Ὄρειος means ‘of the mountain’) may refer to the following personages:
* Oreius, father of
Oxylus In Greek mythology, Oxylus (; Ancient Greek: Ὄξυλος ''Oxulos'') may refer to:
* Oxylus, ''daimon'' of the mountain beech forests, son of Orius ( mountain-god of Othrys or the Pindus), who is noted in the Deipnosophistae for fathering the Ha ...
and
Hamadryas, who, married to each other and became the parents of the
hamadryads
In Greek mythology, a Hamadryad or Hamadryas (; ) is a tree nymph. They are born bonded to a certain tree on which their life depends. Some maintain that a Hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling entity, or ...
. He was probably a
mountain-god of either
Mount Othrys
Mount Othrys ( – ''oros Othrys'', also Όθρη – ''Othri'') is a mountain range of central Greece, in the northeastern part of Phthiotis and southern part of Magnesia. Its highest summit, ''Gerakovouni'', situated on the border of Phthiotis ...
or
Oita in
Malis or else the
Pindus
The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; ; ; ) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly long, with a maximum elevation of (Smolikas, Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epiru ...
mountain range.
* Orius, son of a bear and
Polyphonte, and brother of
Agrius. He was, like his brother, a powerful
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...
who did not honour the gods and who devoured men. He was turned into a bird by
Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...
. (see ''
Agrius and Oreius'')
* Oreius, one of the
centaurs
A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
who tried to steal the wine of
Pholus and was killed by
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
.
* Orius, son of
Mycale
Mycale () also Mykale and Mykali (, ''Mykálē''), called Samsun Dağı and Dilek Dağı ( Dilek Peninsula) in modern Turkey, is a mountain on the west coast of central Anatolia in Turkey, north of the mouth of the Maeander and divided from the ...
and one of the
Lapiths
The Lapiths (; , ''Lapithai'', Grammatical number, sing. Λαπίθης) were a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, who lived in Thessaly in the valley of the Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios and on the mountain Pelion. They were believed to ...
who fought against the Centaurs during the wedding of
Pirithous
Pirithous (; or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of "heavenly" Dia, fathered either ...
and
Hippodamia. He was killed by the centaur
Gryneus who hurled a heavy blazing altar on him.
[Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 12.258-262]
References
{{Reflist
Individual centaurs
Lapiths
Mythological Thessalians
Thessalian mythology
Set index articles