Oceano

Oceano (in greco antico: Ὠκεανός, Okeanòs) è un personaggio della mitologia greca, figlio di Urano (il cielo) e di Gea (la terra).

Etimologia

Secondo il linguista olandese Robert S. P. Beekes, il nome Oceano deriva da una proto-forma pre-ellenica -kay-an-.

Mitologia

Omero chiama Oceano l'origine degli dei (θεῶν γένεσις) e l'origine di tutti (γένεσις πάντεσσι); egli era una divinità fluviale e con lo stesso nome veniva designato sia il fiume (o corso d'acqua) che il dio, ciò che del resto si usava fare anche per le altre divinità fluviali.
Oceano aveva un'inesauribile potenza generatrice, non diversamente dai fiumi, nelle cui acque si bagnavano le fanciulle greche prima delle nozze, e che perciò erano considerati come i capostipiti di antiche famiglie. Oceano però non era un dio fluviale comune, perché il suo non era un fiume comune. Quando tutto aveva avuto già origine da lui, esso continuò a scorrere agli estremi margini della terra, rifluendo in se stesso, in un circolo ininterrotto. I fiumi, i torrenti e le sorgenti, anzi il mare stesso, continuavano a scaturire dal suo corso vasto e potente. Anche quando il mondo stava già sotto il dominio di Zeus, egli solo poté rimanere al suo posto primitivo, oltre al quale si credeva si estendesse solo il buio, conosciuto col nome di Erebo.
Tuttavia non fu solo Oceano a rimanere nel suo luogo primitivo. Ad esso era legata la dea Teti, che giustamente veniva chiamata madre. Possiamo dunque capire perché Omero dice che questa prima coppia già da molto tempo si asteneva dal procreare. Che i due lo facessero per ira reciproca, è una motivazione naturale in quel genere di racconti antichissimi; ma se la procreazione primordiale non avesse avuto fine, neanche il nostro mondo avrebbe avuto consistenza, né un limite rotondo, né un corso circolare che rifluiva in se stesso. Ad Oceano rimase dunque soltanto la facoltà di fluire in circolo, di alimentare le sorgenti, i fiumi e il mare - e la subordinazione al potere di Zeus.
Oltre che da Omero e da Esiodo, Oceano è ricordato da diversi autori classici greci, tra i quali Pindaro ed Eschilo. Oceano è anche uno dei protagonisti del poema La Trasimenide di Matteo dall'Isola.
Un ramo della mitologia moderna (meno approfondita ma anche più conosciuta) attribuisce a Oceano e Teti anche la discendenza di Stige e Asopo (anch'esso dio fluviale) e attribuisce a Oceano il ruolo di "più antico dei titani".

Iconografia

Oceano è raffigurato nei mosaici romani come un anziano a torso nudo, semicoperto da un manto e con due chele di granchio tra i capelli. A volte è accompagnato da Teti. La testa di Oceano con la bocca aperta è spesso raffigurata nei tombini di raccolta delle acque, di cui il più famoso rimasto è la romana bocca della verità. Anche nell' iconografia cristiano-bizantina del battesimo di Cristo, di cui un esempio è la cupola del Battistero degli ariani a Ravenna, Oceano era di solito raffigurato presso i piedi immersi del Cristo, come simbolo del fiume Giordano e di tutte le acque fluviali.

Genealogia (Esiodo)

Secondo Esiodo, i figli di Oceano e Teti, i fiumi, erano circa tremila (tra i quali nomina il Nilo, il Po, il Danubio e diversi fiumi greci più corti) ed altrettante figlie dette Oceanine.

Urano

Gaia

Ponto

OCEANO

Teti

Iperione

Teia

Crio

Euribia

Potamoi

Oceanine

Helios

Selene

Eos

Astreo

Pallante

Perse

Crono

Rea

Ceo

Febe

Estia

Era

Ade

Zeus

Latona

Asteria

Demetra

Poseidone

Giapeto

Asia (Clymene)

Temi

(Zeus)

Mnemosine

Atlante

Menezio

Prometeo

Epimeteo

Ore

Muse

Oceanus in the w:Trevi Fountain, Rome.

Infinitebistromathics - Own work

Oceanus

Oceanus (/oʊˈsiːənəs/; Greek: Ὠκεανός Ōkeanós pronounced [ɔːkeanós]), also known as Ogenus (Ὤγενος Ōgenos or Ὠγηνός Ōgēnos) or Ogen (Ὠγήν Ōgēn), was a divine figure in classical antiquity, believed by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the divine personification of the sea, an enormous river encircling the world.

Etymology

R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *-kay-an-. In contrast, Michael Janda has reminded the scientific community of an earlier comparison of the Vedic dragon Vṛtra's attribute āśáyāna- "lying on [the waters]" and Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós), which he sees as phonetical equivalents of each other, both stemming from a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *ō-kei-ṃ[h₁]no- "lying on", related to Greek κεῖσθαι (keîsthai "to lie"). Janda furthermore points to early depictions of Okeanos with a snake's body, which seem to confirm the mythological parallel with the Vedic dragon Vṛtra.
Another parallel naming can be found in Greek ποταμός (potamós "broad body of water") and Old English fæðm "embrace, envelopment, fathom" which is notably attested in the Old English poem Helena (v. 765) as dracan fæðme "embrace of the dragon" and is furthermore related (via Germanic *faþma "spreading, embrace") to Old Norse Faðmir or Fáfnir the well-known name of a dragon in the 13th century Völsunga saga; all three words derive from PIE *poth₂mos "spreading, expansion" and thus bind together the Greek word for a "broad river, stream" with the Germanic expressions connected to the dragon's "embrace".

Mythological account

According to Homer, Oceanus was the ocean-stream at the margin of the habitable world (οἰκουμένη, oikouménē), the father of everything, limiting it from the underworld and flowing around the Elysium. Hence Odysseus has to traverse it in order to arrive in the realm of the dead. In the Iliad, Hera mentions her intended journey to her foster parents, namely "Oceanus, from whom they all are sprung":

εἶμι γὰρ ὀψομένη πολυφόρβου πείρατα γαίης,

Ὠκεανόν τε θεῶν γένεσιν καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν,

οἵ μ' ἐν σφοῖσι δόμοισιν ἐὺ τρέφον ἠδ' ἀτίταλλον

δεξάμενοι Ῥείας […]

For I am faring to visit the limits of the all-nurturing earth,

and Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys,

even them that lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls,

when they had taken me from Rhea […]

Helios rises from the deep-flowing Oceanus in the east and at the end of the day sinks back into the Oceanus in the west. Also the other stars "bathe […] in the stream of Ocean". Oceanus is called βαθύρροος ("deep-flowing") and ἀψόρροος ("flowing back to itself, circular"), the latter quality being reflected in its depiction on the shield of Achilles:

Ἐν δ' ἐτίθει ποταμοῖο μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο

ἄντυγα πὰρ πυμάτην σάκεος πύκα ποιητοῖο.

Therein he set also the great might of the river Oceanus,

around the uttermost rim of the strongly-wrought shield.

In Greek mythology, this ocean-stream was personified as a Titan, the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. Oceanus' consort is his sister Tethys, and from their union came the ocean nymphs, also referred to as the three-thousand Oceanids, and all the rivers of the world, fountains, and lakes.
In most variations of the war between the Titans and the Olympians, or Titanomachy, Oceanus, along with Prometheus and Themis, did not take the side of his fellow Titans against the Olympians, but instead withdrew from the conflict. In most variations of this myth, Oceanus also refused to side with Cronus in the latter's revolt against their father, Uranus. He is, it appears, some sort of an outlaw to the society of Gods, as he also does not—and unlike all the other river gods, his sons—take part in the convention of gods on Mount Olympus.
Besides, Oceanus appears as a representative of the archaic world that Heracles constantly threatened and bested. As such, the Suda identifies Oceanus and Tethys as the parents of the two Kerkopes, whom Heracles also bested. Heracles forced Helios to lend him his golden bowl, in order to cross the wide expanse of the Ocean on his trip to the Hesperides. When Oceanus tossed the bowl about, Heracles threatened him and stilled his waves. The journey of Heracles in the sun-bowl upon Oceanus became a favored theme among painters of Attic pottery.

Iconography

In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns (often represented as the claws of a crab) and the lower body of a serpent (cfr. Typhon). On a fragmentary archaic vessel of circa 580 BC (British Museum 1971.11–1.1), among the gods arriving at the wedding of Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, is a fish-tailed Oceanus, with a fish in one hand and a serpent in the other, gifts of bounty and prophecy. In Roman mosaics, such as that from Bardo, he might carry a steering-oar and cradle a ship.

In cosmography and geography

Oceanus appears in Hellenic cosmography as well as myth. Both Homer and Hesiod refer to Okeanós Potamós, the "Ocean Stream". When Odysseus and Nestor walk together along the shore of the sounding sea they address their prayers "to the great Sea-god who girdles the world". Cartographers continued to represent the encircling equatorial stream much as it had appeared on Achilles' shield.
Herodotus was skeptical about the physical existence of Oceanus and rejected the reasoning—proposed by some of his coevals—according to which the uncommon phenomenon of the summerly Nile flood was caused by the river's connection to the mighty Oceanus. Speaking about the Oceanus myth itself he declared:

As for the writer who attributes the phenomenon to the ocean, his account is involved in such obscurity that it is impossible to disprove it by argument. For my part I know of no river called Ocean, and I think that Homer, or one of the earlier poets, invented the name, and introduced it into his poetry.

Some scholars^[who?] believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the two largest bodies known to the ancient Greeks.^{[citation needed]} However, as geography became more accurate, Oceanus came to represent the stranger, more unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean (also called the "Ocean Sea"), while the newcomer of a later generation, Poseidon, ruled over the Mediterranean Sea.^{[citation needed]}
Late attestations for an equation with the Black Sea abound, the cause being – as it appears – Odysseus' travel to the Cimmerians whose fatherland, lying beyond the Oceanus, is described as a country divested from sunlight. In the fourth century BC, Hecataeus of Abdera writes that the Oceanus of the Hyperboreans is neither the Arctic nor Western Ocean, but the sea located to the north of the ancient Greek world, namely the Black Sea, called "the most admirable of all seas" by Herodotus, labelled the "immense sea" by Pomponius Mela and by Dionysius Periegetes, and which is named Mare majus on medieval geographic maps. Apollonius of Rhodes, similarly, calls the lower Danube the Kéras Okeanoío ("Gulf" or "Horn of Oceanus").
Hecataeus of Abdera also refers to a holy island, sacred to the Pelasgian (and later, Greek) Apollo, situated in the easternmost part of the Okeanós Potamós, and called in different times Leuke or Leukos, Alba, Fidonisi or Isle of Snakes. It was on Leuke, in one version of his legend, that the hero Achilles, in a hilly tumulus, was buried (which is erroneously connected to the modern town of Kiliya, at the Danube delta). Accion ("ocean"), in the fourth century AD Gaulish Latin of Avienus' Ora maritima, was applied to great lakes.

Oceanus attending the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis on an Athenian, black-figure Dinos by Sophilos, c. 590 BC (British Museum)

Athenian, black-figure Dinos by Sophilos, c. 590 BC (London, British Museum, signature 1971.11-1.1): Detail from a depiction of the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, attended by several gods in chariots. Behind Athena and Artemis in the last chariot, Thetis' grandfather, the fish-tailed sea-god Okeanos, his wife Tethys, and Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth, follow the procession.

Left to right: Nereus, Doris, a Giant (kneeling), and Oceanus, detail from the Pergamon Altar Gigantomachy

Claus Ableiter - Own work

Pergamonmuseum Berlin, Pergamonaltar, Gigantomachie, Nereus, Doris, Okeanos contra Giganten

River Divinity, second century AD, Farnese collection, Naples National Archaeological Museum

Dave & Margie Hill / Kleerup from Centennial, CO, USA - Naples Archaeology Museum Uploaded by Marcus Cyron

River Divinity - Statua di Divinita' Fluviale Collezione Farnese da Roma, Iseo nel Campo Marzio seconda meta del II secolo d.C. (inv 5977)

Oceanus faced gargoyle, originally from Treuchtlingen, Bavaria, now at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich

User:Mattes - Own work

Okeanos, röm. Gott der Weltmeere, Bronze mit silbernen und kupfernen Einlagem, Fundort: Treuchtlingen, Bayern, 2. bis 3. Jhd. n. Chr., Leihgabe der Archäologischen Staatssammlung

CC BY 2.0 de
File:München — Staatliche Antikensammlungen — 2013-05-12 Mattes (16).JPG

Mosaic depicting Oceanus and Tethys, Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep

Klaus-Peter Simon - Own work

The Oceanus and Tethys Mosaic in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Turkey

Head of Oceanus from Tivoli's second century Hadrian's Villa, Vatican Museum

Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany - Head of Oceanus, found at Hadrian's Villa, Vatican Museums

Head of Oceanus, found at Hadrian's Villa, Vatican Museums

Oceano

Jebulon - Opera propria

Mascara de Oceano, siglo 2-3 d.J.C. (155-163 cm), hallado en 1959. Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, Cordoba, Spain

Oceano (Museo nazionale del Bardo, Tunisi)

Giorces - Opera propria

Il dio Oceano.Mosaico pavimentale romano al Museo del Bardo a Tunisi. II secolo d.C.

Museo archeologico d'Istanbul - Raffigurazione allegorica dell'Oceano come divinità acquatica. Sec. II d.C. Da Efeso.

I, QuartierLatin1968

Gli dei Oceano e Teti dalla Patera di Parabiago, un piatto in argento sbalzato del 361/363 d.C. È conservato nel Museo archeologico di Milano. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 13 marzo 2012.

Giovanni Dall'Orto - Opera propria

In Greek mythology, Oceanus was ruler of the sea before Poseidon. His counterpart in Roman mythology is Neptune

Konrad Linck

Franz conrad linck, oceano e teti, frankenthal, 1765 ca

I, Sailko

Juno Complaining to Oceanus and Thetis
Holland, published 1590 Book: Metamorphoses by Ovid, book 2, plate 10 Prints; engravings Engraving Graphic Arts Council Curatorial Discretionary Fund (M.71.76.10) Prints and Drawings

Hendrik Goltzius (after) (Holland, Mülbracht, 1558-1617), Hendrik Goltzius (Holland, Mülbracht [now Bracht-am-Niederrhein], 1558-1617)

Leopoldsbrunnen, Innsbruck, Austria - memorial statue to Leopold V, Archduke of Austria (on the Rennweg near the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck). Statues of goddesses and sea deities by Caspar Gras (1585-1674).

Daderot - Fotografia autoprodotta

Holland, 1586 Series: Sea and River Gods, pl. 1 Prints; engravings Engraving Mary Stansbury Ruiz Bequest (M.88.91.382b) Prints and Drawings

Philip Galle (Holland, Haarlem, 1537-1612)

Gli dei Oceano e Teti dalla Patera di Parabiago, un piatto in argento sbalzato del 361/363 d.C. È conservato nel Museo archeologico di Milano. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 25 luglio 2003.

Giovanni Dall'Orto - Opera propria

The Pantheon, or, Fabulous history of the heathen gods, goddesses, heroes, &c. - explained in a manner entirely new adorned with figures from ancient paintings, medals, and gems with a dissertation on (14771147114)
Creato: 1 gennaio 1792

Il dio Oceano
Pannello di mosaico dove si vede in un medaglione ottagonale una raffigurazione del dio Oceano, ubriaco e accasciato su una roccia con una conchiglia in mano.

Sui lati, ai quattro angoli del pannello, dei quadrati ospitano dei busti che raffigurano dei venti.

Il reperto si trova al Museo del Bardo.

Oceanus

OCEANO

Oceanus, Greco-Roman mosaic from Antioch C2nd A.D., Hatay Archaeology Museum

Tethys and Oceanus, Greco-Roman mosaic from Daphne C4th A.D., Hatay Archaeology Museum

Mosaic panel from a fountain basin: The sea-god Oceanus. Roman, 3rd century AD. British Museum, London.

Oceano

Oceanus The TItan God Of The Ocean - (Greek Mythology Explained ...

YouTube

#Mythology #GreekMythology #MythologyExplained

Peter

Roman bronze mask of the water god Okeanos (Oceanus)

OCEANO

Oceanus , God of the Sea

OCEANO

Oceanus Statue

Joseph Witchall on Twitter: "Oceanus, The Sea god...seen some of the best mosaics in Sousse, Tunisia... #illustration #tunisia #greekmythology ..

Perspective of a statue of the god Oceanus

OCEANUS by HSSN DSGN

Framed Drawing of Oceanus from AlphabetBook of Mythological Beings by Steve Prescott

God of Rivers statue Oceanus, Rome, Italy

Portrait Of Oceanus

OCEANUS

"Sometimes I stand upon the shore

Where ocean vaults their effuence pour,

And troubled waters sigh and shriek

Of secrets that they dare not speak."

H.P. Lovecraft, Cycle Of Verse: Oceanus

"Look you upon my daughter, mark how fair She is bedight as Cerce. I shall act

The green Oceanus."

H.P. Lovecraft, Alfredo; A Tragedy

"Okeanos was depicted in ancient Greek vase painting as a bull-horned god with the tail of a serpentine fish in place of legs, similar to his river-god sons."

"In mosaic art he therefore appears simply as a sea-god or the sea personified, with crab-claw horns, and for attributes, a serpent and an oar."

Aaron J. Atsma, The Theoi Project: Greek Mythology