View source for Ophiussa

{{Short description|Historical region of Portugal}}
{{for|the moth genus|Ophiusa (moth){{!}}''Ophiusa'' (moth)}}
{{History of Portugal}}
'''Ophiussa''', also spelled '''Ophiusa''', is the ancient name given by the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] to what is now [[Portugal|Portuguese]] territory near the mouth of the river [[Tagus]]. It means '''Land of Serpents'''.

== The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni'' ==
The 4th century [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet [[Rufius Festus Avienius]], 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 who had been living there for a long time; they had to flee their homeland after an invasion of [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpents]]. These people could be linked to the ''Saephe'' ([[Saefs]]) 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''.

The expulsion of the Oestrimni,  from ''Ora Maritima:''
{| border=0
|-
| valign=top |
: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.
| valign=top |
::
::
: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 [[Peloponnese|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.<ref>The point being that {{lang|grc|ὄφις}} (''ophis'') means "snake" in Greek.</ref>
|}

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

==Land of the ''Ophi''==
The ''Ophi'' people lived mainly in the inland mountains of Northern Portugal (and [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]). Others say they lived mainly by the estuaries of the rivers [[Douro]] and [[Tagus]]. The ''Ophi'' worshiped [[Snake|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 [[european dragon|dragon]] sometimes represented as a [[griffin]], from the original Winged Serpent, or [[Wyvern]] (the traditional Portuguese ''Serpe Real''), old crest of the crown of the Kings of Portugal and later of the Emperors of Brazil, is linked to local people or to the [[Celts]] who had previously invaded the area and could also have been the influence for the ''Ophi'' cult.

==''Ophi'' legend==
A legend relates that on the summer [[solstice]] a [[Enchanted Moura|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.

==See also==<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
*[[Avienius]]
*[[Coco (folklore)|Cuco]]
*[[History of Portugal]]
*[[Lusitania]]
*[[Lusitanian mythology]]
*[[Sepharad]]
*[[Timeline of Portuguese history]]

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/avienus.ora.html Ora Maritima] (in Latin) at [[The Latin Library]]
*[http://www.uned.es/geo-1-historia-antigua-universal/SERPIENTES/SERPIENTEDICIEMBRE/SERPIENTE_15DICIEMBRE_15.htm Culto a la serpiente en el mundo Antiguo] Serpent cult in the Ancient Word (in Spanish)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040611215344/http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)]
{{Portugal topics}}

[[Category:Ancient Portugal]]
[[Category:Lusitanian mythology]]
[[Category:Snakes and humans]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Europe]]
[[Category:Fauna of Portugal]]
[[Category:Fauna of Spain]]
[[Category:Legendary serpents]]