View source for Orcus

{{Short description|Roman god of the underworld}}
{{About|the Roman god|the dwarf planet|90482 Orcus|other uses|Orcus (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Roman
| name = Orcus
| deity_of = God of the underworld, <br/>punisher of broken oaths
| member_of = the ''[[di selecti]]''
| image = Bomarzo2013parco21.jpg
| alt = <!-- for alternate text of the title image per [[WP:ALT]] -->
| caption = ''Orcus Mouth'', a 16th-century [[folly]] in the [[Gardens of Bomarzo]]
| other_names = [[Dis Pater]], [[Hades]] ([[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]]){{efn|The conflation of Orcus with [[Dis Pater]] and [[Hades]] causes some consternation, since they are thought to originally have been separate. [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]] is especially bothersome, since he was originally a god of wealth, later merged with [[Hades]], who in turn was confounded with [[Dis Pater]] and Orcus. Confusion with the similar-sounding [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek]] [[Horkos]] is yet another issue to trouble [[mythography|mythographic]] [[lumpers and splitters|splitters]].}}
| cult_center = 
| consort = 
| parents = 
| siblings = 
| offspring = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| abode = [[Hades]], Underworld
| gender = Male
| Greek_equivalent = [[Horkos]], [[Hades]]
| Etruscan_equivalent = Orcus
| festivals = 
}}
'''Orcus''' was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan]] and [[Roman mythology]]. As with [[Hades]], the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. Eventually, he was conflated with [[Dis Pater]] and [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]].

A temple to Orcus may once have existed on the [[Palatine Hill]] in [[Rome]]. It is likely that he was transliterated from the Greek [[daemon (classical mythology)|daemon]] [[Horkos]], the personification of oaths and a son of [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]].{{citation needed|date=February 2010}}

==Origins==
[[File:Odysseus and cyclops (orcus) Tomb of Orcus.jpg|thumb|Fresco of [[Odysseus]] (''{{langx|ett|Uθuste}}'') and the Cyclops (''{{langx|ett|Cuclu}}'') in the [[Tomb of Orcus]], [[Tarquinia]], [[Italy]].]]
The origins of Orcus may have lain in [[Etruscan religion]]. The so-called "[[Tomb of Orcus]]", an [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan site]] at [[Tarquinia]], is a misnomer, resulting from its first discoverers mistaking a hairy, bearded giant for Orcus; it actually depicts a [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]].

The Romans sometimes conflated Orcus with other [[underworld]] gods such as [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]], [[Hades]], and [[Dis Pater]]. The name "Orcus" seems to have referred specifically to the malicious and punishing side of the ruler of the underworld, as the god who tormented evildoers in their afterlife. Like the name Hades, "Orcus" could refer both to the underworld itself, as well as its ruling deity. In the charitable interpretation for such a place, it was believed to be an abode for purification of the souls of the deceased.<ref name=Schuch-1842>{{cite book |first=Christian Theophil |last=Schuch |title=Privatalterthümer, oder wissenschaftliches, religiöses und häuslisches Leben der Römer. Ein Lehr- und Handbuch für Studirende und Alterthumsfreunde |lang=de |trans-title=Private Antiquities: The scientific, religious, and domestic life of the Romans. A textbook and handbook for students and fans of antiquarian topics |place=Karlsruhe, DE |year=1842 |pages=360–361}}</ref>

In Roman literature one encounters phrases such as ''Orcum morari'' (lit. "to make Orcus wait", i.e. to postpone death) and ''cum Orco rationem habere'' (lit. "to go reason with Orcus", i.e. to approach death).<ref>[http://micmap.org/dicfro/search/gaffiot/orcus Orcus] {{Cite book|last=Gaffiot, Félix (1934)|title=Dictionnaire illustré latin-français|publisher=Hachette|pages=1090}}</ref>

Orcus was chiefly worshipped in rural areas; he had no official cult in the cities.<ref name=Bernheimer-1952-1979>{{cite book |last=Bernheimer |first=Richard |orig-year=1952 |year=1979 |edition=reprint |title=Wild men in the Middle Ages |place=New York, NY |publisher=Octagon Books |ISBN=0-374-90616-5 |page=43}}</ref> This remoteness allowed for him to survive in the countryside long after the more prevalent gods had ceased to be worshipped. He survived as a folk figure into the [[Middle Ages]], and aspects of his worship may have been transmuted into the [[wild man]] festivals held in rural parts of Europe through the [[modern era]].<ref name=Bernheimer-1952-1979/> Indeed, much of what is known about the celebrations associated with Orcus come from medieval sources.<ref name=Bernheimer-1952-1979/>

==Persistence and later usage==
[[File:Master of the Aeneid Legend - The Descent of Aeneas into Hell - Walters 44205.jpg|right|thumb|''The Descent of Aeneas in the Underworld'' ({{circa|1530–1540}}), [[Walters Art Museum]].]]
From Orcus's association with death and the underworld, his name came to be used for demons and other underworld monsters, particularly in Italian where ''orco'' refers to a kind of monster found in fairy-tales that feeds on human flesh.

The French word ''ogre'' (appearing first in [[Charles Perrault]]'s fairy-tales) may have come from variant forms of this word, ''orgo'' or ''ogro''; in any case, the French ''[[ogre]]'' and the Italian ''orco'' are exactly the same sort of creature.

===Ariosto===
An early example of an ''orco'' appears in [[Ludovico Ariosto]]'s ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' (1516), as a bestial, blind, tusk-faced monster inspired by the [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]] of the ''[[Odyssey]]''.{{efn|The blind ''orco'' monster should not be confused with the other monster ''[[orca (sea monster)|orca]]'', a sea-monster which also appears in Ariosto and was later used as a genus-name for “[[killer whales]]” (''[[orca]]'').}}

===Tolkien===
The ''orco'' from ''[[Orlando Furioso|Orlando]]'', along with the [[Old English]] word ''orc'' (in the sense of an [[ogre]], like [[Grendel]]), was part of the inspiration for [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]'s ''[[orc]]s'' in his ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first=J.R.R. |last=Tolkien |author-link=John Ronald Reuel Tolkien |year=1954–1955 |title=The Lord of the Rings |title-link=The Lord of the Rings}}</ref> In other manuscripts Tolkien wrote a side-note on the word:
:The word used in translation of [[Quenya|Q{{grey|[uenya]}}]] ''urko'', [[Sindarin|S{{grey|[indarin]}}]] ''orch'', is orc. But that is because of the similarity of the ancient English word orc, 'evil spirit or bogey', to the Elvish words. There is possibly no connexion between them. The English word is now generally supposed to be derived from Latin Orcus.<ref>{{cite book |first=J.R.R. |last=Tolkien |author-link=John Ronald Reuel Tolkien |editor=Tolkien, C. |editor-link=Christopher Tolkien |title=The War of the Jewels |title-link=The War of the Jewels |year=1994}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2021}}

In an unpublished letter sent to [[Gene Wolfe]], Tolkien also made this comment:
:Orc I derived from Anglo-Saxon, a word meaning demon, usually supposed to be derived from the Latin Orcus – Hell. But I doubt this, though the matter is too involved to set out here.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Gene |last=Wolfe |date=December 2001 |title=The best introduction to the mountains |magazine=Interzone |via=Claranet Soho (clara.net) |url=http://home.clara.net/andywrobertson/wolfemountains.html |access-date=2014-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20040113063643/http%3A//home.clara.net/andywrobertson/wolfemountains.html |archive-date=2004-01-13}}</ref>

From this use, countless other [[fantasy]] games and works of fiction have borrowed the concept of the orc.

===Other modern-era use===
* The name "Orcus" appears in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' role-playing game as [[Orcus (Dungeons & Dragons)|Orcus]], Prince of the Undead.

* Orcus appears as a character in [[Christopher Moore (author)|Christopher Moore]]'s novel ''[[A Dirty Job]]'' (2006).

* The [[Kuiper belt]] [[dwarf planet]] [[90482 Orcus|Orcus]] is named after Orcus. This is because Orcus was sometimes considered to be another name for [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]], and also because [[Pluto]] and Orcus are both [[plutino]]s. Orcus has one known moon, [[Vanth (moon)|Vanth]].

* In the TV series ''[[Happy! (TV series)|Happy!]]'' (2017–2019), Orcus possesses members of the Scaramucci crime family.

* Image of Orcus is used on the book cover The complete short stories of Ambrose Bierce. Compiled and Edited by Ernest Jerome Hopkins. 1970 Doubleday.

* The Orcus sculpture was recreated for the entrance to the museum's "Superstition" exhibit in the 1997 horror film [[The Relic]].

* Orcus is the name of a fire protection and risk consultancy in the North and South America specializing in unique hazards such as refineries and chemical storage.

* Orcus appears as a character in [[Qui Nguyen]]'s play ''[[She Kills Monsters]]'' (2011).

* In 2016, "Orcus Administration" emerged as the name of a publicly available remote control software, its creator John "Armada" Revesz soon afterward arrested and convicted for developing a remote access [[Trojan horse (computing)|Trojan]] (RAT).

==See also==
* [[Demogorgon]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Other sources not cited==
{{div col |colwidth=20em |content=

* {{cite book |last=Grimal |first=P. |year=1986 |title=The Dictionary of Classical Mythology |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Basil Blackwell |page=328}}
* {{cite book |last=Richardson |first=L. |year=1992 |title=A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome |place=Baltimore, MD / London, UK |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |page=278}}

}} <!-- end "content=" -->

==External links==
{{commonscat|Tomba dell’Orco (Tarquinia)}}
* [http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tarorcus.html "Tomb of the Orcus", Tarquinia]

{{Roman religion}}
{{Hell}}

[[Category:90482 Orcus]]
[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:Roman underworld]]
[[Category:Underworld gods]]
[[Category:Hades]]
[[Category:Places in the Greek underworld]]
[[Category:Wild men]]