Orchomenus

“ Of the opulent places in the ancient world, Egyptian Thebes and Minyan Orchomenus are now less prosperous than a private individual of moderate means, while Delos, once the common market of Greece, has no Delian inhabitant, but only the men sent by the Athenians to guard the sanctuary. ”

“ Panopeus, a Phocian city, and Hyampolis410 are situated above Orchomenus. Opus, the metropolis of the Locri Epicnemidii, borders upon these places. It is said, that Orchomenus was formerly situated on a plain, but, as the waters overflowed, the settlers removed to the mountain Acontium, which extends 60 stadia in length, as far as Parapotamii in Phocis. It is said, that those people, who are called Achæi in Pontus, are colonists from the Orchomenians, who, after the capture of Troy, wandered thither under the conduct of Ialmenus. ”

“ The family thus liable to furnish at least one human victim every year was of royal descent, for they traced their lineage to Minyas, the famous old king of Orchomenus, the monarch of fabulous wealth, whose stately treasury, as it is called, still stands in ruins at the point where the long rocky hill of Orchomenus melts into the vast level expanse of the Copaic plain. ”

“ Now this practice of taking human victims from a family of royal descent at Orchomenus is all the more significant because Athamas himself is said to have reigned in the land of Orchomenus even before the time of Minyas, and because over against the city there rises Mount Laphystius, on which, as at Alus in Thessaly, there was a sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, where, according to tradition, Athamas purposed to sacrifice his two children Phrixus and Helle. ”

“ The Argives did not even wait for Agesilaus and his division, but fled towards Helicon, and at that moment some of his foreign friends were on the point of crowning Agesilaus with the wreath of victory, when some one brought him word that the Thebans had cut through the division from Orchomenus and were busy with the baggage-train. Accordingly he at once deployed his division and advanced by counter-march against them. The Thebans on their side, seeing that their allies had scattered on Helicon, and eager to make their way back to join their friends, began advancing sturdily. ”

“ I have myself seen this image thus fastened. They also sacrifice every year to Actaeon as to a hero.
9.38.6 Seven stades from Orchomenus is a temple of Heracles with a small image. Here are the springs of the river Melas (black) , one of the streams running into the Cephisian Lake. The lake at all times covers the greater part of the Orchomenian territory, but in the winter season, after the south-west wind has generally prevailed, the water spreads over a yet greater extent of the territory. ”

“ In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, and the Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in the form of a proposal for the restoration of territory to its original owners. This meant that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in the hands of Thebes since 366, and had previously been the subject of a long-standing dispute; that Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which had all been overthrown by Thebes, would be restored ”

“ The contending forces met on the plain of Coronea, Agesilaus and his troops approaching from the Cephisus, the Thebans and their allies from the slopes of the Helicon. These masses of infantry, as any eye might see, were of duly balanced strength, while as near as could be the cavalry on either side was numerically the same. Agesilaus held the right of his own army, and on his extreme left lay the men of Orchomenus. On the opposite side the Thebans themselves formed their own right and the Argives held their left. ”

“ We will summon the Athenians themselves, so that they may imagine that all that they want is secured, and may pass no hostile decree: but the ambassadors shall make such reports about us, and give such promises, as will prevent them from moving under any circumstances.' 325 It was in this way, and by such trickery as this, that all was ruined, through the action of these doomed wretches. For immediately afterwards, as you know, instead of seeing Thespiae and Plataeae repeopled, you heard that Orchomenus and Coroneia had been enslaved ”

“ They also hold an annual festival in honor of Artemis Hymnia.
8.13.2 The former city of Orchomenus was on the peak of a mountain, and there still remain ruins of an agora and of walls. The modern, inhabited city lies under the circuit of the old wall. Worth seeing here is a spring, from which they draw water, and there are sanctuaries of Poseidon and of Aphrodite, the images being of stone. Near the city is a wooden image of Artemis. ”

“ Orchard, mock marriage before partaking of the fruits of a new, ii. 26, 101
Orchards, fire applied to, on Eve of Twelfth Day, ix. 317, 319, 320
Orchha, the Rajah of, celebrates annually the marriage of the Salagrama to the holy basil, ii. 27
Orchomenus in Arcadia, kingly government at, i. 47
—— in Boeotia, human sacrifice at, iv. 163 sq.
Orcus, Roman god of the lower world, his marriage celebrated by the pontiffs, vi. 231
Ordeal of battle among the Umbrians, ii. ”

“ I saw that the principal characteristic of life on Orcon was an organic ability to thrive under almost any climatic conditions. Many of the huge, crystal clear boulders which covered the beach and the coastal plain which led to the hills, were covered with leafless flowers which had immense, leathery petals and sharp, fang-like spines. Other evidences of swift growing life showed on every hand. Ugly, jelly-like creatures oozed about the ship and everywhere else. In places the very rocks seemed ready to come to life. ”

“ EEP hidden in the damp recesses of the leafy woods, many a rare and precious flower of the Orchis family blooms, flourishes, and decays, unseen by human eye, unsought by human hand, until some curious, flower-loving botanist plunges amid the rank, tangled vegetation, and brings beauties to the light.
One of these beautiful Orchids, the Orchis spectabilis or Showy Orchis, is here presented in our group.
This pretty plant is not, indeed, of very rare occurrence; its locality is rich maple and beechen woods all through Canada. ”

“ As rudimentary organs vary much, we can thus perhaps understand the variability, which as Dr. Hooker informs me is characteristic of the excrescences on the labellum. In some Orchids which have a spur-like nectary, the two sides are apparently formed by the two modified stamens; thus in Gymnadenia conopsea (but not in Orchis pyramidalis) , the vessels, proceeding from the two antero-lateral ovarian groups, run down the sides of the nectary; those from the single anterior group run down the exact middle of the nectary, then returning up the opposite side form the mid-rib of the labellum. ”

“ In Orca generally four or five cervical vertebræ are ankylosed as in the cachelots, but in the two species of Orcella only the atlas and axis are joined. "In the killers and ca'ing whales the ribs are transferred to the transverse processes at the seventh dorsal, whilst in Orcella the transference does not take place until the eighth." The skull resembles that of Orca in the breadth of the upper jaw being produced by the maxillaries, whereas in Globicephalus this effect is caused by the premaxillaries. The teeth resemble the killer's. ”

“ In most of the species of Orchis the stigma lies directly beneath the anther-cells, and the pollinia simply move vertically downwards. In Orchys pyramidalis there are two lateral and inferior stigmas, and the pollinia move downwards and outwards, diverging to the proper angle, so as to strike the two lateral stigmas. In Gymnadenia the pollinia move only downwards, but they are adapted for striking the lateral stigmas, by being attached to the upper lateral surfaces of the proboscides of Lepidoptera. ”

“ The two forms of the chelæ of the male of Orchestia Darwinii, magnified.
I cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of remarking that (so far as appears from Spence Bate’s catalogue) , for two different kinds of males ( Orchestia telluris and sylvicola ) which live together in the forests of New Zealand, only one form of female is known, and hazarding the supposition that we have here a similar case. It does not seem to me to be probable that two nearly allied species of these social Amphipoda should occur mixed together under the same conditions of life. ”

“ The morio, Meadow Orchis, or Female Fool-stones, grows on moist meadows and pastures; flowers in May and June.—The roots are roundish; the stalk is about a foot high; and the leaves have the shape of lancets. This species deserves to be mentioned here, on the authority of Bechstein, who observes, that it is considered as possessing, and even surpassing, the virtues of the foreign salep-root; and, though some naturalists have been of opinion, that the Early Orchis is the genuine root imported from Persia, yet we would recommend the culture of the meadow orchis. ”

“ In Spiranthes autumnalis the vessel Sr runs to the bottom of the fork of the rostellum: there are no vessels to the membranes of the clinandrum in this Orchid nor in Goodyera. In none of the Ophreæ do the vessels a1, a2, and a3 occur. In Orchis pyramidalis I traced all the others, including two to the two separate stigmas: in this species the contrast between the vessels of the labellum and of the other sepals and petals is striking, as in the latter the vessels do not branch, whilst the labellum has three vessels the lateral ones running of course into the antero-lateral ovarian group. ”

“ Neither, while we contemplate the marvellous and inexhaustible variety of form by which the order is distinguished above all its fellows, can any plead that this result is due to its ancient lineage, nor yet to the vast periods through which endless transformations are assumed to have been continually taking place, because Orchids—according to geologic reckoning—are but a thing of yesterday, and have never been found in a fossil state. ”

“ Marsh Orchis (Orchis latifolia) .
There are nearly forty British species of Orchideæ, divided into sixteen genera; and in the space at our disposal it is impossible to give anything like an adequate account of the group or of the specific characters. ”

“ The light from the deck brought out dazzling scintillations from a beach composed of gigantic crystal pebbles as large as ostrich eggs. On the beach and grouped thickly all about our hull, swarmed a legion of creatures which—
Well, they were the brood of Orcon. They were the creatures who had given Ludwig Leider refuge and allied themselves with him in his attempt to make trouble for Earth. And they were half-bird, half-human! Their faces, bodies, arms, and legs were human. ”

“ There can be no doubt that the species of Phalænopsis rank amongst our finest Orchids, on account of the purity and soft tinting of their blossoms and the profusion in which they are produced. Unfortunately, at present, we only possess a limited number of them. During the last few years, indeed, many new kinds, which are giving a fresh interest to the genus, have been introduced by our collectors; and, although it is barely possible that any new introduction should surpass the old species, yet it is gratifying to know that there are yet to be found distinct and novel kinds of great beauty. ”

“ Showy Orchis (Orchis spectabilis) is a charming early-blooming orchid found in flower from April to June in moist woods, often under hemlock trees. Two broad, ovate, deeply ribbed, beautiful leaves sheath the flower scape at its base. The four to twelve flowers are loosely racemed at the top of the scape which is from 5 to 10 in. high. The magenta-pink petals and sepals are united to form a hood; the lip, curving abruptly downward, is broadly ovate and white; each flower has a short spur and is bracted. ”

“ As we record instances of what appear only capable of being ascribed to "suggestive but mistaken mimicry," we meet with natural resemblances which seem to fall under a category of
Purposeless Mimicry.
Some orchids have a curious resemblance to insects, after which they have accordingly been named the Bee-orchis, Fly-orchis, Butterfly-orchis, &c, but it has not yet been satisfactorily shown what advantage the resemblance is to the plant. ”

“ Orchid-hunting has an irresistible attraction for every lover of Nature. Whether the secret of this fascination lies in the difficulties which beset the search for the rarer species, or whether it is the strange forms, sweet perfumes and tropical appearances of many of the flowers belonging to this eccentric family that inspire so vivid a delight in the breast of man it is hard to determine, but assuredly the traveller does experience a keen thrill of ecstacy on finding one of these uncanny plants closely hidden in some shady swamp, or deep-set amid the tall rank herbage of the hills. ”

“ Chrysogeneia, the other daughter of Almos, had for issue, by the god Poseidôn, Minyas: the son of Minyas was Orchomenos. From these two was derived the name both of Minyæ for the people, and of Orchomenos for the town. [280] During the reign of Orchomenos, Hyêttus came to him from Argos, having become an exile in consequence of the death of Molyros: Orchomenos assigned to him a portion of land, where he founded the village called Hyêttus. ”

“ We now present to our subscribers the figure of a most beautiful Orchid which belongs to an extensive genus, the species of which vary much in their growth, bulbs, foliage, and flowers, the latter including almost every gradation of size and many shades of colour. The Oncidiums are among the most useful of plants for decorative purposes, as every one must know who grows Orchids. Oncidium Lanceanum is quite distinct as a species from any others with which we are acquainted and is remarkable for having a rich rosy violet lip; the typical form we hope to be able to figure at some future time. ”