| Opora | |
|---|---|
Goddess of harvest, fruit and autumn | |
| Other names | Opore |
| Greek | Ὀπώρα |
| Abode | Earth |
| Texts | Peace |
| Consort | Sirius, Trygaeus |
In ancientGreek mythology andreligion,Opora (Ancient Greek:Ὀπώρα,romanized: Opṓra,lit. 'autumn, fruit') is a minor goddess connected to fruit, the harvest, especially wine harvest, and the season of autumn. She is a fairly obscure goddess, although she features in a little-known myth centered around her romance with the stellar godSirius, the Dog Star.[1]
A close equivalent inRoman mythology is found in the fertility goddessPomona.[2]
The ancient Greek noun Opora referred to the part of the year between the rising of the starsSirius andArcturus, that is the end ofJuly, allAugust and part ofSeptember at the end of summer; later it was used for late summer[3] and autumn.[4] In extension of its use for fruit-time it could refer to fruit itself, and figuratively to summer-bloom.[4]
The word apparently derives from the base ofὀψέ meaning "late, after" andὥρα meaning "hour, time".[5]Robert Beekes suggests theProto-Indo-European roots*h1opi meaning 'at, on' and*h1os-r/n- meaning 'harvest-time, summer'.[6] It seems to be a contraction of an original form*ὀποσάρα (*op-osára) or*op-ohara, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root*(s)h₁ósr̥ or*h₁ósh₂r, meaning the harvest season.[7][8]
The later Greek word for autumn,φθινόπωρον (phthinópōron), covering September throughNovember, is derived from her name and literally translates to 'end of the opora'.[6]
Her parentage is not specified in any surviving text.
Opora accompaniesIrene, the goddess of peace and plenty, along with Theoria (who represents festive delegation) in Athenian comedianAristophanes's comedyPeace;[1] the god of commerceHermes suggests to the character of Trygaeus, a middle-aged Athenian man who brought about a peaceful end to thePeloponnesian War, to marry Opora, whom he liberated from a celestial prison.[9] Trygaeus's name (Ancient Greek:Τρυγαῖος,romanized: Trugaîos) seems to derive from the Ancient Greek nounτρύγη (trúgē) which means grain crop, and in particular grape crop, denoting Opora's connection to the wine harvest and viticulture.[10]
Opora has only one myth in whose plot she is central. While on a mission on the earth back when stars still made visits, the dog starSirius sees Opora and falls madly in love with her. When he is unable to be with her, he starts burning with even greater heat due to his unrequited love.[11] The humans, suffering, appeal to the gods for help.Boreas then, the god of the north wind, sends his sons to hand Opora over to Sirius while he cools down the heat with blasts of cold wind.[1][12] It thus has parallels to the myth ofPhaethon and the fiery chariot of hisfather. Sirius then goes on to glow every summer during harvest time in commemoration of this event and his great love, explaining the heat of the so-called dog days of summer, which was attributed to the star in antiquity.[13]
The story is generally believed to have originated from the lost play entitledOpora, by theAthenian playwright of Middle ComedyAmphis, and a work of the same name by Amphis's contemporaryAlexis.[12] The myth has been transmitted mostly thoughscholia written after their time, with the surviving manuscripts containing numerous corruptions, errors and transliteration mistakes; it is highly likely that these scholia also drew upon a lost work ofEratosthenes, which probably quoted the play by Alexis.[12]
In ancient Greece theopora and the heat that came with it was traditionally associated with the star Sirius;Homer calls Sirius the star of the opora, although Sirius' rising does not coincide perfectly with the season.[14]
A number of pictorial representations of the goddess Opora have passed down to our times.[1] An ancient floor mosaic discovered in ancientDaphne in modern-dayTurkey and now housed in theBaltimore Museum of Art depicts Opora in the company of two more divinities, Agros ("field") and Oinos ("wine") at dinner.[15][16] Moreover, on two ancient Athenian vases, Opora appears carrying fruit and accompanyingDionysus, Dionysus's retinue, and Irene.[17][18] She is also possibly represented on the reliefs of the temple ofSerapis andIsis discovered on the site of the present church of Saint Eleutherios inAthens.[19]
