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82-747: The river gods were the 3000 sons of the great earth-encircling river Oceanus and his wife Tethys and the brothers of the Oceanids . They were also the fathers of the Naiads and Potamides . The river gods were depicted in one of three forms: a man-headed bull, a bull-headed man with the body of a serpent-like fish from the waist down, or as a reclining man with an arm resting upon an amphora jug pouring water. Notable river gods include: Ancient Greek poet Hesiod mentioned several river gods by name, along with their origin story, in Theogonia ("the birth of

164-564: A Titan (being the brother of Cronus and Rhea), and the mythographer Apollodorus 's inclusion of Dione , the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus, as a thirteenth Titan, suggests an Orphic tradition in which the Titan offspring of Oceanus and Tethys consisted of Hesiod's twelve Titans, with Phorcys and Dione taking the place of Oceanus and Tethys. According to Epimenides , the first two beings, Night and Aer, produced Tartarus , who in turn produced two Titans (possibly Oceanus and Tethys) from whom came

246-604: A coup in 317 BC. He resumed the war against Carthage, with alternate fortunes. He was besieged in Syracuse by the Carthaginians in 311 BC, but he escaped from the city with a small fleet. He scored a moral success, bringing the war to the Carthaginians' native African soil, inflicting heavy losses to the enemy. The defenders of Syracuse destroyed the Carthaginian army which besieged them. However, Agathocles

328-622: A diversionary attack, he opened the gate. After setting guards on the houses of the pro-Roman faction, Marcellus gave Syracuse to plunder. Though declining slowly through the years, Syracuse maintained the status of capital of the Roman government of Sicily and seat of the praetor . It remained an important port for trade between the Eastern and the Western parts of the Empire. Christianity spread in

410-440: A figure thought to be Tethys: a part of a chiton below Oceanus' left arm and a hand clutching a large tree branch visible behind Oceanus' head. 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 ). In Roman mosaics, such as that from Bardo , he might carry

492-477: A heavy, often chaotic, expansion, favoured by the quick process of industrialization. Syracuse today has about 125,000 inhabitants and numerous attractions for the visitor interested in historical sites (such as the Ear of Dionysius ). A process of recovering and restoring the historical centre has been ongoing since the 1990s. Nearby places of note include Catania , Noto , Modica and Ragusa . Syracuse experiences

574-457: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ) with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Snow is infrequent; the last measurable snowfall in the city occurred in December 2014. Frosts are very rare, with the last one also happening in December 2014 when the temperature dropped to the all-time record low of 0 °C. A temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F)

656-458: A later Iliad passage, Hypnos also describes Oceanus as " genesis for all", which, according to Gantz, is hard to understand as meaning other than that, for Homer, Oceanus was the father of the Titans. Plato , in his Timaeus , provides a genealogy (probably Orphic) which perhaps reflected an attempt to reconcile this apparent divergence between Homer and Hesiod, in which Uranus and Gaia are

738-484: A loanword from the Aegean Pre-Greek non- Indo-European substrate . Nevertheless, Michael Janda sees possible Indo-European connections. Oceanus was the eldest of the Titan offspring of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). Hesiod lists his Titan siblings as Coeus , Crius , Hyperion , Iapetus , Theia , Rhea , Themis , Mnemosyne , Phoebe , Tethys , and Cronus . Oceanus married his sister Tethys, and

820-481: A person (such as Oceanus visiting Prometheus in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound , see above) Oceanus is more usually considered to be a place, that is, as the great world-encircling river. Twice Hesiod calls Oceanus "the perfect river" ( τελήεντος ποταμοῖο ), and Homer refers to the "stream of the river Oceanus" ( ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο ). Both Hesiod and Homer call Oceanus "backflowing" ( ἀψορρόου ), since, as

902-587: A pestilence. A treaty in 392 BC allowed Syracuse to enlarge further its possessions, founding the cities of Adranon , Tyndarion and Tauromenos , and conquering Rhegion on the continent. In the Adriatic , to facilitate trade, Dionysius the Elder founded Ancona , Adria and Issa . Apart from his battle deeds, Dionysius was famous as a patron of art, and Plato himself visited Syracuse several times, where Dionysius, offended by Plato's daring to disagree with

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984-519: A poem (probably Orphic) which has an angry Oceanus brooding aloud as to whether he should join Cronus and the other Titans in the attack on Uranus. And, according to Proclus, Oceanus did not in fact take part in the attack. Oceanus seemingly also did not join the Titans in the Titanomachy , the great war between the Cronus and his fellow Titans, and Zeus and his fellow Olympians , for control of

1066-645: A revolt against the Bourbon government. The punishment was the move of the province capital seat to Noto , but the unrest had not been totally choked, as the Siracusani took part in the Sicilian revolution of 1848 . After the Unification of Italy of 1865, Syracuse regained its status of provincial capital. In the late 19th century, the walls (including Porta Ligny ) were demolished and a bridge connecting

1148-576: A section of the Iliad called the Deception of Zeus , suggest the possibility that Homer knew a tradition in which Oceanus and Tethys (rather than Uranus and Gaia, as in Hesiod) were the primeval parents of the gods. Twice Homer has Hera describe the pair as "Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys". According to M. L. West , these lines suggests a myth in which Oceanus and Tethys are

1230-469: A steering-oar and cradle a ship. Oceanus appears in Hellenic cosmography as well as myth . 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

1312-539: A very similar procession of Peleus and Thetis' wedding guests, on another early sixth century BC Attic black-figure pot, the François Vase (Florence 4209). As in Sophilos' dinos, Oceanus appears at the end of the long procession, following after the last chariot, with Hephaestus on his mule bringing up the rear. Although little remains of Oceanus, he was apparently shown here with a bull's head. The similarity in

1394-605: Is a historic city on the Italian island of Sicily , the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse . The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture , amphitheatres , architecture, and as the birthplace and home of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes . This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse

1476-524: Is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, next to the Gulf of Syracuse beside the Ionian Sea . It is situated in a drastic rise of land with 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) depths being close to the city offshore although the city itself is generally not so hilly in comparison. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state . Syracuse

1558-654: The Battle of Cannae and accepted Carthage 's support. The Romans, led by consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus , besieged the city in 214 BC. The city held out for three years, but fell in 212 BC. The successes of the Syracusians in repelling the Roman siege had made them overconfident. In 212 BC, the Romans received information that the city's inhabitants were to participate in the annual festival to their goddess Artemis . A small party of Roman soldiers approached

1640-490: The Battle of Himera , Gelo, who had allied with Theron of Agrigento , decisively defeated the African force led by Hamilcar . A temple dedicated to Athena (on the site of today's Cathedral), was erected in the city to commemorate the event. Syracuse grew considerably during this time. Its walls encircled 120 hectares (300 acres) in the fifth century, but as early as the 470s BC the inhabitants started building outside

1722-517: The Charites ; Doris , the wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids ; Callirhoe , the wife of Chrysaor and mother of Geryon ; Clymene , the wife of Iapetus, and mother of Atlas , Menoetius , Prometheus , and Epimetheus ; Perseis , wife of Helios and mother of Circe and Aeetes ; Idyia , wife of Aeetes and mother of Medea ; and Styx , the great river of the underworld river, and

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1804-582: The Cimmerians , the Aethiopians , and the Pygmies as living nearby Oceanus. In Homer, Helios the sun, rises from Oceanus in the east, and at the end of the day sinks back into Oceanus in the west, and the stars bathe in the "stream of Ocean". According to later sources, after setting, Helios sails back along Oceanus during the night from west to east. Just as Oceanus the god was the father of

1886-733: The Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean , the two largest bodies known to the ancient Greeks. 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. Late attestations for an equation with the Black Sea abound,

1968-717: The Theogony , or near Elysium , in the Iliad , and in the Odyssey , has to be crossed in order to reach the "dank house of Hades ". And for both Hesiod and Homer, Oceanus seems to have marked a boundary beyond which the cosmos became more fantastical. The Theogony has such fabulous creatures as the Hesperides , with their golden apples, the three-headed giant Geryon , and the snake-haired Gorgons , all residing "beyond glorious Ocean". While Homer located such exotic tribes as

2050-651: The nymph Arethusa and pursued her to Syracuse where she was transformed into a spring by Artemis ; and Scamander who fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War and got offended when Achilles polluted his waters with a large number of Trojan corpses, overflowed his banks nearly drowning Achilles. According to Hesiod, there were also three thousand Oceanids. These included: Metis , Zeus ' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with Athena and then swallowed; Eurynome , Zeus' third wife, and mother of

2132-468: The world egg . When Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, overthrew his father Uranus , thereby becoming the ruler of the cosmos, according to Hesiod, none of the other Titans participated in the attack on Uranus. However, according to the mythographer Apollodorus , all the Titans—;except Oceanus—attacked Uranus. Proclus , in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus , quotes several lines of

2214-439: The "first parents of the whole race of gods." However, as Timothy Gantz points out, "mother" could simply refer to the fact that Tethys was Hera's foster mother for a time, as Hera tells us in the lines immediately following, while the reference to Oceanus as the genesis of the gods "might be simply a formulaic epithet indicating the numberless rivers and springs descended from Okeanos" (compare with Iliad 21.195–197 ). But, in

2296-678: 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 westernmost part of the Okeanós Potamós , and called in different times Leuke or Leukos, Alba, Fidonisi or Isle of Snakes . It

2378-802: The Bellomo Palace. Frederick's death brought a period of unrest and feudal anarchy. In the War of the Sicilian Vespers between the Angevin and Aragonese dynasties for control of Sicily, Syracuse sided with the Aragonese and expelled the Angevins in 1298, receiving from the Spanish sovereigns great privileges in reward. The preeminence of baronial families is also shown by the construction of

2460-590: The Corinthian Timoleon installed a democratic regime in the city after he exiled Dionysius and defeated Hicetas. The long series of internal struggles had weakened Syracuse's power on the island, and Timoleon tried to remedy this, defeating the Carthaginians in the Battle of the Crimissus (339 BC). After Timoleon's death the struggle among the city's parties restarted and ended with the rise of another tyrant, Agathocles , who seized power with

2542-755: The Great (491–526), and then by Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire (31 December 535). From 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of the Greek-speaking Emperor Constans II , as well as a capital of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and metropolis of the whole Sicilian Church. Constans II was assassinated when his plans to permanently replace the Byzantine capital of Constantinople with Syracuse became suspected. The city

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2624-621: The Titan Tethys , and the father of the river gods and the Oceanids , as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world. According to M. L. West , the etymology of Oceanus is "obscure" and "cannot be explained from Greek". The use by Pherecydes of Syros of the form Ōgenós ( Ὠγενός ) for the name lends support for the name being a loanword . However, according to West, no "very convincing" foreign models have been found. A Semitic derivation has been suggested by several scholars, while R. S. P. Beekes has suggested

2706-714: The United Kingdom): 0.6%, North Africa (mostly Tunisian ): 0.5%, and South Asia: 0.4%. Since 2005, the entire city of Syracuse, along with the Necropolis of Pantalica which falls within the province of Syracuse , has been listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This programme aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity . The deciding committee which evaluates potential candidates described their reasons for choosing Syracuse because "monuments and archeological sites situated in Syracuse are

2788-470: The ancient city was the small island of Ortygia . The settlers found the land fertile and the native tribes to be reasonably well-disposed to their presence. The city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean . Colonies were founded at Akrai (664 BC), Kasmenai (643 BC), Akrillai (7th century BC), Helorus (7th century BC) and Kamarina (598 BC). The descendants of

2870-591: The capital of the Byzantine Empire (663–669). Palermo later overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily . Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. In the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica . In the central area,

2952-629: 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

3034-570: The city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there. The patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy ; she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucy's Day , is celebrated on 13 December. Syracuse and its surrounding area have been inhabited since ancient times, as shown by the findings in

3116-454: The city the name of a nearby marsh; hence one gets Syrako (and thereby Syrakousai and other variants) for the name of Syracuse, a name also attested by Epicharmus . The settlement of Syracuse was a planned event , as a strong central leader, Arkhias the aristocrat, laid out how property would be divided up for the settlers, as well as plans for how the streets of the settlement should be arranged, and how wide they should be. The nucleus of

3198-466: The city through the efforts of Paul of Tarsus and Saint Marziano, the first bishop of the city, who made it one of the main centres of proselytism in the West. In the age of Christian persecutions massive catacombs were carved, whose size is second only to those of Rome. After a period of Vandal rule, 469–477, Syracuse and the island was recovered for Italian rule under Odoacer (476–491) and Theodoric

3280-456: The city under the cover of night and managed to scale the walls to get into the outer city and with reinforcements soon took control, killing Archimedes in the process, but the main fortress remained firm. After an eight-month siege and with parleys in progress, an Iberian captain named Moeriscus is believed to have let the Romans in near the Fountains of Arethusa. On the agreed signal, during

3362-526: The city, sending the relics of St. Lucy to Constantinople . The eponymous castle on the cape of Ortygia bears his name, although it was built under the Hohenstaufen rule. In 1085, the Normans entered Syracuse, one of the last Arab strongholds, after a summer-long siege by Roger I of Sicily and his son Jordan of Hauteville , who was given the city as count. New quarters were built, and the cathedral

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3444-435: The cosmos; and following the war, although Cronus and the other Titans were imprisoned, Oceanus certainly seems to have remained free. In Hesiod, Oceanus sends his daughter Styx , with her children Zelus (Envy), Nike (Victory), Cratos (Power), and Bia (Force), to fight on Zeus' side against the Titans, And in the Iliad , Hera says that during the war she was sent to Oceanus and Tethys for safekeeping. Sometime after

3526-448: The end of a long procession of gods and goddesses arriving at the palace of Peleus for the wedding. Oceanus follows a chariot driven by Athena and containing Artemis . Oceanus has bull horns, holds a snake in his left hand and a fish in his right, and has the body of a fish from the waist down. He is closely followed by Tethys and Eileithyia , with Hephaestus following on his mule ending the procession. Oceanus also appears, as part of

3608-415: The finest example of outstanding architectural creation spanning several cultural aspects; Greek , Roman and Baroque ", following on that Ancient Syracuse was "directly linked to events, ideas and literary works of outstanding universal significance". Syracuse is home to association football club A.S.D. Città di Siracusa , the latest reincarnation of several clubs dating back to 1924. The common feature

3690-433: The first colonists, called Gamoroi , held power until they were expelled by the lower class of the city assisted by Cyllyrians, identified as enslaved natives similar in status to the helots of Sparta. The former, however, returned to power in 485 BC, thanks to the help of Gelo , ruler of Gela . Gelo himself became the despot of the city, and moved many inhabitants of Gela, Kamarina and Megara to Syracuse, building

3772-470: The first day of the invasion. This part of the operation went completely according to plan, and British forces captured Syracuse on the first night of the operation. The port was then used as a base for the British Royal Navy . To the west of the city is a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery where about 1,000 men are buried. After the end of the war the northern quarters of Syracuse experienced

3854-511: The gods"): And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of Achelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and Aesepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair stream, and great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and divine Scamander. — Theogony, Hesiod. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914) The following are

3936-473: The great stream encircles the earth, it flows back into itself. Hesiod also calls Oceanus "deep-swirling" ( βαθυδίνης ), while Homer calls him "deep-flowing" ( βαθυρρόου ). Homer says that Oceanus "bounds the Earth", and Oceanus was depicted on the shield of Achilles , encircling its rim, and so also on the shield of Heracles. Both Hesiod and Homer locate Oceanus at the ends of the earth, near Tartarus, in

4018-426: The heatwave was 44.4 °C (111.9 °F), at Naval Air Station Sigonella . Guidi underlines that the reported data by SAIS "is produced directly by the stations and is not subject to any control and validation procedure, neither automatic nor manual. It can therefore report errors due to sensor malfunctions as well as maintenance interventions". In 2016, there were 122,051 people residing in Syracuse, located in

4100-520: The king, imprisoned the philosopher and sold him into slavery (according to some sources). His successor was Dionysius the Younger , who was however expelled by Dion in 356 BC. But the latter's despotic rule led in turn to his expulsion, and Dionysius reclaimed his throne in 347 BC. Dionysius was besieged in Syracuse by the Syracusan general Hicetas in 344 BC. The following year

4182-591: The mainland to Ortygia island was built. In the following year a railway link was constructed. Allied bombings in 1943 caused heavy destruction during World War II . Operation Husky , the codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily , was launched on the night between 9–10 July 1943 with British forces attacking the southeast of the island. The plan was for the British 5th Infantry Division , part of General Sir Bernard Montgomery 's Eighth Army , to capture Syracuse on

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4264-464: The most famous Syracusan, the mathematician and natural philosopher Archimedes . Among his many inventions were various military engines including the claw of Archimedes , later used to resist the Roman siege of 214–212 BC. Literary figures included Theocritus and others. Hiero's successor, the young Hieronymus (ruled from 215 BC), broke the alliance with the Romans after their defeat at

4346-463: The new quarters of Tyche and Neapolis outside the walls. His program of new constructions included a new theatre, designed by Damocopos , which gave the city a flourishing cultural life: this in turn attracted personalities as Aeschylus , Ario of Methymna and Eumelos of Corinth. The enlarged power of Syracuse made unavoidable the clash against the Carthaginians , who ruled western Sicily. In

4428-564: The new ruler Zeus, and so avoid making his situation any worse. But Prometheus replies: "I envy you because you have escaped blame for having dared to share with me in my troubles." According to Pherecydes , while Heracles was travelling in Helios 's golden cup, on his way to Erytheia to fetch the cattle of Geryon , Oceanus challenged Heracles by sending high waves rocking the cup, but Heracles threatened to shoot Oceanus with his bow, and Oceanus in fear stopped. Although sometimes treated as

4510-537: The order of the wedding guests on these two vases, as well as on the fragments a second Sophilos vase (Athens Akr 587), suggests the possibility of a literary source. Oceanus is depicted (labeled) as one of the gods fighting the Giants in the Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC Pergamon Altar . Oceanus stands half nude, facing right, battling a giant falling to the right. Nearby Oceanus are fragments of

4592-474: The origin of the name is that the Phoenicians called it Sour-ha-Koussim, which means "Stone of the seagulls" from which would come the name of Syracuse. However, this etymology does not account for the name variant Συρακώ Syrakō . Another possible origin of the city's name was given by Vibius Sequester citing first Stephanus Byzantius in that there was a Syracusian marsh ( λίμνη ) called Syrako and secondly Marcian's Periegesis wherein Archias gave

4674-453: The palaces of Abela , Chiaramonte , Nava, Montalto. The city was struck by two ruinous earthquakes in 1542 and 1693 , and a plague in 1729. The 17th century destruction changed the appearance of Syracuse forever, as well as the entire Val di Noto , whose cities were rebuilt along the typical lines of Sicilian Baroque , considered one of the most typical expressions of the architecture of Southern Italy. The spread of cholera in 1837 led to

4756-412: The parents of Oceanus and Tethys, and Oceanus and Tethys are the parents of Cronus and Rhea and the other Titans, as well as Phorcys . In his Cratylus , Plato quotes Orpheus as saying that Oceanus and Tethys were "the first to marry", possibly also reflecting an Orphic theogony in which Oceanus and Tethys, rather than Uranus and Gaia, were the primeval parents. Plato's apparent inclusion of Phorcys as

4838-400: The personification of the sea. However elsewhere the distinction between fresh and salt water seems not to apply. For example, in Hesiod Nereus and Thaumus , both sons of Pontus, marry daughters of Oceanus, and in Homer (who makes no mention of Pontus), Thetis , the daughter of Nereus, and Eurynome the daughter of Oceanus, live together. In any case, Oceanus can also to be identified with

4920-462: The population of Syracuse declined by 0.5 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.6 percent. The reason for decline is a population flight to the suburbs, and northern Italy . The current birth rate of Syracuse is 9.75 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births. As of 2006 , 97.9% of the population was of Italian descent. The largest immigrant group came from other European nations (particularly those from Poland, and

5002-426: The province of Syracuse, Sicily , of whom 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 18.9 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 16.9 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.1 percent (minors) and 19.9 percent (pensioners). The average age of Syracuse resident is 40 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007,

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5084-461: The river gods, Oceanus the river was said to be the source of all other rivers, and in fact all sources of water, both salt and fresh. According to Homer, from Oceanus "all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and deep wells". Being the source of rivers and springs would seem logically to require that Oceanus was himself a freshwater river, and so different from the salt sea, and in fact Hesiod seems to distinguish between Oceanus and Pontus ,

5166-422: The rule of Epirus, Hiero II seized power in 275 BC. Hiero inaugurated a period of 50 years of peace and prosperity, in which Syracuse became one of the most renowned capitals of Antiquity. He issued the so-called Lex Hieronica , which was later adopted by the Romans for their administration of Sicily; he also had the theatre enlarged and a new immense altar , the "Hiero's Ara", built. Under his rule lived

5248-412: The sea. The concept of the surrounding Ocean, as expressed by Homer and Hesiod, remained in common use throughout antiquity. The Roman geographer Pomponius Mela said that the inhabited earth ‘is entirely surrounded by the Ocean, from which it receives four seas’. These four seas were the Caspian Sea , the Persian Gulf , the Arabian Gulf , and the Mediterranean Sea . However increasing knowledge of

5330-498: The seas led to modifications in this view. The Greek geographer Ptolemy identified various different oceans. One of these, the Western Ocean (the Atlantic Ocean ) was often called simply ‘the Ocean’, for instance by Julius Caesar . Oceanus is represented, identified by inscription, as part of an illustration of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis on the early sixth century BC Attic black-figure "Erskine" dinos by Sophilos ( British Museum 1971.111–1.1). Oceanus appears near

5412-410: The sons of Oceanus and Tethys: Oceanus Many Oceanids including: In Greek mythology , Oceanus ( / oʊ ˈ s iː ə n ə s / oh- SEE -ə-nəs ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ὠκεανός [ɔːke.anós] , also Ὠγενός [ɔːɡenós] , Ὤγενος [ɔ̌ːɡenos] , or Ὠγήν [ɔːɡɛ̌ːn] ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia , the husband of his sister

5494-461: The villages of Stentinello, Ognina, Plemmirio, Matrensa, Cozzo Pantano and Thapsos , which already had a relationship with Mycenaean Greece . Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC in Sicily by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea , led by the oecist (colonizer) Archias . There are many attested variants of the name of the city including Συράκουσαι Syrakousai , Συράκοσαι Syrakosai and Συρακώ Syrakō . One observation cited for

5576-411: The walls. The complete population of its territory approximately numbered 250,000 in 415 BC and the population size of the city itself was probably similar to Athens. Gelo was succeeded by his brother Hiero , who fought against the Etruscans at Cumae in 474 BC. His rule was eulogized by poets like Simonides of Ceos , Bacchylides and Pindar , who visited his court. A democratic regime

5658-498: The war, Aeschylus ' Prometheus Bound , has Oceanus visit his nephew the enchained Prometheus , who is being punished by Zeus for his theft of fire. Oceanus arrives riding a winged steed, saying that he is sympathetic to Prometheus' plight and wishes to help him if he can. But Prometheus mocks Oceanus, asking him: "How did you summon courage to quit the stream that bears your name and the rock-roofed caves you yourself have made ..." Oceanus advises Prometheus to humble himself before

5740-436: The war, to defeat the Athenians, destroy their ships, and leave them to starve on the island (see Sicilian Expedition ). In 401 BC, Syracuse contributed a force of 300 hoplites and a general to Cyrus the Younger 's Army of the Ten Thousand . Then in the early 4th century BC, the tyrant Dionysius the Elder was again at war against Carthage and, although losing Gela and Camarina, kept that power from capturing

5822-425: The whole of Sicily. After the end of the conflict Dionysius built a massive fortress on Ortygia and 22 km-long walls around all of Syracuse. Another period of expansion saw the destruction of Naxos , Catania and Lentini ; then Syracuse entered again in war against Carthage (397 BC). After various changes of fortune, the Carthaginians managed to besiege Syracuse itself, but were eventually pushed back by

5904-544: The wife of Pallas and mother of Zelus , Nike , Kratos , and Bia . According to Epimenides ' Theogony , Oceanus was the father, by Gaia , of the Harpies . Oceanus was also said to be the father, by Gaia, of Triptolemus . Nonnus , in his poem Dionysiaca , described "the lakes" as "liquid daughters cut off from Oceanos". He was said to have fathered the Cercopes on one of his daughters, Theia . Passages in

5986-574: Was besieged by the Aghlabids for almost a year in 827–828, but Byzantine reinforcements prevented its fall. It remained the center of Byzantine resistance to the gradual Muslim conquest of Sicily until it fell to the Aghlabids after another siege on 20/21 May 878. During the two centuries of Muslim rule, the capital of the Emirate of Sicily was moved from Syracuse to Palermo . The cathedral

6068-463: Was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia , of which it was the most important city. Described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and the Byzantine Empire . Under Emperor Constans II , it served as

6150-556: Was by her the father of numerous sons, the river gods and numerous daughters, the Oceanids . According to Hesiod, there were three thousand (i.e. innumerable) river gods. These included: Achelous , the god of the Achelous River , the largest river in Greece, who gave his daughter in marriage to Alcmaeon and was defeated by Heracles in a wrestling contest for the right to marry Deianira ; Alpheus , who fell in love with

6232-517: 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 believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water, including

6314-487: Was converted into a mosque and the quarter on the Ortygia island was gradually rebuilt along Islamic styles. The city, nevertheless, maintained important trade relationships, and housed a relatively flourishing cultural and artistic life: several Arab poets, including Ibn Hamdis , the most important Sicilian Arab poet of the 12th century, flourished in the city. In 1038, the Byzantine general George Maniakes reconquered

6396-463: Was eventually defeated in Africa as well. The war ended with another treaty of peace which did not prevent the Carthaginians from interfering in the politics of Syracuse after the death of Agathocles (289 BC). They laid siege to Syracuse for the fourth and last time in 278 BC. They retreated at the arrival of king Pyrrhus of Epirus , whom Syracuse had asked for help. After a brief period under

6478-605: Was introduced by Thrasybulos (467 BC). The city continued to expand in Sicily , fighting against the rebellious Siculi , and on the Tyrrhenian Sea , making expeditions up to Corsica and Elba . In the late 5th century BC, Syracuse found itself at war with Athens , which sought more resources to fight the Peloponnesian War . The Syracusans enlisted the aid of a general from Sparta , Athens' foe in

6560-601: 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 Avienius ' Ora maritima , was applied to great lakes. Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse ( / ˈ s aɪ r ə k juː s , - k juː z / SY -rə-kewss, -⁠kewz ; Italian : Siracusa [siraˈkuːza] ; Sicilian : Saragusa [saɾaˈuːsa] )

6642-797: Was registered in Floridia , near Syracuse by the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service (SAIS) on 11 August 2021, and is recognized by the World Meteorological Organization as the official record highest temperature in Europe . Guido Guidi, lieutenant colonel of the Italian Meteorological Service , however, had stated the highest temperature registered in the organizations' stations during

6724-582: Was restored, as well as other churches. In 1194, Emperor Henry VI occupied the Sicilian kingdom, including Syracuse. After a short period of Genoese rule (1205–1220) under the notorious admiral and pirate Alamanno da Costa , which favoured a rise of trades, royal authority was re-asserted in the city by Frederick II . He began the construction of the Castello Maniace , the Bishops' Palace and

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