Oestriminis
Encyclopedia
In Latin poetry Oestreminis ("Extreme West") was a name given to the territory of what is today modern Portugal
, comparable to Finis terrae
, the "end of the earth" from a Mediterranean perspective. Its inhabitants were named Oestrimni from their location.
The fourth century CE Roman poet on geographical subjects, Rufus Avienus Festus
, in Ora Maritima ("Seacoasts"), a poem inspired by a much earlier Greek mariners' periplus
, records that Oestriminis was peopled by the Oestrimni, a people that had lived there for a long time, who had to run away from their native lands after an invasion of serpents
. His fanciful account has no archeological or historical application, but the poetical name has sometimes been ambitiously applied to popularized accounts of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Atlantic Iberia.
The expulsion of the Oestrimni, from Ora Maritima:
The "serpent people" of the semi-mythical Ophiussa
in the far west are noted in ancient Greek sources.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, comparable to Finis terrae
Ends of the Earth
Ends of the Earth may refer to:* Ends of the Earth, another way of referring to the extreme points of Earth* Ends of the Earth , a Wonder Woman storyline* "Ends of the Earth," a song by Dirty Three from their 1998 album Ocean Songs...
, the "end of the earth" from a Mediterranean perspective. Its inhabitants were named Oestrimni from their location.
The fourth century CE Roman poet on geographical subjects, Rufus Avienus Festus
Avienus
Avienus was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. According to an inscription from Bulla Regia, his full name was Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius.He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi...
, in Ora Maritima ("Seacoasts"), a poem inspired by a much earlier Greek mariners' periplus
Massaliote Periplus
The Massaliote Periplus or Massaliot Periplus is the name of a now-lost merchants' handbook possibly dating to as early as the 6th century BC describing the sea routes used by traders from Phoenicia and Tartessus in their journeys around Iron Age Europe...
, records that Oestriminis was peopled by the Oestrimni, a people that had lived there for a long time, who had to run away from their native lands after an invasion of serpents
Serpent (symbolism)
Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...
. His fanciful account has no archeological or historical application, but the poetical name has sometimes been ambitiously applied to popularized accounts of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Atlantic Iberia.
The expulsion of the Oestrimni, from Ora Maritima:
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The "serpent people" of the semi-mythical Ophiussa
Ophiussa
Ophiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the ancient Greeks to what is now Portuguese territory near the mouth of the river Tagus...
in the far west are noted in ancient Greek sources.
See also
- LusitaniaLusitaniaLusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
- Lusitanian mythologyLusitanian mythologyLusitanian mythology is the mythology of the Lusitanians, the Indo-European people of western Iberia, in the territory comprising most of modern Portugal, Extremadura and a small part of Salamanca....
- History of PortugalHistory of PortugalThe history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and...
- Timeline of Iberian prehistory
- Timeline of pre-Roman Iberian historyTimeline of pre-Roman Iberian historyThis section of the timeline of Iberian history concerns events from before the Carthaginian conquests .-Bronze Age:*2nd millennium BC** c. 1800 BC – The El Argar civilization appears in Almería, south-east of Spain, replacing the earlier civilization of Los Millares. The adoption of bronze...
External links
- Ora Maritima (in Latin)
- Culto a la serpiente en el mundo Antiguo Serpent cult in the Ancient Word (in Spanish)
- Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)