chiefly in connexion with the buildings outside the Altis. The
drainage of the Altis followed two main lines. One, for the west
part, passed from the south-west angle of the Heraeum to the south
portico outside the south Altis wall. The other, which served for the
treasure-houses, passed in front of the Porch of Echo parallel with
the line of the east Altis wall.
See the official Die Ausgrabungen zu Olympia (5 vols., 1875–1881); Laloux and Monceaux, Restauration de l’Olympie (1889); Curtius and Adler, Olympia die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen (1890–1897), I. “Topographie und Geschichte,” II. “Baudenkmäler,” III. “Bildwerke in Stein und Thon” (Treu), IV. “Bronzen” (Furtwängler), V. “Inschriften” (Dittenberger and Purgold). (R. C. J.; E. Gr.)
OLYMPIA, the capital of the state of Washington, U.S.A., and the county-seat of Thurston county, on the Des Chutes
river and Budd’s Inlet, at the head of Puget Sound, about 50 m.
S.S.W. of Seattle. Pop. (1890) 4698; (1900) 3863, of whom
591 were foreign-born; (state estimate, 1905) 8000. It is
served by the Northern Pacific and the Port Townsend Southern
railways, and by steamboat lines to other ports on the Sound
and along the Pacific coast. Budd’s Inlet is spanned here by a
wagon bridge and a railway bridge. Among the prominent
buildings are the Capitol, which is constructed of native sandstone
and stands in a park of considerable beauty, the county
court-house, St Peter’s hospital, the governor’s mansion and
the city hall. The state library is housed in the Capitol. At
Tumwater, the oldest settlement (1845) on Puget Sound, about
2 m. S. of Olympia, are the Tumwater Falls of the Des Chutes,
which provide good water power. The city’s chief industry is
the cutting, sawing and dressing of lumber obtained from the
neighbouring forests. Olympia oysters are widely known in
the Pacific coast region; they are obtained chiefly from
Oyster Bay, Skookum Bay, North Bay and South Bay, all
near Olympia. Olympia was laid out in 1851, became the
capital of Washington in 1853, and was chartered as a city
in 1859.
OLYMPIAD, in Greek chronology, a period of four years, used as a method of dating for literary purposes, but never adopted in every-day life. The four years were reckoned from one celebration of the Olympian games to another, the first Olympiad beginning with 776 B.C., the year of Coroebus, the first victor in the games after their suspension for 86 years, the last with A.D. 394, when they were finally abolished during the reign of
Theodosius the Great. The system was first regularly used by
the Sicilian historian Timaeus (352–256 B.C.).
OLYMPIAS, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, wife of Philip II. of Macedon, and mother of Alexander the Great. Her father claimed descent from Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. It is said that Philip fell in love with her in Samothrace, where they were both being initiated into the mysteries (Plutarch, Alexander, 2). The marriage took place in 359 B.C., shortly after Philip’s accession, and Alexander was born in 356. The fickleness of Philip and the jealous temper of Olympias led to a growing estrangement, which became complete when Philip married a new wife, Cleopatra, in 337. Alexander, who sided with his mother, withdrew, along with her, into Epirus, whence they both returned in the following year, after the assassination of Philip, which Olympias is said to have countenanced. During the absence of Alexander, with whom she regularly corresponded on public as well as domestic affairs, she had great influence, and by her arrogance and ambition caused such trouble to the regent Antipater that on Alexander’s death (323) she found it prudent to withdraw into Epirus. Here she remained until 317, when, allying herself with Polyperchon, by whom her old enemy had been succeeded in 319, she took the field with an Epirote army; the opposing troops at once declared in her favour, and for a short period Olympias was mistress of Macedonia. Cassander, Antipater’s son, hastened from Peloponnesus, and, after an obstinate siege, compelled the surrender of Pydna, where she had taken refuge. One of the terms of the capitulation had been that her life should be spared; but in spite of this she was brought to trial for the numerous and cruel executions of which she had been guilty during her short lease of power. Condemned without a hearing, she was put to death (316) by the friends of those whom she had slain, and Cassander is said to have denied her remains the rites of burial.
See Plutarch, Alexander, 9, 39, 68; Justin, vii. 6, ix. 7, xiv. 5, 6; Arrian, Anab. vii. 12; Diod. Sic. xviii. 49-65, xix. 11-51; also the articles Alexander III. the Great and Macedonian Empire.
OLYMPIODORUS, the name of several Greek authors, of whom the following are the most important, (1) An historical writer (5th century A.D.), born at Thebes in Egypt, who was sent on a mission to Attila by the emperor Honorius in 412, and later lived at the court of Theodosius. He was the author of a history (Ἱστορικοὶ Λόγοι.) in 22 books of the Western Empire from 407 to 425. The original is lost, but an abstract is given by Photius, according to whom he was an alchemist (ποιητής). A MS. treatise on alchemy, reputed to be by him, is preserved in the National Library in Paris, and was printed with a translation by P. E. M. Berthelot in his Collection des alchimistes grecs (1887–1888). (2) A Peripatetic philosopher (5th century A.D.), an elder contemporary of Proclus. He lived at Alexandria and lectured on Aristotle with considerable success. His best-known pupil was Proclus, to whom he wished to betroth his daughter. (3) A Neoplatonist philosopher, also of Alexandria, who flourished in the 6th century of our era, during the reign of Justinian. He was, therefore, a younger contemporary of Damascius, and seems to have carried on the Platonic tradition after the closing of the Athenian School in 529, at a time when the old pagan philosophy was at its last ebb. His philosophy is in close conformity with that of Damascius, and, apart from great lucidity of expression, shows no striking features. He is, however, important as a critic and a commentator, and preserved much that was valuable in the writings of Iamblichus, Damascius and Syrianus. He made a close and intelligent study of the dialogues of Plato, and his notes, formulated and collected by his pupils (ἀπὸ φωνῆς Ὀλυμπιοδώρου τοῦ μεγάλου φιλοσόφου), are extremely valuable. In one of his commentaries he makes the interesting statement that the Platonic succession had not been interrupted by the numerous confiscations it had suffered. Zeller points out that this refers to the Alexandrian, not to the Athenian, succession; but internal evidence makes it clear that he does not draw a hard line of demarcation between the two schools. The works which have been preserved are a life of Plato, an attack on Strato and Scholia on the Phaedo, Alcibiades I., Philebus and Gorgias. (4) An Aristotelian who wrote a commentary on the Meteorologica of Aristotle. He also lived at Alexandria in the 6th century, and from a reference in his work to a comet must have lived after A.D. 564. But Zeller (iii. 2, p. 582, n. 1) maintains that he is identical with the commentator on Plato (2, above) in spite of the late date of his death. His work, like that of Simplicius, endeavours to reconcile Plato and Aristotle, and refers to Proclus with reverence. The commentary was printed by the Aldine Press at Venice about 1550.
OLYMPUS, the name of many mountains in Greece and Asia Minor, and of the fabled home of the gods, and also a city name and a personal name.
I. Of the mountains bearing the name the most famous is the lofty ridge on the borders of Thessaly and Macedonia. The river Peneus, which drains Thessaly, finds its way to the sea through the great gorge of Tempe, which is close below the south-eastern end of Olympus and separates it from Mount Ossa. The highest peak of Olympus is nearly 10,000 ft. high; it is covered with snow for great part of the year. Olympus is a mountain of massive appearance, in many places rising in tremendous precipices broken by vast ravines, above which is the broad summit. The lower parts are densely wooded; the summit is naked rock. Homer calls the mountain ἀγάννιφος, μακρός, πολυδειράς: the epithets νιφοείς, πολύδενδρος, frondosus and opacus are used by other poets. The modern name is Ἔλυμπο, a dialectic form of the ancient word.
The peak of Mount Lycaeus in the south-west of Arcadia was called Olympus. East of Olympia, on the north bank of the Alpheus, was a hill bearing this name; beside Sellasia in Laconia another. The name was even commoner in Asia
