OEDIPUS 



4344 



OGDEN 



The Odyssey, like the Iliad, is in twenty-four 

 books. Though, like the other great epic, it is 

 attributed to Homer, the same question as to 

 its real authorship exists. By many scholars it 

 is believed that the Odyssey is an outgrowth of 

 the tales of early navigators who dared the 

 dangers of the Mediterranean, though it is by 

 no means certain that it has even that basis in 

 history. However that may be, it remains one 

 of the world's great classics, and a tale of ab- 

 sorbing interest to those who love to read of 

 adventure. A.MC c. 



There have been no notable popular transla- 

 tions of the Od.i/sso/ within recent years. Proba- 

 bly the best is Hayman's, published in 1882, 

 although any bookstore can furnish acceptable 

 translations for the general reader. 



Related Subject**. The reader who is inter- 

 ested in the Odvsscy will find the following arti- 

 cles in these volumes very helpful to him : 

 Calypso Penelope 



Circe Polyphemus 



Epic Troy 



Homer Ulysses 



Iliad 



OEDIPUS, cd'ipus, a most unfortunate hero 

 of Greek legend. Because it was foretold that 

 the son of Laius, king of Thebes, should kill 

 his father, marry his mother and bring trouble 

 on his native city, the father ordered his child 

 to be exposed in an open place. The servant 

 appointed tied the infant's ankles together and 

 fastened him to a tree, feeling sure that hunger 

 or the wild beasts would soon end his life. A 

 shepherd of King Polybus of Corinth, however, 

 found the boy and carried him to Polybus, who 

 adopted him as his own son, calling him Oedi- 

 pus (meaning swollen foot). Years later an 

 oracle repeated the prophecy of disaster, of 

 which Oedipus had up to that time known 

 nothing; and to avoid being led into such 

 crimes, Oedipus left Corinth and the foster- 

 parents whom he thought his real father and 

 mother. As he wandered along the road to 

 Thebes he met King Laius, whom, after a hasty 

 quarrel, he killed with his attendants, never 

 suspecting that, the old man was the king of 

 Thebes. Having guessed the riddle of the 

 Sphinx, Oedipus was given the promised reward 

 the throne of Thebes, with Queen Jocasta as 

 a wife. Thus he had fulfilled two parts of the 

 prophecy. 



For some time the king and queen lived hap- 

 pily together, and four children, Eteocles, Poly- 

 nices, Antigone and Ismene, were born to them. 

 Then a plague came upon Thebes, and the 

 oracles when consulted declared that it should 

 cease only when the murderer of King Laius 



was sought and punished. Gradually the whole 

 pitiful story was disclosed and Jocasta, in de- 

 spair, hung herself, while Oedipus put out his 

 eyes that he might look upon no more horror. 

 Then he wandered forth, with Antigone for his 

 only companion, and together they journeyed 

 until they come to Colonus. Here Oedipus 

 bade his daughter farewell and entered a 

 gloomy forest which was sacred to the Furies. 

 As he never reappeared, it was believed that 

 these deities had carried him away. Sophocles's 

 Oedipus Tyrannus and Oedipus at Colonus deal 

 with the story of this most unfortunate of kings. 

 OG'DEN, UTAH, the county seat of Weber 

 County, and, next to Salt Lake City, the 

 largest city in the state, is an important rail- 

 way and distributing center, sixteen miles east 

 of Great Salt Lake and thirty-six miles north 

 of Salt Lake City. It is at the junction of the 

 Weber and Ogden rivers and is on the Denver 

 & Rio Grande, the Oregon Short Line, the 

 Southern Pacific and the Union Pacific rail- 

 roads, and is also served by electric lines to 

 Salt Lake City and other places. The popula- 

 tion, which in 1910 was 25,580, was 31,404 (Fed- 

 eral estimate) in 1916. 



Ogden occupies an area of nearly seventeen 

 square miles, and lies at the foot of the Wa- 

 satch Mountains. Several deep canyons of pic- 

 turesque beauty are near the city and attract 

 many visitors. The falls of Weber River gener- 

 ate electricity for light; heat and power in Og- 

 den and Salt Lake City. Prominent buildings 

 are the county courthouse, the city hall, the 

 Federal building, constructed at a cost of $200,- 

 000, the Forestry building, Carnegie Library, 

 Masonic Temple, Elks' Home, Dee Hospital 

 and several fine churches. Ogden is the seat of 

 Weber Stake Academy (Mormon), of Sacred 

 Heart Academy (Roman Catholic), of state 

 institutions for the deaf, dumb and blind and 

 of the state industrial school (reformatory). 

 There are four small, attractive parks. 



Ogden is a wholesale center and, with Salt 

 Lake City, supplies Utah, Eastern Nevada, 

 Western Wyoming and several sections of 

 Idaho and Montana with groceries, hardware 

 and dry goods. The pay roll, in Ogden, of the 

 railroads entering the city is about $3,600,000 

 annually. The industries are supported by a 

 rich agricultural and sheep and cattle country 

 and consist in meat packing, with an output 

 worth $2,500,000 a year, the manufacture of 

 beet sugar, cans, overalls, shirts, cement, 

 brooms, cereals and evaporated fruits, and the 

 canning of fruits and vegetables. In 1916 rich 



