exports are valued at 10 to 11 millions sterling annually, and the imports at 6 to 9 millions sterling, about 812% of all the imports into Russia. Grain, and especially wheat, is the chief article of export. The chief imports are raw cotton, iron, agricultural machinery, coal, chemicals, jute, copra and lead. A new and spacious harbour, especially for the petroleum trade, was constructed in 1894–1900.
History.—The bay of Odessa was colonized by Greeks at a very early period, and their ports—Istrianorum Partus and Isiacorum Portus on the shores of the bay, and Odessus at the mouth of the Tiligul liman—carried on a lively trade with the neighbouring steppes. These towns disappeared in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and for ten centuries no settlements in these tracts are mentioned. In the 14th century this region belonged to the Lithuanians, and in 1396 Olgerd, prince of Lithuania, defeated in battle three Tatar chiefs, one of whom, Khaji Beg or Bey, had recently founded, at the place now occupied by Odessa, a fort which received his name. The Lithuanians, and subsequently the Poles, kept the country under their dominion until the 16th century, when it was seized by the Tatars, who still permitted, however, the Lithuanians to gather salt in the neighbouring lakes. Later on the Turks left a garrison here, and founded in 1764 the fortress Yani-dunya. In 1789 the Russians, under the French captain de Ribas, took the fortress by assault. In 1791 Khaji-bey and the Ochakov region were ceded to Russia. De Ribas and the French engineer Voland were entrusted in 1794 with the erection of a town and the construction of a port at Khaji-bey. In 1803 Odessa became the chief town of a separate municipal district or captaincy, the first captain being Armand, duc de Richelieu, who did very much for the development of the young city and its improvement as a seaport. In 1824 Odessa became the seat of the governors-general of Novorossia and Bessarabia. In 1866 it was brought into railway connexion with Kiev and Kharkov via Balta, and with Jassy in Rumania. In 1854 it was unsuccessfully attacked by the Anglo-Russian fleet, and in 1876–1877 by the Turkish, also unsuccessfully. In 1905–1906 the city was the scene of violent revolutionary disorders, marked by a naval insurrection. (P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)
ODEUM (Gr. Odeion), the name given to a concert hall in
ancient Greece. In a general way its construction was similar to
that of a theatre, but it was only a quarter of the size and was
provided with a roof for acoustic purposes, a characteristic
difference. The oldest known Odeum in Greece was the Skias
at Sparta, so called from its resemblance to the top of a parasol,
said to have been erected by Theodorus of Samos (600 B.C.);
in Athens an Odeum near the spring Enneacrunus on the Ilissus
was referred to the age of Peisistratus, and appears to have been
rebuilt or restored by Lycurgus (c. 330 B.C.). This is probably
the building which, according to Aristophanes (Wasps, 1109),
was used for judicial purposes, for the distribution of corn,
and even for the billeting of soldiers. The building which served
as a model for later similar constructions was the Odeum of
Pericles (completed c. 445) on the south-eastern slope of the rock
of the Acropolis, whose conical roof, a supposed imitation of the
tent of Xerxes, was made of the masts of captured Persian ships.
It was destroyed by Aristion, the so-called tyrant of Athens,
at the time of the rising against Sulla (87), and rebuilt by Ariobarzanes II.,
king of Cappadocia (Appian, Mithrid. 38). The
most magnificent example of its kind, however, was the Odeum
built on the south-west cliff of the Acropolis at Athens about
A.D. 160 by the wealthy sophist and rhetorician Herodes Atticus
in memory of his wife, considerable remains of which are still
to be seen. It had accommodation for 8000 persons, and the
ceiling was constructed of beautifully carved beams of cedar
wood, probably with an open space in the centre to admit
the light. It was also profusely decorated with pictures
and other works of art. Similar buildings also existed in
other parts of Greece; at Corinth, also the gift of Herodes
Atticus; at Patrae, where there was a famous statue of
Apollo; at Smyrna, Tralles, and other towns in Asia Minor.
The first Odeum in Rome was built by Domitian, a second by Trajan.
ODILIENBERG, or Ottilienberg (called Allitona in the 8th
century), a peak of the Vosges Mountains in Germany, in the
imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine, immediately W. of the town
of Barr. Its crest (2500 ft.) is surmounted by the ruins of the
ancient Roman wall, the Heidenmauer, and by the convent and
church of St Odilia, or Ottilia, the patron saint of Alsace, whose
remains rest within. It is thus the object of frequent pilgrimages.
The convent is said to have been founded by Duke Eticho I.,
in honour of his daughter St Odilia, about the end of the 7th
century, and it is certain that it existed at the time of Charlemagne.
Destroyed during the wars of the middle ages, it was
rebuilt by the Premonstrants at the beginning of the 17th century,
and was acquired later by the bishop of Strassburg, who restored
the building and the adjoining church, in 1853. Since 1899
the convent has contained a museum of antiquities.
See Reinhard, Le Mont Ste Odile (Strassburg, 1888); Pfister, Le Duché mérovingien d’Alsace et la légende de Sainte Odile (Nancy, 1892); and R. Forrer, Der Odilienberg (Strassburg, 1899).
ODIN, or Othin (O. Norse Óðinn), the chief god of the Northern
pantheon. He is represented as an old man with one eye.
Frigg is his wife, and several of the gods, including Thor and
Balder, are his sons. He is also said to have been the father of
several legendary kings, and more than one princely family
claimed descent from him. His exploits and adventures form
the theme of a number of the Eddaic poems, and also of several
stories in the prose Edda. In all these stories his character is
distinguished rather by wisdom and cunning than by martial
prowess, and reference is very frequently made to his skill in
poetry and magic. In Ynglinga Saga he is represented as reigning
in Sweden, where he established laws for his people. In notices
relating to religious observances Odin appears chiefly as the
giver of victory or as the god of the dead. He is frequently
introduced in legendary sagas, generally in disguise, imparting
secret instructions to his favourites or presenting them with
weapons by which victory is assured. In return he receives
the souls of the slain who in his palace, Valhalla (q.v.), live a
life of fighting and feasting, similar to that which has been their
desire on earth. Human sacrifices were very frequently offered
to Odin, especially prisoners taken in battle. The commonest
method of sacrifice was by hanging the victim on a tree; and
in the poem Hávamál the god himself is represented as sacrificed
in this way. The worship of Odin seems to have prevailed
chiefly, if not solely, in military circles, i.e. among princely
families and the retinues of warriors attached to them. It is
probable, however, that the worship of Odin was once common to
most of the Teutonic peoples. To the Anglo-Saxons he was
known as Woden (q.v.) and to the Germans as Wodan (Wuotan),
which are the regular forms of the same name in those languages.
It is largely owing to the peculiar character of this god and the
prominent position which he occupies that the mythology of
the north presents so striking a contrast to that of Greece.
See Teutonic Peoples, ad fin.; and Woden. (H. M. C.)
ODO, or Eudes (d. c. 736), king, or duke, of Aquitaine, obtained this dignity about 715, and his territory included the south-western
part of Gaul from the Loire to the Pyrenees. In 718
he appears as the ally of Chilperic II., king of Neustria, who was
fighting against the Austrasian mayor of the palace, Charles
Martel; but after the defeat of Chilperic at Soissons in 719 he
probably made peace with Charles by surrendering to him the
Neustrian king and his treasures. Odo was also obliged to fight
the Saracens who invaded the southern part of his kingdom,
and inflicted a severe defeat upon them at Toulouse in 721.
When, however, he was again attacked by Charles Martel, the
Saracens renewed their ravages, and Odo was defeated near
Bordeaux; he was compelled to crave protection from Charles,
who took up this struggle and gained his momentous victory
at Poitiers in 732. In 735 the king abdicated, and was succeeded
by his son Hunold.
ODO, or Eudes (d. 898), king of the Franks, was a son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou (d. 866), and is sometimes referred to as duke of France and also as count of Paris. For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of the Normans
