Hyperborea
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thumb|upright=1.25|An arctic continent on the Gerardus Mercator map of 1595.In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the god of the north wind). Some scholars prefer a derivation from (hyperpherō, "to carry over").
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- Image
- The north polar inset map (actual size 7 cm in diameter) presents mythical lands including a central continent of Hyperborea.jpg
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~19 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Early sources
- Herodotus
- Location
- Later classical sources
- Ancient identification with Britain
- Legends
- Hyperboreans in Delos
- Abaris the Hyperborean
- Physical appearance
- Celts as Hyperboreans
- Identification as Hyperboreans
- Hyperborean Indo-European hypothesis
- In modern esoteric thought
- Modern interpretations
- Bronze Age origins
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
thumb|upright=1.25|An arctic continent on the Gerardus Mercator map of 1595.In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the god of the north wind). Some scholars prefer a derivation from (hyperpherō, "to carry over").
Despite their location in an otherwise frigid part of the world, the Hyperboreans were believed to inhabit a sunny, temperate, and divinely blessed land. In many versions of the story, they lived north of the Riphean Mountains, which shielded them from the effects of the cold north wind. The oldest myths portray them as the favorites of Apollo, and some ancient Greek writers regarded the Hyperboreans as the mythical founders of Apollo's shrines at Delos and Delphi.