Hyperborea - ( other Greek Ὑπερβορεία - “beyond Boreas ”, “behind the north wind”) is a legendary northern country in ancient Greek mythology and inheriting its tradition, the habitat of the people of Hyperboreans . In historical science, the myth of the Hyperboreans is considered a special case of utopian ideas about marginal peoples, characteristic of various cultures , devoid of a specific historical background.
In modern and modern times, in occultism , the theosophy of Helena Blavatsky and among supporters of the Aryan myth , the pseudo -scientific idea of Hyperborea as the ancestral home of modern humanity, the " white ", " Aryan " or " Nordic race " . Various modern authors localize Hyperborea in Greenland , near the Ural Mountains , on the Kola Peninsula , in Karelia , on the Taimyr Peninsula ; it has been suggested that Hyperborea was located on the now sunken island (or mainland)Arctic Ocean .
Title
In ancient sources, various versions of the origin of the Hyperboreans are given. According to Ferenik , the Hyperboreans grew out of the blood of the most ancient titans . According to Phanodemus , they got their name from a certain Athenian Hyperborea. Philostephan says that Hyperborea was a Thessalian , and others derive them from the Pelasgian Hyperborea son of Phoroneus and Perimela daughter of Aeolus. The Hyperboreans were mentioned in the poem of Simius of Rhodes "Apollo". According to Mnasey of Patras, they are now calleddolphins .
Among the supporters of the Aryan myth, the terms Hyperborea , North , Northern ancestral home are most often used , less often Arctida , Arctogea.
Ancient myth
The Hyperboreans, along with the Ethiopians , the Phaeacians , and the Lotus- eaters , are among the peoples close to the gods and loved by them. Just like their patron Apollo, the Hyperboreans are artistically gifted. The blissful life is accompanied by the Hyperboreans with songs, dances, music and feasts; eternal joy and reverent prayers are characteristic of this people - the priests and servants of Apollo . Hercules brought the olive from the Hyperboreans at the source of the Istra to Olympia . Even death comes to the Hyperboreans as deliverance from satiety with life, and they, having experienced all the pleasures, throw themselves into the sea. At the desire to start living again, they can be reborn after death.
According to Diodorus Siculus , the Hyperboreans in hymns incessantly sing of Apollo when he comes to them every 19 years. And Apollo himself from time to time goes to the country of the Hyperboreans, on a chariot drawn by swans, in order to return to Delphi at the appointed time of the summer heat (this is mentioned by Alkey in the hymn to Apollo).
A number of legends are associated with the Hyperboreans bringing the first harvest to the island of Delos to Apollo: after the girls sent with gifts did not return from Delos (stayed there or were subjected to violence), the Hyperboreans began to leave gifts on the border of a neighboring country, from where they were gradually transferred by other peoples , all the way to Delos.
The ancient Roman scientist Plinius Maior in his Natural History wrote the following about the Hyperboreans:
The sages and servants of Apollo Abaris and Aristaeus , who taught the Greeks, were considered to come from the country of the Hyperboreans . These heroes are considered as the hypostasis of Apollo, since they possessed the ancient fetishistic symbols of God (the arrow, raven and laurel of Apollo with their miraculous power), as well as taught and endowed people with new cultural values (music, philosophy, the art of creating poems, hymns, building the Delphic temple).
