Hyperboreans
A mythical race in the high north, who dwelt beyond Boreas (huper Boreas, "beyond the northern wind"). They are not mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey, but are spoken of in the poem of the Epigoni and in Hesiod. They were said to be the oldest and most virtuous of the human races as well as the most happy since they enjoyed perpetual spring, cloudless skies, and double harvests. They were dedicated to Apollo who gladly dwelled among them. Abaris, a priest of Apollo, was one of the Hyperboreans, as were the maidens Hyperoche, Laodice, and Loxo.
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References
Sources
- Herodotus. Histories iv, 32 ff.
- Pausanias. Description of Greece v, 7.7 ff; x, 5.7, 9.
- Pliny. Natural History iv, 12; vi, 7, 14, 20, 39.
- Pseudo-Apollodorus. The Library i, 4.3.