Abaris the Hyperborean
Encyclopedia
Italic text:Abaris redirects here. For the Baroque opera see Les Boréades
Abaris the Hyperborean (Greek
: , Abaris Hyperboreios), son of Seuthes, was a legendary sage, healer
, and priest of Apollo
known to the Ancient Greeks
. He was supposed to have learned his skills in his homeland of Hyperborea, near the Caucasus
, which he fled during a plague. He was said to be endowed with the gift of prophecy, and by this as well as by his Scythian dress and simplicity and honesty he created great sensation in Greece, and was held in high esteem.
he was said to have traveled around the world with an arrow symbolizing Apollo
, eating no food. Heraclides Ponticus
wrote that Abaris flew on it. Plato
(Charmides
158C) classes him amongst the "Thracian
physicians" who practice medicine upon the soul as well as the body by means of "incantations" (epodai). A temple to Persephone
at Sparta
was attributed to Abaris by Pausanias
(9.10).
and Knossos
, among other cities, from plagues (VP 92-93). Abaris also appears in a climactic scene alongside Pythagoras
at the court of the Sicilian
tyrant
Phalaris
. The two sages discuss divine matters, and urge the obstinate tyrant towards virtue (ibid. 215-221). Iamblicus also attributes to Abaris a special expertise at extispicy
, the art of predicting future events through the examination of anomalies in the entrails of animals. The Suda
attributes a number of books to Abaris, including a volume of Scythian Oracles in dactylic hexameter
, a prose theogony
, a poem on the marriage of the river Hebrus, a work on purifications, and an account of Apollo
's visit to the Hyperboreans. But such works, if they were really current in ancient times, were no more genuine than his reputed correspondence with Phalaris
the tyrant.
A more securely historical Greco-Scythian philosopher, who travelled among the Hellenes in the early sixth century, was Anacharsis
.
Les Boréades
Les Boréades or Abaris is an opera in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was the last of Rameau's five tragédies en musique...
Abaris the Hyperborean (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: , Abaris Hyperboreios), son of Seuthes, was a legendary sage, healer
Iatromantis
Iatromantis is a Greek word whose literal meaning is most simply rendered "physician-seer." Perhaps the most famous iatromantis was the Greek pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, best known as the founder of Western logic...
, and priest of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
known to the Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. He was supposed to have learned his skills in his homeland of Hyperborea, near the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, which he fled during a plague. He was said to be endowed with the gift of prophecy, and by this as well as by his Scythian dress and simplicity and honesty he created great sensation in Greece, and was held in high esteem.
Legend
According to HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
he was said to have traveled around the world with an arrow symbolizing Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, eating no food. Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus , also known as Herakleides and Heraklides of Pontus, was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who lived and died at Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey. He is best remembered for proposing that the earth rotates on its axis, from west to east, once every 24 hours...
wrote that Abaris flew on it. Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
(Charmides
Charmides (dialogue)
The Charmides is a dialogue of Plato, in which Socrates engages a handsome and popular boy in a conversation about the meaning of sophrosyne, a Greek word usually translated into English as "temperance", "self-control", or "restraint"...
158C) classes him amongst the "Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
physicians" who practice medicine upon the soul as well as the body by means of "incantations" (epodai). A temple to Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
at Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
was attributed to Abaris by Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
(9.10).
Phalaris
A particularly rich trove of anecdotes is found in Iamblichus's Vita Pythagorica. Here, Abaris is said to have purified SpartaSparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
and Knossos
Knossos
Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...
, among other cities, from plagues (VP 92-93). Abaris also appears in a climactic scene alongside Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
at the court of the Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
tyrant
Tyrant
A tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...
Phalaris
Phalaris
Phalaris was the tyrant of Acragas in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 BC.-History:He was entrusted with the building of the temple of Zeus Atabyrius in the citadel, and took advantage of his position to make himself despot. Under his rule Agrigentum seems to have attained considerable...
. The two sages discuss divine matters, and urge the obstinate tyrant towards virtue (ibid. 215-221). Iamblicus also attributes to Abaris a special expertise at extispicy
Extispicy
Extispicy is the practice of using anomalies in animal entrails to predict or divine future events. Organs inspected include the liver, intestines, and lungs. The animal used for extispicy must often be ritually pure and slaughtered in a special ceremony.The practice was first common in ancient...
, the art of predicting future events through the examination of anomalies in the entrails of animals. The Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
attributes a number of books to Abaris, including a volume of Scythian Oracles in dactylic hexameter
Dactylic hexameter
Dactylic hexameter is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. It is traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin, and was consequently considered to be the Grand Style of classical poetry...
, a prose theogony
Theogony
The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...
, a poem on the marriage of the river Hebrus, a work on purifications, and an account of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
's visit to the Hyperboreans. But such works, if they were really current in ancient times, were no more genuine than his reputed correspondence with Phalaris
Phalaris
Phalaris was the tyrant of Acragas in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 BC.-History:He was entrusted with the building of the temple of Zeus Atabyrius in the citadel, and took advantage of his position to make himself despot. Under his rule Agrigentum seems to have attained considerable...
the tyrant.
A more securely historical Greco-Scythian philosopher, who travelled among the Hellenes in the early sixth century, was Anacharsis
Anacharsis
Anacharsis was a Scythian philosopher who travelled from his homeland on the northern shores of the Black Sea to Athens in the early 6th century BCE and made a great impression as a forthright, outspoken "barbarian", apparently a forerunner of the Cynics, though none of his works have...
.
Modern impact
- A Senior Society at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
is named Abaris after this figure; it is one of eight Senior Societies among Dartmouth College student groupsDartmouth College student groupsThis page contains detailed information on a number of student groups at Dartmouth College. For more information on athletic teams, please see Dartmouth College athletic teams...
. - Abaris is featured in TherionTherion (band)Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. The word "therion" comes from the Greek therion , meaning "Beast," i.e., that of the Christian Book of Revelation...
songs "An Arrow From The Sun", "The Wand of Abaris", and "The Falling Stone".
Other sources
- PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's CharmidesCharmidesCharmides was an Athenian statesman who flourished during the fourth century BC. Uncle of Plato, Charmides appears in the Platonic dialogue bearing his name , the Protagoras, and the Symposium, as well as in Xenophon's Symposium, Memorabilia, and Hellenica...
in the most famous passage concerning . - History of Herodotus, in the classic translation of George Rawlinson (ed. and tr., vol. 3, Book 4, Chapters 2-36, 46-82. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1885.)
- Plato, Platonis Opera, ed. John Burnet. Oxford University Press. 1903.
- Ancient Library
- Kingsley, Peter - A Story Waiting To Pierce You - Mongolia, Tibet And The Destiny Of The Western World, ( The Golden Sufi Center, 2010) ISBN 978-1-890350-20-8.