In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (Ancient Greek: ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, romanized: hyperbóre(i)oi, pronounced [hyperbóre(ː)oi̯]; Latin: Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name likely comes from the Greek phrase ὑπέρ Βορέᾱ, meaning "beyond Boreas" (the god of the north wind). Some scholars suggest it might instead come from the Greek word ὑπερφέρω, meaning "to carry over."

Although they lived in a region known for extreme cold, the Hyperboreans were described as living in a sunny, temperate, and divinely blessed land. In many stories, they were said to live north of the Riphean Mountains, which protected them from the harsh northern winds. Early myths portrayed them as favored by Apollo, and some ancient Greek writers believed the Hyperboreans were the mythical founders of Apollo's shrines at Delos and Delphi.

Later writers disagreed about whether the Hyperboreans were real or purely mythical. Some connected them to real places in northern Eurasia, such as Britain, Scandinavia, or Siberia. In medieval and Renaissance times, the Hyperboreans came to represent ideas of distant and unusual lands. Modern scholars believe the Hyperborean myth combines ancient ideas about perfect places, stories about the edges of the world, the worship of Apollo, and exaggerated descriptions of northern European phenomena, such as the Arctic "midnight sun."

The Greeks first used the term "Hyperborei Montes" to describe a mythical mountain range in the far north, linked to the Hyperboreans. Later, ancient geographers applied the name to real mountain ranges, including the Caucasus, the Ural Mountains, and the Rhipaei Montes.

Early sources

The earliest known written record that describes Hyperborea in detail is from Herodotus' book called Histories (Book IV, Chapters 32–36), which was written around 450 BC. Herodotus mentioned that three earlier sources, including the poets Hesiod and Homer, may have written about the Hyperboreans. Homer is said to have mentioned Hyperborea in a lost work called Epigoni, but Herodotus questioned whether Homer actually wrote it.

Herodotus wrote that the 7th-century BC poet Aristeas described the Hyperboreans in a now-lost poem called Arimaspea. This poem told of a journey to the Issedones, a group believed to have lived in the Kazakh Steppe. Beyond the Issedones lived the one-eyed Arimaspians, followed by gold-guarding griffins, and then the Hyperboreans. Herodotus believed Hyperborea was located in Northeast Asia.

Pindar, a lyric poet from Thebes who lived around the same time as Herodotus, wrote about the Hyperboreans in his Tenth Pythian Ode. He also described a journey by Perseus to Hyperborea. Other Greek writers from the 5th century BC, such as Simonides of Ceos and Hellanicus of Lesbos, also wrote about the Hyperboreans in their works.

The Hyperboreans were thought to live beyond the snowy Riphean Mountains. Pausanias, a later writer, described their home as "the land of the Hyperboreans, men living beyond the home of Boreas." Homer placed Boreas in Thrace, so he believed Hyperborea was north of Thrace, in Dacia. Other writers, like Sophocles, Aeschylus, Simonides of Ceos, and Callimachus, also placed Boreas in Thrace.

Some ancient writers had different ideas about where Boreas or the Riphean Mountains were located. For example, Hecataeus of Miletus thought the Riphean Mountains were near the Black Sea. Pindar placed Boreas, the Riphean Mountains, and Hyperborea near the Danube. In contrast, Heraclides Ponticus and Antimachus believed the Riphean Mountains were the Alps, and the Hyperboreans were a Celtic tribe, possibly the Helvetii, who lived beyond them. Aristotle placed the Riphean Mountains on the borders of Scythia, with Hyperborea further north. Hecataeus of Abdera and others thought Hyperborea was Britain.

Later Greek and Roman writers continued to describe Hyperborea as being in the far north of Greece or southern Europe. The ancient grammarian Simmias of Rhodes connected the Hyperboreans to the Massagetae, and Posidonius linked them to the Western Celts. Pomponius Mela placed them even further north near the Arctic.

Maps based on descriptions by Strabo showed Hyperborea as a peninsula or island beyond what is now France, stretching further north–south than east–west. Other descriptions placed it near the Ural Mountains.

Plutarch, writing in the 1st century AD, mentioned Heraclides of Ponticus, who linked the Hyperboreans to the Gauls who attacked Rome in the 4th century BC. Aelian, Diodorus Siculus, and Stephen of Byzantium also wrote about Hyperborea but did not add new details.

The 2nd-century AD philosopher Hierocles compared the Hyperboreans to the Scythians and the Riphean Mountains to the Ural Mountains. Clement of Alexandria and other early Christian writers also made this connection.

Hecataeus of Abdera, in the 4th century BC, first identified Hyperborea with Britain. A preserved fragment from Diodorus Siculus describes an island beyond the land of the Celts, located in the north. This island, he wrote, is inhabited by the Hyperboreans, named for living beyond the point where the north wind (Boreas) blows. The island is fertile and has a temperate climate. Hecataeus also wrote that the Hyperboreans had a sacred precinct of Apollo and a spherical temple adorned with votive offerings. Some scholars think this temple might be Stonehenge, though Diodorus did not explicitly connect Hyperborea to Britain.

Pseudo-Scymnus, writing around 90 BC, described Boreas as living at the edge of Gaulish territory, with a pillar erected in his name near the sea. Some believe this refers to northern France, with Hyperborea being the British Isles beyond the English Channel.

Ptolemy and Marcian of Heraclea both placed Hyperborea in the North Sea, which they called the "Hyperborean Ocean."

In 1726, John Toland linked Diodorus' description of Hyperborea to the Isle of Lewis and the spherical temple to the Callanish Stones.

Legends

Hyperborea was one of several unknown lands to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Writers such as Pliny, Pindar, Herodotus, Virgil, and Cicero described Hyperborea as a place where people lived to be 1,000 years old and experienced lives filled with happiness. Hecataeus of Abdera collected stories about the Hyperboreans in the 4th century BC and wrote a now-lost book about them, which was later mentioned by Diodorus Siculus. According to legend, the sun rose and set only once a year in Hyperborea, suggesting it was located near or above the Arctic Circle in the polar regions.

The Greek writer Theopompus wrote in his work Philippica that Hyperborea was once planned to be conquered by soldiers from an island called Meropis. However, the plan was abandoned because the Hyperboreans were considered too strong and blessed to be defeated. This story, which some believe was meant to be humorous, was recorded by Aelian in Varia Historia.

Theseus, a famous Greek hero, visited the Hyperboreans. Pindar, a poet, moved the story of Perseus and Medusa from Libya to Hyperborea, which upset some of his editors. Apollonius of Rhodes wrote that the Argonauts saw Hyperborea during their journey through the river Eridanos.

Among the Twelve Olympian gods, the Greeks especially honored Apollo in Hyperborea. It was believed that Apollo spent his winters living with the Hyperboreans.

According to Herodotus, offerings from the Hyperboreans were sent to Scythia wrapped in straw. These gifts were passed from tribe to tribe until they reached Dodona and eventually Apollo’s temple on Delos. This method began after two maidens, Hyperoche and Laodice, were sent to deliver gifts but never returned. To avoid this, the Hyperboreans later asked neighboring tribes to help deliver the gifts step by step.

Herodotus also wrote that two other maidens, Arge and Opis, had previously traveled from Hyperborea to Delos as a tribute to the goddess Ilithyia for helping with childbirth. They were accompanied by gods and received honors in Delos, where women gave them gifts and sang hymns in their honor.

A famous healer from Hyperborea was named Abaris or "Abaris the Healer." Herodotus first wrote about him, and Plato later described him as a doctor from the far north. Strabo noted that Abaris was Scythian, like the philosopher Anacharsis.

Greek legends say that the Boreades, descendants of the god Boreas and the nymph Chione, founded the first religious monarchy in Hyperborea. Aelian wrote that Apollo’s priests in Hyperborea were the sons of Boreas and Chione, who were three brothers each about 2.7 meters tall. Diodorus Siculus added that the kings and religious leaders of Hyperborea were called Boreadae, as they were descendants of Boreas, and their family held these positions for generations.

The Boreades were believed to be giant rulers, about 3 meters tall, who ruled Hyperborea. No other physical descriptions of the Hyperboreans are given in classical writings. However, Aelius Herodianus, a 3rd-century grammarian, wrote that the mythical Arimaspi were physically similar to the Hyperboreans. Stephanus of Byzantium, a 6th-century writer, agreed. The poet Callimachus described the Arimaspi as having fair hair, though it is unclear if they were the same people as the Hyperboreans. Herodianus suggested that the Hyperboreans might also have had fair hair.

Six Greek authors—Antimachus of Colophon, Protarchus, Heraclides Ponticus, Hecataeus of Abdera, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Posidonius of Apamea—linked the Hyperboreans to the Celts living in northern regions. The Greeks’ understanding of non-Greek peoples was shaped by myths about the Golden Age, especially during colonization and trade.

The mythical Riphean Mountains were identified with the Alps in northern Italy, providing a geographic reason to connect the Hyperboreans with the Celts living beyond the Alps. A reputation for feasting and a love of gold may have further strengthened this connection.

Identification as Hyperboreans

Northern Europeans, such as those from Scandinavia, associated themselves with the Hyperboreans when they encountered the ancient Greco-Roman culture of the Mediterranean. This connection relates to the idea of a place far to the north that is always sunny, such as parts of Scandinavia during summer, where the sun does not set for many hours ('midnight sun'). This belief was especially common in 17th-century Sweden, where supporters of the Gothicism movement claimed the Scandinavian Peninsula was both the lost land of Atlantis and the Hyperborean homeland.

The term "Hyperborean" has also been used to describe northern regions and their people, though it does not mean they are descendants of the mythical Hyperboreans. For example, the "Hyperborean-Roman Company" (Hyperboreisch-römische Gesellschaft), founded in 1824 by scholars like Theodor Panofka and Eduard Gerhard, studied classical ruins in Rome.

In his writing about the Astor Expedition in the Pacific Northwest, Washington Irving described how French and British explorers focused on fur trading in the cold, northern regions of Canada, which were referred to as Hyperborean areas.

Today, "Hyperborean" is sometimes used humorously to describe people living in cold climates. In the Library of Congress Classification System, the letter subclass PM includes "Hyperborean Languages," a general category for languages spoken by Arctic peoples, such as the Inuit, even though these languages are not related to each other.

The term has also been used metaphorically to describe a feeling of being far from ordinary life. In The Antichrist (1888–1895), philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called his readers "Hyperboreans," writing, "We are Hyperboreans – we know well enough how remote our place is." He quoted the ancient poet Pindar, saying, "Beyond the North, beyond the ice, beyond death – our life, our happiness."

Hyperborean Indo-European hypothesis

John G. Bennett wrote a research paper titled "The Hyperborean Origin of the Indo-European Culture" (Journal Systematics, Vol. 1, No. 3, December 1963). In this paper, he stated that the origin of the Indo-European culture was in the far north, a region he called Hyperborea, a mythical place from ancient times. This idea was earlier suggested by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, whom Bennett acknowledged, in his book The Arctic Home in the Vedas (1903). Karl Penka, an Austro-Hungarian ethnologist, also proposed a similar theory in his work Origins of the Aryans (1883).

Soviet Indologist Natalia R. Guseva and Soviet ethnographer S. V. Zharnikova, inspired by Tilak's The Arctic Home in the Vedas, argued that the homeland of the Indo-Aryan and Slavic people was in the Arctic region near the northern Urals. Their ideas were later promoted by Russian nationalists.

In modern esoteric thought

H. P. Blavatsky, René Guénon, and Julius Evola wrote about the belief that early humans originated in the Hyperborean region near the North Pole. Blavatsky described the Hyperboreans as the source of the second "root race," which she called non-intelligent, spirit-like beings that reproduced by splitting into new individuals.

These writers believed the Hyperboreans lived during a Golden Age, a time of great spiritual and cultural development centered in the polar regions. According to their ideas, humans did not evolve from apes but instead gradually became more like apes over time. This change happened because people moved away from their spiritual homeland in the Far North and were influenced by the material forces of the South Pole, which they considered the strongest source of physical existence.

Modern interpretations

Herodotus described the Hyperboreans living beyond the Massagetae and Issedones, both Central Asian peoples, which suggests they may have lived in Siberia. Heracles searched for the golden-antlered hind of Artemis in Hyperborea. Since only female reindeer have antlers, this detail points to an arctic or subarctic region. Based on J. D. P. Bolton’s identification of the Issedones near the Altay Mountains, Carl P. Ruck placed Hyperborea beyond the Dzungarian Gate into northern Xinjiang, suggesting the Hyperboreans may have been Chinese.

In 1974, Robert Charroux first linked the Hyperboreans to an ancient astronaut race. Miguel Serrano was influenced by Charroux’s writings about the Hyperboreans.

Aleksandr Dugin has promoted ancient legends about the sunken city of Atlantis and the mythical civilization Hyperborea to support his vision of a vast Russian Empire. He claims Russia is the modern-day continuation of the ancient Hyperboreans, who should oppose the modern-day "Atlanteans," the United States.

In August 2021, a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue noted an increase in content about Hyperborea on TikTok. The report stated that Hyperborean symbols are being used by neo-Nazi users as a form of Esoteric Nazism.

Archaeologists Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas B. Larsson argue that stories about Hyperborea and its myths are remnants from the Bronze Age. They explain that Delphic Apollo, a Greek god, had connections to the sun god of the Baltic region, where amber came from. He traveled with white swans to the cold North during winter. This reflects the economic role of northern and central Europe during the Bronze Age. On many metal items, swans carried the sun, symbolizing the sun-god. According to Herodotus, Hyperborean maidens brought the sun to Delos in at least two missions.

Historian Timothy P. Bridgman suggests that the Hyperborean gift route may be a vague memory of Mycenaean trade routes and interactions with northern peoples.

Archaeological evidence of Greek contact with the north during the Bronze Age includes Baltic amber, amber necklaces from Britain, and chariot equipment from the Steppe or Carpathian Basin found in elite Shaft Graves at Mycenae. Baltic amber was also discovered in Delphi and Delos sanctuaries.

In 1924, tombs associated with the Hyperborean maidens in Delos—Hyperoche, Laodice, Opis, and Arge—were identified in the locations described by Herodotus and excavated by French archaeologists Charles Picard and Joseph Replat. Both pairs of tombs date to the Bronze Age and contain pottery from the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures, dating between 1875–1420 BC (Middle Minoan II to Late Minoan II). A "primitive cult" was connected to these tombs during the Cycladic and Mycenaean periods.