Hyperborei
（
Ὑπερβόρεοι, lit. “dwellers beyond the north
wind”). A people of Greek legend, whose existence was denied by some of the
ancients, while others endeavoured to define their position more precisely. They were said to
dwell far in the North, where the sun rose and set only once a year—a fancy due,
perhaps, to some dim report of the long arctic summer day. The fruits of the earth ripened
quickly with them; they lived in unbroken happiness, knowing no violence or strife, and
reached the age of a thousand years; any who were weary of life casting themselves from a
sacred rock into the sea. The myth is connected with the worship of the god of light, Apollo,
who during the dark winter was supposed to visit them, as his priestly people, in a chariot
drawn by swans; returning to Delphi for the summer. There was a tradition in Delos that in
earlier times they used to send to that island the first-fruits of their harvests by way of
Dodona, Thessaly, and Euboea.
