According to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, far to the north, behind those icy lands from which the cold wind of Boreas arrives, there was the country of Hyperborea, whose civilization was at an unusually high level of development. Its name is translated from Greek as "beyond Boreas". During the Middle Ages, many scientists believed that the people who inhabited it, before disappearing from the face of the Earth, managed to give impetus to the development of the entire world culture. Modern researchers are very skeptical of such claims, but this does not reduce their interest in what could form the basis of the legend.
Descendants of the Titans
In ancient manuscripts, where Hyperborea is often called Arctida, you can find various versions regarding the origin of the people who inhabited it. So, the ancient philosopher and poet Ferenik believed that he was a descendant of the mythical titans - the children of the sky god Uranus and his wife, the earth goddess Gaia. Another ancient Greek named Fanodem, in the heat of patriotism, argued that the progenitor of these peoplethere was a certain Athenian Hyperborea, from whom they inherited their name.
Digging through the annals of the past, you can find many other similar versions, the authors of which tried to prove the involvement of their people in the greatest, although not entirely real civilization. It is curious to note that their followers, who claim, in particular, that Hyperborea is the birthplace of the ancient Slavs, are very numerous today, but this will be discussed below.
Under the patronage of Apollo
As mentioned above, what is Hyperborea, humanity learned from ancient mythology, where its image was often used in a variety of subjects. Thus, the ancient Greek poet and musician Alcaeus wrote in his “Hymn to Apollo” that the god of light and joy often went to this country. Having rested there from the summer heat of his native Hellas and then returning to his homeland, he patronized the sciences and arts with even greater zeal.
Moreover, a number of authors can find statements that the representatives of the ancient civilization of Hyperborea not only enjoyed the favor of such authoritative gods as Apollo, but were themselves partly celestials. Their closest relatives among mortals were considered semi-mythical peoples: Latophags, Feaks and Ethiopians (not to be confused with the modern inhabitants of North Africa).
Burnt with happiness
Like their patron Apollo, the Hyperboreans had many artistic talents. It is not known who did their menial work, but they themselves lived in a state ofcontentment and bliss, spending time among the noisy worlds, accompanied by music, singing and dancing. When they wanted to take a break from the fun, the Hyperboreans retired and, picking up a pen, composed another brilliant poem, which they then read to their drinking companions.
Hyperborea, the birthplace of ancient poets and musicians, was so generous to her sons that even death itself was perceived as deliverance from satiety with life. When it became impossible for them to splash in this endless ocean of happiness, they climbed the coastal cliffs and from their height fell into the sea. So, in any case, the ancient Greek historian and mythographer Diodorus Siculus claimed.
Missing Girls
Other peoples of the world learned about what Hyperborea is thanks to a curious incident. The fact is that the population of this fertile country annually brought the fruits of the first harvest to their patron Apollo, sending them to Delos, an island in the Aegean Sea, where the deity lived, accompanied by young and beautiful girls. And then one day the beauties did not return home - either they found husbands in warm lands, or they fell into the hands of robbers, of whom there were plenty in those days.
The Hyperboreans were sad, and in order not to put anyone at risk in the future, they began to take out baskets of fruits to the border of the state and ask neighboring peoples to send them to Delos itself, passing them along the chain, well, just like we transfer fares to crowded bus. It is not known in what form the gifts of the addressee reached, but in fulfilling the order, the inhabitants of the Earth told each other about the sendersbaskets and their happy life. So, thanks to the missing girls, the rumor about the people living "beyond Boreas" spread throughout the world.
The fertile land and its inhabitants
Continuing the conversation about what Hyperborea is, it would be appropriate to recall two famous (albeit mythical) people from its people. These are the greatest sages who were honored to become the personal servants of Apollo: Aristaeus and Abaris. The venerable men passed on to the Greeks many secrets of architecture, sculpting, versification and other arts, thanks to which the culture of ancient Hellas rose to an unprecedented height at that time. Both of them were considered as a hypostasis (in this case, the essence, manifestation) of Apollo himself. They were even credited with possessing the miraculous power contained in his fetishistic symbols - a laurel branch, an arrow and a black crow.
And, finally, information about what Hyperborea is can be gleaned from the writings of the ancient Roman scientist Pliny the Elder. On the pages of his capital work "Natural History" he paid much attention to this, in his opinion, really existing people. The venerable Roman wrote that beyond the Riphean mountains (as the uplands located in the north of Eurasia were called in his time) on the other side of the freezing winds, there was a country whose inhabitants are called Hyperboreans.
They all reach a ripe old age and part with the world only voluntarily, satiated and weary of happiness. They know neither sickness nor strife, but they delight their ears with the song and wondrous verses of their ownessays. The climate in that country is so favorable that there is no reason to build houses, and all the Hyperboreans live all year round in groves filled with light and the chirping of birds. The sun sets there once every six months, but even then, as if ashamed of his liberties, a few minutes later reappears in the sky. The author ends with the words that the existence of this happiest of peoples does not cause him even a shadow of doubt, although it is shrouded in an impenetrable mystery.
Unfortunately, representatives of modern historical science do not share the enthusiasm of Pliny the Younger, and the mysteries of Hyperborea are very reserved. In their opinion, the myth of this happy country is just a manifestation of the utopian ideas of the ancient Greeks about distant and unknown peoples living "at the end of the world." Researchers are forced to state that there is no documentary evidence that the legend of Hyperborea has any historical basis.
Trendy but controversial theory
At the same time, over the past decades, many books have been published on this very popular topic today, and all of them, as a rule, are works of the occult and pseudoscientific sense. Many authors aim to popularize the idea, the essence of which is that Hyperborea is the birthplace of the ancient Slavs. As the most convincing argument, in their opinion, they cite excerpts from the works of the French mystic and soothsayer of the 16th century Nostradamus, who, for one reason known to him, called the Russians Hyperborianpeople.”
Proof of kinship or, at least, close contacts between the ancient Slavs and Hyperborea, the authors are trying to find (and, as it seems to them, they find) in the geographical location of this legendary country. The basis for their statements is an old map created in the 16th century by the Flemish geographer Gerard Kremer. It depicts Hyperborea as a large arctic continent, in the center of which rises Mount Meru.
Its southern tip is in close proximity to the northern coast of Eurasia, where the Slavs settled and where most of the Scythian rivers originated. Further reasoning follows, based on simple logic: if there are rivers, then what prevented the Hyperboreans from going deep into the mainland along them, and on the way, exhausted by abstinence, they hardly missed the opportunity to take advantage of the favor of the clear-eyed Slavs and cultivate the vast Russian expanses with their seed.
Sunflower kingdom
In search of evidence of the relationship between the inhabitants of Hyperborea and the Slavs, the supporters of this theory do not disregard the monuments of the Old Russian epic. Among the images included in the tradition of oral folk art, they are especially attracted by the Sunflower Kingdom, located, as you know, "to distant lands", and where many epic heroes go to exploits.
What is this if not a memory of bygone times, when our ancestors closely communicated with the inhabitants of the country over which the never-setting sun shines? And it is likely that this communication was soclose that its traces can be found in the genetic characteristics of modern Russians. Why hasn't it been found yet? Yes, simply because they did not want to look. This is exactly what the proponents of this theory argue.
As mentioned above, on the shelves of bookstores you can see a lot of literature on this issue. At present, Evgeny Averyanov's book "The Ancient Knowledge of Hyperborea" is the most popular among readers, and everyone can find more detailed information in it.
Map of Admiral Reis
All of the above may seem naive, but serious researchers have real reasons to think about the possibility of the existence of a continent with a highly developed civilization on the site of the current Antarctica. Here is just one of them.
The National Library of Istanbul has a geographical map compiled in 1513 by the Turkish admiral Piri Reis. On it, in addition to America and the Strait of Magellan, the Arctic (Arctida), unknown at that time, is also depicted. The outlines of its coastline are presented with a certainty that could only be achieved with modern aerial photography. At the same time, no ice was noted on it. The map has an accompanying inscription, from which it is clear that in compiling it, the admiral was guided by materials from the era of Alexander the Great. Marvelous? Yes, but that's not all!
According to the data obtained in the 70s of the last century by the participants of the Soviet scientific expedition, the age of the Arctic ice cover isabout 200 thousand years ago, and before that, a warm and mild climate prevailed on its territory. It follows that the original source, on the basis of which the maps of Alexander the Great, and later Piri Reis, were compiled, was created earlier than this date.
If so, then there can be only one conclusion: in ancient times, on the territory of the present Arctic, there lived a people who created an unprecedented civilization at that time, the death of which can be explained by a climate catastrophe that turned their country into a lifeless icy desert.
Rescue inhabitants of the lost continent
In recent decades, more and more enthusiasts have appeared who are trying to find an answer to the question of whether the inhabitants of Hyperborea and the ancient Aryans, the people who inhabited the central and northern part of modern Russia, communicated with each other. If the answer turns out to be positive, then our relationship with the "founders of world culture" (as the most zealous supporters of their existence call the Hyperboreans) is beyond doubt.
Among the variety of hypotheses, many supporters have gained a theory according to which the Aryans are the Hyperboreans themselves, who escaped after a natural cataclysm that destroyed their once flourishing island, and moved to the continent. Finding themselves in harsher natural conditions, they largely degraded and lost their previous knowledge, but even what they managed to save provided them with an intellectual superiority over other inhabitants of the Earth.
That is why many peoples of the world use words that sound similar inwhich are based on roots that were clearly borrowed once from a single language that belonged to a highly developed nation. It could be used by both the inhabitants of the deceased continent and those with whom they had close contact.
Hyperborea and Atlantis, and the ancient Aryans are the ghosts of past millennia
The halo of mystery surrounding Hyperborea makes it related to another disappeared continent - Atlantis, which is known from the works of ancient Greek authors: Plato, Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and a number of others. The only difference between them is that, if some traces of the first have been preserved, which can be considered (albeit with a big stretch) that part of the land that is the northern coast of Eurasia, then the second disappeared without a trace in the ocean abyss.
Nevertheless, every year there are more and more enthusiasts who are convinced of the historical accuracy of the information available about them. Moreover, the hypothesis that the ancient authors had in mind the same continent has become very popular these days.
Over the past millennia and Hyperborea, and the ancient Aryans, and Atlantis have become only ghosts of that ancient era. However, there is evidence that their culture contained elements borrowed from the peoples of the Mediterranean. First of all, we can talk about the legends of the peoples of the North, which sometimes include plots that are very close to those found in ancient mythology. In addition, a large number of artefacts found inthe time of archaeological excavations carried out on the coast of the Barents Sea in the early 90s of the last century by an expedition led by Professor V. N. Demin.
The researchers were especially interested in a gigantic, reaching a height of 70 meters, but poorly distinguishable from time to time, a rock image of a certain deity. Its outlines also corresponded to the traditions of the ancient world. However, it was not possible to prove that Hyperborea and Atlandis are one and the same. This question remains open. And it will take a lot of effort to solve it.
