Asen Bondzhev

Hyperborea is one of the most interesting and mysterious aspects in the history of the ancient world. In contrast with other mythical lands, there is a vast quantity of sources about it. Some authors, mainly poets, think of Hyperborea's existence as plausible, others, mainly scholars, do not. Many sources contradict to each other, of others we have only fragments or preserved accounts from other authors. This study focuses on ancient Greek and Roman authors who (in)directly talked about Hyperborea, starting with Hesiod and finishing with Claudian. Accounts of the Riphean Mountains are also included.

Hyperborea was an otherworldly paradise, a mythical utopia, which was both part of the mythical past and ever present in Greek literature. The Hyperboreans brought innovations to ancient Greeks culture and help in time of need. This study presents some of their extraordinary abilities and focuses on the most famous Hyperborean-Abaris. He came to Greece as an ambassador led by Apollo's arrow, and some claimed that he could fly on it. Abaris seems always to have been regarded as a spiritual or magical authority. Later we hear of him as a possible founder of sanctuaries and as a seer and prophet-he foretold and cured epidemics, wrote oracles. Whether he was legendary or historical (but even then, heavily overlaid by legend), he is an example of archaic wise man who possessed special knowledge of rituals, divination, and healing.

The Arimaspea remained for a long time the only detailed report of the further North for the rest of the Greek world. It was widely known in the Archaic and Classical periods, especially among the worshipers of Apollo and became a rich new source about Hyperborea. But it belongs to the memory of the worlds of Homer and Hesiod and simply cannot hold its own against the Histories in the contest of ethnographic authority. This study presents Aristeas' alleged mystical journey to Hyperborea, preserved mainly in the accounts of Maximus of Tyre, and compares it to Herodotus' rational mindset.

Even if an almost entirely imaginary vision, the Hyperboreans remain the most productive and persistent Northern motif in ancient Greek literature. The Hyperboreans were thought to have traversed Greece during its mythical prehistory and to have left their mark on some of its innermost and sanctified places, thus helping to create, and sometimes to maintain, important values in Greek thought, such as justice, right, moral purity and religiosity. This study presents the roots of the Hyperborean myth, the main Hyperborean characters, Hyperborea's location on maps according to ancient sources, the exploitation of the myth throughout the ages and some contemporary attempts to locate the Hyperborean lands.

Orpheus is one of the greatest historical contributions of the Thracians in European culture. He is much more than a talented poet and singer. He is a religious reformer, a priest and a Teacher, who transmits valuable knowledge to humanity. This study presents his life and influence on philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato, the development of this influence during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and analyzes some Orphic tablets of eschatological nature. The roots of Orphic teachings are so deep, that some missionaries of the new Christian faith had to use the image of Orpheus in their desire to baptize pagans. Orpheus comes to walk the most difficult path-spreading the doctrine of salvation of the human soul, which remains one of the highest achievements of European culture and a hope for its humane future.