Abaris

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According to ancient Greek tradition, Abaris the Hyperboreans ( Greek Ἀβάρις Ὑπερβορέος Abáris Hyperboréos ) was a legendary purification priest of the god Apollo . According to the various sources, it should have been in the 8th or 7th or 6th century BC. Have lived. Numerous miracle stories have been told about him. It remains unclear whether a historical person is behind the stories.

Lore

According to the oldest recorded mention of Abaris by the poet Pindar , Abaris is said to have been around the time of the last Lydian king Kroisos , i.e. around the middle of the 6th century BC. BC, have lived. The next mention comes from the historian Herodotus . According to him, Abaris was a hyperborean . However, he does not want to say anything more about Abaris, since he obviously does not consider him a historical figure, and only mentions that he is said to have wandered the earth with an arrow in his hand without ever eating. This message clearly shows that Abaris was related to the worship of Apollo , since the arrow is a symbol for the god and the mythical Hyperboreans were considered to be Apollo worshipers. Plato calls Abaris the Hyperborean in connection with Zalmoxis and mentions him as a healer of diseases that he is said to have caused with the help of magic spells (έπωδαί) or discussions.

The speaker Lykurgos of Athens reports that the Hyperborean Abaris came to Greece while a famine had broken out in his homeland, entered the service of Apollo here, learned the art of prophecy from him, and then went through Hellas as a divination. According to Apollon. me off. 4 is said to have recommended Abaris, the priest of the Hyperborean Apollon, to the Spartans drop-offs (κολυτήρια), which ensured that the city was never again affected by the plague. Pausanias writes that Abaris the Hyperboreans is said to have built a temple of Kore Soteira in Sparta , which others traced back to Orpheus the Thracian .

More recent evidence makes the Hyperborean Abaris a Scythian , as the Hyperboreans settled in the north were equated with the Scythians of the Russian steppes. In this sense, Strabo mentions the Abaris as an example of a virtuous Scythian who was always welcomed by the Greeks.

The Neo-Platonists Porphyrios and Iamblichus report almost identically about the alleged encounter between Abaris and Pythagoras . These descriptions go back to Herakleides Pontikos , who was the first to develop the Abari legend; it is no longer preserved today. Accordingly, Abaris was the priest of the Hyperborean Apollon. He had met Pythagoras and recognized Apollo in him because he had seen his golden thigh. Thereupon Abaris returned his arrow, on which he flew through the air, to Apollo = Pythagoras and became his disciple. Hekataios of Abdera also included Abaris in his book on the Hyperboreans.

Several Christian authors cite Abaris as an example in connection with the discussion of the pagan religion; Clemens of Alexandria calls him a diviner, Origen mentions his alleged flight on the arrow, Iulius Firmicus Maternus attributes the creation of a certain idol to Abaris. Finally, Nonnos of Panopolis writes that Abaris flew through the air on his arrow.

The Byzantine lexicon Suda calls Abaris a Scythian, son of Seuthes. In addition to the Scythian oracles, the Suda ascribes to him the works The Wedding of the Hebros River , Purifications , A Theogony in Prose and The Arrival of Apollo to the Hyperboreans in Verse.

interpretation

Although no reliable statements about Abaris are possible due to the sources (contradicting information, mentions from a much later time), religious studies today tend to see that many motifs of the Abaris legend are related to phenomena of shamanism . This is also supported by its alleged origin, which one will have to look for north of the Black Sea. In shamanism, as in Abaris, there are reports of flight experiences, healings and cleansing. The story with the golden thigh of Pythagoras also points in this direction.

Aftermath

Geoffrey of Monmouth , in his book Historia Regum Britanniae in 1138, made a connection between Bladdud , the legendary founder of the pre-Roman city of Bath , who was also credited with the ability to fly, and Abaris. Legend has it that he, like Abaris, visited Greece and was initiated into the mysteries there. It is possible that two myths were mixed up or equated here.

Abaris is a main character in the opera Les Boréades or the Triumph of Abaris by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1763).

Abaris was also the name of the order of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe among the Illuminati . Evidence is provided by the tenth volume of the Illuminati files, which also includes Goethe's declaration of accession. The files are written in German and the volume, bound in black leather, is still in the possession of Russia to this day. The tenth volume with the gold lettering "Reverse and CVs" was thought to be lost until 1991. To this day, Russia has refused to hand it over to Germany and insists that the documents are too important for the interests of their own country.

literature

  • Gerhard Baudy: Abaris. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , Sp. 5-6.
  • Bruno Centrone: Abaris l'Hyperboréen . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 44-46

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Pindar, fragment 270 based on the edition by Maehler.
  2. ↑ Herodotus, Histories 4,36.
  3. ↑ Plato, Charmides 158b .
  4. ↑ Lykurgos, Kata Menesaichmou, fragment 86.
  5. ↑ Pausanias, Perihegesis 3,13,3.
  6. ↑ Strabon, Geographika 7,3,8.
  7. ↑ Porphyrios, De vita Pythagorae 28f.
  8. ^ Iamblichos, De vita Pythagorica 90-93.
  9. ^ Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 1,21,133.
  10. ↑ Origen, Against Celsus 3:31.
  11. ^ Iulius Firmicus Maternus, Against the error of the pagan religions 15.
  12. ↑ Nonnos, Dionysiaka 11,132.
  13. ↑ Goethe with the Illuminati