Hyperion (Ancient Greek: Ὑπερίων, lit. 'he who goes before' or 'the one high above') was one of the Titans, son of Ouranós and Gaia.[1] He represented heavenly light, wisdom, and watchfulness.
Hyperion was, along with his son Helios, a personification of the sun, with the two sometimes identified. John Keats's abandoned epic poem Hyperion is among the literary works that famously feature the figure.
Etymology[]
"Hyperion" means 'he who goes before', "he that walks on high" or simply "the god above", often joined with "Helios".[2] There is a possible attestation of his name in Linear B (Mycenaean Greek) in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ]𐀟𐁊-[), found on the KN E 842 tablet[3] (reconstructed [u]-pe-rjo-[ne]) though it has been suggested that the name actually reads "Apollo" ([a]-pe-rjo-[ne]). Ultimately, this attestation from this tablet is unconfirmed.[4]
Family[]
Hyperion was married to his sister, Theia, and they had three children, Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn).[5]
The Roman mythographer Hyginus in his Fabulae, stated that Hyperion was one of the Titans and the son of Ether and Terra.[6] He also said that with Aethra (either the Oceanid or possibly another epithet of Theia), he had by her Sol, Aurora, and Luna.[7]
Mythology[]
He was considered one of the four pillars that hold the heavens and the earth apart, and since his daughter was dawn, he was probably the pillar of the east. The other three pillars were his brothers Coeus (pillar of the north), Crius (pillar of the south), and Iapetus (pillar of the west). These four Titans were the ones that held their father Ouranós in place, while Cronus castrated him with a sickle.
In the Theogony, Ouranós imprisoned all the children that Gaia bore him, before he was overthrown.[8] According to Apollodorus, Uranus only imprisoned the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclopes but not the Titans, until Gaia persuaded her six Titan sons to overthrow their father Uranus and "they, all but Ocean, attacked him" as Cronus castrated him.[9]
In some early texts, the sun is mentioned as Helios Hyperion; however, in later texts, including Homer's and Hesiod's writings, Hyperion and Helios are two different deities, the latter being a physical representation of the sun. Hyperion is not mentioned in the Titanomachy, the War that resulted in the overthrow of the Titans and the start of the era of the Olympians. Eventually Zeus freed the Titans, presumably including Hyperion.[10]
The Chariot of the Sun, (1621-1630), by Pietro da Cortona from the Villa Sacchetti Helios was often called Hyperion
Helios[]
Hyperion and Helios were both sun-gods. Early sources sometimes present the two as distinct personages, with Hyperion being the father of Helios, but sometimes they were apparently identified, with "Hyperion" being simply a title of, or another name for, Helios himself. Hyperion is Helios' father in Homer's Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony, and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.[11] But in the Iliad and elsewhere in the Odyssey, Helios is also called "Helios Hyperion" with "Hyperion" here being used either as a patronymic or as an other epithet. In the Homeric epics, and in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, besides being called "Helios", Hyperion is sometimes also called simply "Hyperion".[12] In later sources the two sun-gods are distinctly father and son.[13] In literature, the sun is often referred to as "Hyperion's bright son."[14]
The Poetical Works of John Keats. With a memoir by Richard Monckton Milnes. Illustrated by 120 designs, original and from the antique, drawn on wood by George Scharf, Jun
Diodorus Siculus[]
According to the rationalizing historian Diodorus Siculus, Hyperion was the name of the first person to understand the movement of the sun and moon, and their effect on the seasons, and explains that, because of this, he was said to be their "father":[15]
| “ | Of Hyperion we are told that he was the first to understand, by diligent attention and observation, the movement of both the sun and the moon and the other stars, and the seasons as well, in that they are caused by these bodies, and to make these facts known to others; and that for this reason he was called the father of these bodies, since he had begotten, so to speak, the speculation about them and their nature. | ” |
–Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica | ||
Diodorus also recorded an unorthodox version of the myth, in which Hyperion married his sister Basileia and had two children by her, Helios and Selene; their brothers, envious of their happy issue and fearful that Hyperion would divert the royal power to himself, conspired and killed Hyperion along with his two children (which then went on to transform into the Sun and the Moon), leaving Basileia in great distress.[16]
A later euhemerization comes from the Placita Philosopharum (Doctrines of the Philosophers), which is attributed (though falsely) to Plutarch, stated that Hyperion, Coeus, Iapetus, and Crius were inventions made by the poet Hesiod "willing to find out a father for those Gods that acknowledge an original", invented them.[17]
Although Hyperion was almost never worshipped in cult, but there is one inscription suggesting that he received some sort of religious honors on the island of Imbros.[18]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 131–136; Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter, 26, 74; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.1.3, Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 5.66.3
- ↑ See Ὑπερίων in An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon.
- ↑ LiBER | Linear B Electronic Resources, KN E 842
- ↑ linearbknossosmycenae
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 371–374; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.2.2. The Homeric Hymn 31 to Helios 1–8 calls Hyperion's sister and mate "Euryphaëssa" probably, an epithet of Theia
- ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae Preface 2
- ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae Preface 13
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 155
- ↑ Apollodorus, 1.1.4
- ↑ Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.289-291; additionally, Aeschylus' lost play Prometheus Unbound features a chorus of freed Titans.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 12.176; Hesiod, Theogony 371–374, 1011; Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter, 26, 74.
- ↑ Helios called Helios Hyperion: Homer, Iliad 8.480, Odyssey 1.8, 12.133, 12.263, 346, 374; called simply Hyperion: Homer, Iliad 19.398, 1.24; Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo, 369.
- ↑ Eumelus fr. 17 West; Mimnermus fr. 12 Gerber; Stesichorus fr. S 17 Campbell [= 185 Poetae Melici Graeci]; Pindar, Olympian Odes 7.39.
- ↑ Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 26; Homeric Hymn 28 to Athena 14; Eumelus of Corinth, Corinthiaca frag 18
- ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 5.67.1.
- ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 3.57.2-8.
- ↑ Pseudo-Plutarch, Placita Philosopharum 1.6
- ↑ Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) 12.8.74
[]
| Titans | |
|---|---|
| Parents | Ouranós • Gaîa |
| Elder Titans | Coeus • Crius • Cronus • Hyperion • Iapetus • Oceanus |
| Elder Titanesses | Phoebe • Mnemosyne • Rhea • Theia • Themis • Tethys |
| Coeonides | Asteria • Leto |
| Crionides | Astraeus • Pallas • Perses |
| Hyperionides | Eos • Hḗlios • Selene |
| Iapetonides | Atlas • Epimetheus • Menoetius • Prometheus |
| Oceanides | Oceanids (Clymene • Metis • Styx • Rhode) • Potamoi |
| Third Generation | Hecate • Astraea • Anemoi • Astra Planeta • Kratos • Nike • Bia • Zelus |
| Miscellaneous Titans | Dione • Anytos • Ophion • Eurynome (wife of Ophion) • Lelantos • Melisseus • Titan (brother of Helios) • Olymbros • Syceus • Titanic Muses |
| Topics | Overthrowing of Ouranós • Titanomachy |