Hyperion (mythology)

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Hyperion (Greek Ὑπερίων) is a Titan, the son of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus Helios Hyperion, 'Sun High-one'. But in the Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter the Sun is once in each work called Hyperionides 'son of Hyperion' and Hesiod certainly imagines Hyperion as a separate being in other places. In later Greek literature, Hyperion is always distinguished from Helios.

Hyperion plays virtually no role in Greek culture and little role in mythology, save in lists of the twelve Titans. Later Greeks intellectualized their myths:

"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 (5.67.1)

Fiction inspired by or connected to Hyperion

• In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet compares his father (the late Old Hamlet) to Hyperion and his usurping uncle Claudius to a satyr: "Hyperion to a satyr," (Act I Scene II). Hyperion is mentioned again in Act 3, Scene 4.
• John Keats wrote the poems "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion" in his honour.
• Keats' poems were the inspiration for the science fiction novels Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
• Hyperion was the lead flagship of Arcturus Mengsk's and later Jim Raynor's breakaway faction in StarCraft.
• Hyperion is a Superman pastiche and leader of a Justice League clone known as the Squadron Supreme and Squadron Sinister in Marvel comics.
• A version of Hyperion appears in Megumu Okada's Saint Seiya Episode G.
• Hyperion is the only novel of the German romantic poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843).
• The Hyperion is featured in Final Fantasy VIII as Seifer Almasy's "Gunblade".
• Hyperion also appears in Xena: Warrior Princess, Season One, Episode 7, 'The Titans.'
• Hyperion is the name of a sea-going vessel in Joseph Conrad's short story Initiation.
• Angel Investigations runs out of the Hyperion Hotel in the Angel television show.
• Hyperion is the middle name of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Malfoy's son Scorpius in the Harry Potter series.
• Hyperion Avenue is the street address of Lois Lane and Clark Kent's townhouse on the television show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
• Gabrielle awakens Hyperion and two other titans in an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess called "The Titans."

External links

• Theoi Project - Hyperion

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 16:34:01 PDT (GMT -0700)
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