Hyperion (mythology)

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Greek deities series
Primordial deities
Olympians
Aquatic deities
Chthonic deities
Personified concepts
Other deities
Titans
The Twelve Titans:
Oceanus and Tethys,
Hyperion and Theia,
Coeus and Phoebe,
Cronus and Rhea,
Mnemosyne, Themis,
Crius, Iapetus
Sons of Iapetus:
Atlas, Prometheus,
Epimetheus, Menoetius

In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey the sun god is called 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 Hyperonides 'son of Hyperion' and Hesiod certainly imagines Hyperion as a separate being in other places.

Hyperion is often considered the 'God of Observation' and is the brother of Theia the 'Goddess of Sight.'

In later Greek literature Hyperion is always distinguished from Helios as a Titan, the son of Gaia 'Goddess Earth' and Uranus 'God Sky', and the father of Helios 'God Sun', Selene 'Goddess Moon' and Eos 'Goddess Dawn' by his sister Theia 'Goddess Sight' or, in the Homeric Hymn to Helios, Euryphaessa:

"Theia yielded to Hyperion's love and gave birth
to great Helios and bright Selene and Eos,
who brings light to all the mortals of this earth
and to the immortal gods who rule the wide sky."
(Hesiod, Theogony, 371-374)

Hyperion plays virtually no role in Greek cult 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)

[edit] Fiction inspired by or connected to Hyperion

For uses of Hyperion unrelated to Greek mythology, see Hyperion.

Marvel's Superman counterpart is named Hyperion. He appears in Squadron Supreme and Supreme Power.
John Keats wrote the poems "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion" in his honour.
Dan Simmons's books Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion in the Hyperion Cantos are named after John Keats' writings.
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.
Jim Raynor's Behemoth-Class battlecruiser, appearing in the StarCraft video and computer game series, is named the "Hyperion."
In the MMO computer game EVE Online a powerful new class of battleship has just been named after Hyperion.
In Gundam Seed Astray X CAT1-X Hyperion Gundam series are named after Hyperion.
In the PlayStation game, Final Fantasy VIII, the antagonist Seifer Almasy's weapon is named Hyperion.
In another PlayStation game, Einhänder, Hyperion is the name of a lunar defense satellite which relays tactical information to the player between missions.
In the tabletop miniatures game Babylon 5: A Call to Power, a class of Earth Alliance cruisers are named after Hyperion.
In the TV series Angel, Hyperion is the name of the hotel from which Angel Investigations conduct their activities from seasons 2 through to 4.
In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, an orbital particle beam weapons platform is referred to as "Hyperion Class."
In the RPG computer game Empire Earth, one of the cyber robots that can be built in the Digital and Nano Ages is called Hyperion
In the PC game Total Annihilation, the home planet of the ARM forces is named Hyperion.
Hyperion is one of the three Titans Xena meets and defeats in the Xena, Warrior Princess Season 1 episode, "The Titans".
In the PC game X3: Reunion, the new M7 class ship of the Paranid Race is the Hyperion class.