Fortunate Isles

This article is about the legendary islands of Greek mythology. For the islands in the Atlantic Ocean, see Macaronesia.
Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) by Hartmann Schedel depicting the Fortunate Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
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The Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed[1][2] (Ancient Greek: μακάρων νῆσοι, makarōn nēsoi)[3] were semi-legendary islands in the Atlantic Ocean, variously treated as a simple geographical location and as a winterless earthly paradise inhabited by the heroes of Greek mythology. In the time of Hesiod, the Fortunate Isles were associated with the concept of Elysium, a utopian location in the Greek underworld thought to be found in the Western ocean on the margin of the known world.[4][5] The number of the islands would later be reduced to one by the poet Pindar.[5]

  1. ^ AncientHistoryMaps (1697), Cartes et Tables de la Geographie Ancienne - Sanson, retrieved 2018-03-17
  2. ^ Sanson, Nicolas (1697). "Cartes et Tables de la Geographie Ancienne". Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  3. ^ Hard, p. 116.
  4. ^ Peck, Harry Thurston (1897). Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. Harper & brothers.
  5. ^ a b Sacks, David (1995). A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511206-1.