Slave of Isis Wrote:
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> In Greek legend, which was probably influenced by
> the Druid presence in Greece for at least six
> centuries before the Christian era,

Druids in Greece in 500 BC? Do you have any evidence for this?

> Hecate of Abdera (lived 400 BC)

I think you might mean Hecataeus of Abdera, who lived in the 4th century BC; his book "On the Hyperboreans" has been lost, apart from some fragments quoted in Diodorus of Sicily.

> referred to the British Isles as being a
> remnant of Hyperborea "lost beyond the ice of the
> Far North". In this legend, Britain was identified
> as the "Land of the Dead of Sacred Thule" and
> Stonehenge was a temple to Apollo.

Pg. 139 of Diodorus' text gives an account of the legend, from which come the following quotes:

"Hecateus and some others say, that there is an island in the ocean over against Gaul, (as big as Sicily) under the arctic pole, where the Hyperboreans inhabit; so called because they lie beyond the breezes of the north wind.

"… [Apollo] who has there a stately grove and renowned temple, of a round form, beautified with many rich gifts. … [T]here is a city likewise consecrated to this god, whose citizens are most of them harpers, who, while playing on the harp, chant sacred hymns to Apollo in the temple, setting forth his glorious acts."

There is no mention of Stonehenge. IIRC, Robert Graves' "White Goddess" [which, as an archive search will reveal, has been discussed several times on these boards] does suggest somewhere that the legend might have been referring to Stonehenge; but I know of no subsequent discussion, or widespread acceptance, of this particular theory.

> This may explain the idea of Stonehenge being a
> "centre for healing".

Do you have a reference for this?

Hermione
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