Abaris was a magician and hermeticist of Scythia, an ancient culture on the north shore of the Black Sea. He is said to be the teacher of Pythagoras. He claimed to possess a golden arrow (the "dart of Abaris"), given to him by Apollo (Abaris was one of his priests), by means of which he could travel through the air and become invisible. Pythagoras stole (some accounts say that it was freely given) this arrow from him, and accomplished many wonderful feats by its aid. Abaris was also said to have lived without eating or drinking, besides foretelling the future, pacifying storms and banishing disease.

Abaris was mentioned by Herodotus, Pindar and others, and surnamed 'the Hyperborean'. With the bones of Pelops he made a statue of Minerva, which he sold to the Trojans as a talisman descended from heaven. This was the famous Palladium, which protected and rendered impregnable the town wherein it was lodged. Suidas also credits Abaris with several works: Scythian oracles, the visit of Apollo to the Hyperboreans, expiatory formulas and a prose theogony.