Abaris, the Scythian, known to us for his visit to Greece, was by all
accounts a great magician. Herodotus says [37] that he is reported to
have travelled over the world with an arrow, eating nothing during his
journey. Other authors relate that this arrow was given to him by
Apollo, and that he rode upon it through the air, over lands, and
seas, and all inaccessible places. [38] The time in which he flourished
is very uncertain, some having represented him as having constructed
the Palladium, which, as long as it was preserved, kept Troy from
being taken by an enemy, [39] and others affirming that he was
familiar with Pythagoras, who lived six hundred years later, and that
he was admitted into his special confidence. [40] He is said to have
possessed the faculty of foretelling earthquakes, allaying storms, and
driving away pestilence; he gave out predictions wherever he went; and
is described as an enchanter, professing to cure diseases by virtue of
certain words which he pronounced over those who were afflicted with
them. [41]