3. Prolongevity legends may be divided into three
groups. First is the “antediluvian”: that people lived
much longer in the past. In Genesis 5, 9:29 are spans
as high as 969 years (Methuselah). Antediluvian tradi-
tions are subsidiary variants of primitivism.
The “hyperborean” theme is based on Greek legends
of long-lived people in the North. The Greeks also had
Isles of the Blest, usually in the Atlantic. “Hyperbo-
rean” legends are significant in China, because they
strengthened Taoist prolongevitism. The most vivid
hyperborean-type legends were Celtic: a land of youth
in Western islands, and a “magic cauldron” (the medi-
eval Holy Grail). Such legends stimulated exploration;
e.g., Columbus' search for a new route to the East.
The “fountain” theme is typified by the Fountain
of Youth. This story has been traced to the Hindu
legend of Cyavana (before 700 B.C.) which blended
with Hebrew legends, the Christian Fountain of Life,
and Greek legends of Glaukus, who became immortal
by eating a marvelous herb. Alexander the Great's
search for a fountain in the East, in Arabic legend,
features el Khidr, “the Green One,” modeled on
Glaukus (Koran, Sura 18:61-95). The Alexander legend
attained finest expression in twelfth-century French
romance, and, by the time of Ponce de León, Spanish
explorers certainly might think of a fountain of youth
in “the Indies.” Aside from the waters of a fountain,
there are mentioned in folklore a multitude of other
substances with the power of prolonging life because
of divine, magical, or empirical properties.
Miscellaneous prolongevity themes include the
challenging phoenix theme that there exist animals
enjoying greater length of life than man, and the
Endymion theme that youth might be preserved by
trance-like sleep.
