Weird A-Z. H is for The Heliades - The People of the Sun

Weird A-Z. H is for The Heliades - The People of the Sun

In Greek mythology, this was a seven-island paradise of the far south, located beyond Ethiopia and India in the Great Ocean stream. A land of peace and plenty, there was no winter or war, and the isles were rich with forests of ever fruiting trees. 

The inhabitants were beautiful and virtuous, tall and completely hairless except for their heads, chins and brows. The islanders had flexible, rubbery bones, large ears, and split tongues which allowed them to carry on two conversations at the same time.

They could mimic the sounds of animals and birds, and dressed in tich purple linen robes. The People of the Sun, however, were required to undergo a form of euthanasia at the age of 150. They lay upon a magical plant which brought about a painless, sleep-like death.

Their lives and bodies were otherwise untouched by death and disease, and accidentally severed limbs could be re-attached by means of a magical glue extracted from the blood of the Amphisbaena, the magical tortoises that lived on the isles.

Each of the seven Islands was ruled by a king, the oldest man on the island, who at the age of 150 was succeeded by the next eldest in line. 

The nation possessed no families, as the children were raised communally, in a way that prohibited all knowledge of parentage. 

At birth the infants were placed on the back of a magical bird to determine their spiritual disposition. Those who failed the test were rejected and left in the wilderness to die.