Can Greek form other compound words like "Hyperborea"?

Question

In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans were a race of giants that lived in a sort of paradise, where the sun shone constantly and everyone was perfectly happy. The land was supposedly located so far to the north that it was beyond the north wind, hence the name "hyper Boreas" -- Boreas being the god of the north wind.

The name is the interesting part of this legend to me. Could other names be formed similarly, such as "Hyper[want]" to describe a place located "beyond want" where all have plenty? Or "Hyper[Ares]" to describe a place that's peaceful because it's beyond the reach of the god of war? Does Greek form compound words like this? Does the prefix "hyper" carry this connotation in Greek anymore (or in any context besides the lone word Hyperborea)?

Answer 1

Anticipating a professional philologist's answer, I'm just pointing out you got the construction slightly wrong. Ὑπέρ is "beyond", "trans", but normally in a sense of excess, that is "more so", as in "hyperplasia"; not opposition, "so far beyond to effectively negate", or "beyond the reach of", as you want.

So ὑπερένδεια would be extreme want, not plenty, etc... Your ὑπερβόρειοι are beyond normal northern, so ultra northern.

(Stricty) formal Modern Greek hearkens to classical Greek, and certainly uses the construction; cf. Υπεριορδανία = trans-Jordan, (Jordan); Υπερπέραν = beyond the out-there (outer space); Yπερπόντιος= trans-oceanic; Υπερατλαντικός= transatlantic; you might argue Υπερφυσικός= supernatural came close to your target, but the sense is again "stronger than naturally strong", over and above, so you'd not think of peaceful as being beyond belligerent.

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Weasel qualifiers: Indeed, there is a metaphorical sense of transgression, in violation of, in spite of: “Αἰνεία, πῶς ἂν καὶ ὑπὲρ θεὸν εἰρύσσαισθε [Iliad 17.327].