He was said to be endowed with the gift of prophecy, and along with his Scythian dress, simplicity, and honesty, he created great sensation in Greece, and was held in high esteem.
Plato (Charmides 158C) classes him amongst the "Thracian physicians" who practice medicine upon the soul as well as the body by means of "incantations" (ἐπωδαί, epodaí[5]).
Iamblichus also attributes a special expertise at extispicy to Abaris, the art of divination through the examination of anomalies in the entrails of animals.
[7] The Suda attributes a number of books to Abaris, including a volume of Scythian Oracles in dactylic hexameter, a prose theogony, a poem on the marriage of the river Hebrus, a work on purifications, and an account of Apollo's visit to the Hyperboreans.
Eighteenth century Bath architect John Wood, the Elder wrote about Abaris, and put forth the fanciful suggestion that he should be identified with King Bladud.