In classical mythology Hyperion was one of the Titan children born of Gaia (the Earth) and Uranus (the Sky). With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (Dawn). Homer refers to the sun as Hyperion and in Greek the name means "he who moves above the earth".

German poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) gave this name to the main character in his novel 'Hyperion', published in 1797-99. The Spanish edition did not appear until 1976 and it was the first book published by the company, which owes its name to the work and uses a profile of Hölderlin himself as the company's logo.

Founded in 1975, Hiperión has published over a thousand titles since then, most of them poetry, including bilingual editions in thirty languages, although the company devotes attention to various other genres, such as essays, narrative, history, philosophy and foreign language manuals. And Hiperión is also a bookshop in the centre of Madrid, near Puerta de Alcalá, focusing on poetry with thousands of titles displayed on tables and shelves.