Description
The Aegean Sea was known in Ancient Greece as Archipelago, meaning “chief sea.” The multitude islands of the sea became its description, and the word archipelago came to mean a large group or chain of islands.
In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean. It was said to have been named after the Greek town of Aegae, or after Aegea, a queen of the Amazons who died in the sea, or Aigaion, the “sea goat,” another name of Briareus, one of the archaic Hecatonchires, or, especially among the Athenians, Aegeus, the father of Theseus, who drowned himself in the sea when he thought his son had died.
