Page "Atlantic Ocean" Paragraph 3

The oldest known mention of " Atlantic " is in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC ( Hdt.

1. 202. 4 ): Atlantis thalassa ( Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα ; English: Sea of Atlas ).

The term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was applied to the southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century.

Before Europeans discovered other oceans, the term " ocean " itself was synonymous with the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar that we now know as the Atlantic.

The early Greeks believed this ocean to be a gigantic river encircling the world.