aegaeus

I. Ægean; hence, Mărĕ Aegaeum (Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος, τό, or πόντος Αιγαῖος, ὁ, Xen. Oec. 20, 27), the Ægean Sea, extending eastwards from the coast of Greece to Asia Minor, now called the Archipelago, and by the Turks the White Sea, to distinguish it from the Black Sea: insula Delos in Aegaeo mari posita, Cic. Imp. Pomp. 18.—In the poets also absol.: Aegaeum, i, n., for Aegaeum mare: in patenti Aegaeo, Hor. C. 2, 16, 1; Pers. 5, 142; cf. Burm. Prop. 3, 5, 51. [The etymol. was unknown even to the ancients. Acc. to some, from Ægeus, father of Theseus, who threw himself into this sea; acc. to Varr. L. L. 6, 2 fin., from αἶγες, goats, since the sea, from the many islands rising out of it, resembled a flock of goats; Strabo derives the name from Ægææ, a town in Eubœa.]—Hence, adj.: Aegaeus, a, um, pertaining to the Ægean Sea: gurges, Cic. Arat. 422: tumultus, Hor. C. 3, 29, 63: Neptunus, Verg. A. 3, 74: Cyclades, which lie in it, Ov. Tr. 1, 11, 8: Venus, since she was said to have sprung from the Ægean Sea, Stat. Th. 8, 478.