Which seas are the seven seas?

Answer 1

In looking over the answeres previously listed, I've come to the conclusion that no one really knows what seas made up the 7 ancient seas. So looking at a modern day map here is my educated guess on the 7 ancient seas going from East to West;

Black Sea

Aegean Sea - b/w Greece & Turkey

Ionian Sea - b/w Greece & S. Italy

Adriatic Sea - b/w Italy & Balkans (former Yugoslavia)

Tyrrhenian Sea - b/w Italy & islands of Sardina, Corsica, Sicily

Baleric Sea - S. France & N. Spain

Alboran Sea - b/w Spain & N. Africa

With the exception of the Black Sea, the other 6 Seas make up the Mediterranean, where the ancient Greeks would have been sailing. I'm not saying that I'm guaranteed right, but it makes sense to me that the ancient Greeks/Romans were smart enough to either include all of the seas making up the Mediterranean in the 7 or to just list the Mediterranean. But for them to pick & choose which seas making up the Mediterranean and then lump the rest in as the Mediterranean doesn't make sense to me. Would the ancient have said we'll include the Adriatic & Aegean but not the Ionian or Tyrrhenian? And all 6 of the seas listed above were known to them at the time. This is just my opinion though.

The term 'Seven Seas' has changed over time, and even in modern times is subject to interpretation. In ancient times, the seven seas were variations of these:

• The Mediterranean Sea (including the Aegean Sea)
• The Adriatic Sea
• The Black Sea
• The Red Sea (including the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee)
• The Arabian Sea (which included part of the Indian Ocean)
• The Persian Gulf
• The Caspian Sea

Some modern lists:

• The Pacific Ocean
• The Atlantic Ocean
• The Indian Ocean
• The Arctic Ocean
• The Mediterranean Sea
• The Caribbean Sea
• The Gulf of Mexico

OR, no seas at all:

• The North Pacific Ocean
• The South Pacific Ocean
• The North Atlantic Ocean
• The South Pacific Ocean
• The Indian Ocean
• The Southern Ocean
• The Arctic Ocean

If that wasn't confusing enough, sometimes the term 'Seven Seas' is used as a metaphorical term and doesn't refer to a list at all.

Answer 2

The term "Seven Seas" historically referred to bodies of water around the Mediterranean Sea and Indian ocean. It is thought to represent the Aegean, Adriatic, Mediterranean, Black, Red, Arabian, and Caspian Seas. Today, it is commonly used as a metaphor for all the world's oceans.

Answer 3

They are probably the Adriatic Sea, Arabian Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea.