ABSTRACT
Oceanus [ō′se-anus] The Oceanus, or Ocean, was in early times the name of a mythical river that was thought to flow round the edge of the world. It was sometimes said to be the source of all ordinary springs and rivers; at Eur. Hipp. 121 it is the source of a particular spring, probably one that actually existed at Trozen and flowed throughout the year. As the Greeks’ geographical knowledge increased, Oceanus came to be identified with the sea beyond the Pillars of Heracles, i.e. the Atlantic.
