What are the names of the seven seas mentioned so often in literature?

Historical Interpretation

"The Seven Seas" is a very old term, going back to 2300 BC. Back then, many of the world's oceans hadn't been "discovered", so "seven seas" sort of meant "All the seas of the world".

The term "Seven Seas" appears as early as 2300 BC in Hymn 8 of the Sumerian Enheduanna to the goddess Inanna. The Mesopotamians were the first in the history of astronomy to keep records of the observed seven moving objects in the heavens – the seven Classical Planets/Seven Heavens – and they made this connection to their seven seas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Seas

The number seven has always been mystical and magical, and thus the theory is that it was just chosen out of the air, and later people(s) applied the names of actual "seas" (or other waterways) to come up with seven. Different cultures from different ages and civilizations have different sets of seven "seas".


Modern Interpretation

Since the 19th century, the term has been taken to include seven oceanic bodies of water:

1. the Arctic Ocean
2. the North Atlantic Ocean
3. the South Atlantic Ocean
4. the Indian Ocean
5. the North Pacific Ocean
6. the South Pacific Ocean
7. the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean


[ This is a FAQ. This top post is being used to collect the best answers ]

When Sindbad sailed the seven seas, the people who told the stories did not have a knowledge of the whole of the world, so it would not have been those particular seven. I think the seven seas was just a general term, since story tellers like to put things in sevens.

'The Seven Seas' is an informal expression for all of the oceans of the world.

No one really knows what seven seas the term is referring to, as the term was used before some of the oceans were even known to exist.

To quote from a website: "Some think it refers to the Arctic, Antarctic, North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and Indian oceans while others insist it refers to the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf, Black Sea, Adriatic Sea, Caspian Sea, and Indian Ocean."

http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/6-9-99askeds.html

To the ancients, "seven" often meant "many," and before the fifteenth century, the many seas of the world were:


the Red Sea
the Mediterranean Sea
the Persian Gulf
the Black Sea
the Adriatic Sea
the Caspian Sea
the Indian Ocean

forgot to add ,this is useful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_seas

What are the seven seas?

To the ancients, "seven" often meant "many," and before the fifteenth century, the many seas of the world were:
· the Red Sea
· the Mediterranean Sea
· the Persian Gulf
· the Black Sea
· the Adriatic Sea
· the Caspian Sea
· the Indian Ocean
Today, the world ocean is generally divided into four main oceans:
· the Arctic Ocean
· the Atlantic Ocean
· the Indian Ocean
· the Pacific Ocean
In addition, there are numerous smaller seas.

whoi.edu/info/seven-seas.html webpage no longer exists

My understanding of the "Seven Seas" in the modern world is that they are:

1. Arctic
2. Antarctic
3. Indian
4. North Atlantic
5. South Atlantic
6. North Pacific
7. South Pacific

Hope that helps.

Best wishes

Stephen

The phrase was popularized by Rudyard Kipling who used it as the title of a volume of poems first published in 1896. Kipling himself said the term might be regarded as referring to the seven oceans (named above) even though it was a very old figurative name for all the waters of the world.

It follows then, that the notion of an “Old Salt” is one who “has survived the Seven Seas” was coined to describe just such a sailor: One who sailed with the East India Company for more than a few voyages.
So, to settle this debate, I put forth that The Seven Seas are, and always have been,
1. The South China Sea
2. The Celebes Sea
3. The Timor Sea
4. The Banda Sea
5. The Flores Sea
6. The Java Sea
7. The Sulu Sea

Any old salt who had “sailed the Seven Seas” proved he had been on the old “Clipper Ship” tea route from, China to England, which was the longest trade route under sail and which took the Clippers through any or all of those Seven Seas.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-7733,00.html

Not true, some of us do know what the "real" Seven Seas were! Especially those of us who are members of the Seven Seas Cruising Assoc.

The phrase was popularized by Rudyard Kipling who used it as the title of a volume of poems first published in 1896. Kipling himself said the term might be regarded as referring to the seven oceans (named above) even though it was a very old figurative name for all the waters of the world.

It follows then, that the notion of an “Old Salt” is one who “has survived the Seven Seas” was coined to describe just such a sailor: One who sailed with the East India Company for more than a few voyages.
So, to settle this debate, I put forth that The Seven Seas are, and always have been,
1. The South China Sea
2. The Celebes Sea
3. The Timor Sea
4. The Banda Sea
5. The Flores Sea
6. The Java Sea
7. The Sulu Sea

Any old salt who had “sailed the Seven Seas” proved he had been on the old “Clipper Ship” tea route from, China to England, which was the longest trade route under sail and which took the Clippers through any or all of those Seven Seas.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-7733,00.html

Begging to disagee, the Seven Seas are different depending on when the writer or speaker was. The Romans and Greeks had no knowledge of the South Atlantic or the Pacific, or of any of sailingnanc's list. They were concerned with the Adriatic and other bits of the Mediterranean itself, the Black Sea, the Indian Ocean. the Red Sea and so on. Clipper crews would have a completely different definition, and so would modern round-the-world yachtsmen/women. Basically, seven is one of the magic nembers (Seven Sages, etc) and like 40 in 40 days and 40 nights means 'many' in contexts like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Seas

In Medieval European literature, the Seven Seas referred to the following seas:
the Black Sea
the Caspian Sea
the Persian Gulf
the Red Sea
the Mediterranean Sea, including its marginal seas, notably the Adriatic Sea (which is listed separately among the Seven Seas) and the Aegean Sea.
the Arabian Sea (which is part of the Indian Ocean)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Seas

I think geographers still argue over what the seven seas are. Note that above link goes on to list others such as:

Persians -- The Persians used the term "the Seven Seas" to refer to the streams forming the Oxus River.

Hindus -- The Hindus used the term "the Seven Seas" to refer to the bodies of water in the Punjab.

Also found:

1872, the Arctic, Antarctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/seven%20seas