Geographical term in classical Greek literature for the upper Nile and areas south of the Sahara
This article is about the Classical Greek term. For the modern country, see Ethiopia. For the genus of beetles, see Aethiopia (beetle). For the Billy Woods album, see Aethiopes (album).
The inhabited world according to Herodotus: Libya (Africa) is imagined as extending no further south than the Horn of Africa, terminating in the uninhabitable desert. All peoples inhabiting the southernmost fringes of the inhabitable world are known as Ethiopians (after their dark skin). At the extreme south-east of the continent are the Macrobians, so-called for their longevity.
Ancient Aethiopia, (Greek: Αἰθιοπία, romanized: Aithiopía; Aethiopia and also Ethiopia) first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the upper Nile region of Sudan, areas south of the Sahara, and certain areas in Asia. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad,[1] and three times in the Odyssey.[2] The Greek historian Herodotus uses the appellation to refer to such parts of sub-Saharan Africa as were then part of the known world.[3]
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