Aeaea

Aeaea (sometimes Aiaia) was a possibly mythological island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe.

Though the somewhat inconsistent geography of the Odyssey is more mythic than literal, Aeaea was later identified by classical Roman writers with Mount Circeo on Cape Circaeum on the western coast of Italy — about 100 kilometers south of Rome — which may have looked like an island due to the marshes and sea surrounding its base but is, in fact, a small peninsula. It was already a peninsula in the days of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, according to his work. However, it may have been still an island in the days of Homer, with a long "lido" or sandy peninsula that gradually became attached to the mainland, in a common geological process.

Archeologists have identified one cave or grotto on the cape as "Grotta della Maga Circe", the cave of Circe. A second was found on the nearby Island of Ponza. It is believed that the Circe had her Summer home on Mount Circe and her Winter home on Ponza which may possibly be the island of Aeaea.

Before leaving Aeaea, Odysseus was given instructions by Circe on how to travel to the underworld:

Other hypothetical locations of Aeaea

Robert Graves (The Greek Myths) identifies the island of Lošinj near mouth of the Po River in the North Adriatic Sea as Aeaea.

Tim Severin (The Ulyssess Voyage) identifies the island of Paxos in the Ionian Sea near the Greek coast as Aeaea.

Iman Wilkens (Where Troy Once Stood) identifies the island of Schouwen at the delta formed by the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt as Aeaea.

Aeaea as epithet or surname

Aeaea was also used as a surname for several characters in Greek mythology. Medea Aeaea, derived from Aea, the country where her father Aeëtes ruled. It was also a surname of Circe, who was the sister of Aeëtes. Her son Telegonus is likewise mentioned with this surname. It was also a surname of Calypso, who was believed to have inhabited a small island of the name of Aeaea in the straits between Italy and Sicily.

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