Like all of the Mediterranean and beyond, Libya is another case of a territory with profound influence from Greek culture and ancient tradition. The name Libya is noted in Ancient Greek Religion, but also forms part of the Ancient Greek world. The Religion of the Greeks, which carries traces of history potentially dates back many thousand years BCE provides an explanation on how the area got its name.
Libya is the daughter of Epafos (son of Zeus and Io) and Memphida (Memphis) and was the queen of the territory that took her name. Lybia had children with Poseidon; these were the twins Aginoras and Vilos and Lamia and Lelegas. Vilos has a son named Egyptos (Egypt, bordering Libya).
The most important point to note here is not so much the story, but the power of the ancient Greek Tradition and language that has allowed for the name to be maintained and to be assimilated in so many languages. This is one other piece of evidence of the profound influence of Greek culture in North Africa. Although so many cultures invaded the Libyan territory, the Greek name of this territory has been maintained and adopted by the vast majority of languages.
One of the most famous Greek cities founded in Libya is Cyrene (pronounced Kirini in Greek) which, according to traditional historians, was founded in 630 BCE. Also, in ancient times the term “Libya” was used to describe all of northern Africa or the whole continent (e.g. Ptolemy).
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