The Tyrrhenian Sea
West of the Italian peninsula, off the coasts of Tuscany, those of Lazio, Campania, and Calabria, and enclosed by the large islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, lies a marine area covering approximately 275,000 square kilometres. This is the Tyrrhenian Sea, an extension of the Mediterranean.
The International Hydrographic Organization's publication, Limits of Oceans and Seas, in its third edition published in Monte Carlo, concisely defines its geographical boundaries: “In the Strait of Messina: a line joining the North extreme of Cape Paci with the East extreme of the Island of Sicily, Cape Peloro. On the Southwest: a line running from Cape Lilibeo (West extreme of Sicily) to the South extreme of Cape Teulada in Sardinia. In the Strait of Bonifacio: a line joining the West extreme of Cape Testa in Sardinia with the Southwest extreme of Cape Feno in Corsica. On the North: a line joining Cape Corse (Cape Grosso) in Corsica, with Tinetto Island and thence through Tino and Palmaria islands to San Pietro Point on the coast of Italy”. (Limits of oceans and seas, Third edition of special publication no. 28 of 1953, p. 17, Monaco.) The Tyrrhenian Sea connects with the Western Mediterranean through the wide passage between the islands of Sicily and Sardinia; through the Corsican Channel and the Strait of Bonifacio, the eleven kilometres separating the latter island from Sardinia; but also with the Ionian Sea, through the Strait of Messina, where classical authors placed the monstrous Scylla and Charybdis; or, north of the island of Elba, with the Ligurian Sea.
In addition to the three large islands, three of the four largest in the Mediterranean —Corsica is smaller than Cyprus — there are a myriad of smaller islands and archipelagos. Among them is the Tuscan one, which splits the Tyrrhenian Sea from the aforementioned Ligurian; the Pontine Islands, northwest of Naples; and closer to the capital of Campania Ischia, Procida, and Capri, enclose the Gulf of Naples. To the west of Sicily lie the Aegadian Islands, and to the north, the Aeolian, near the Strait of Messina; some have become famous not only as film locations but also because of the fault line that divides Europe from Africa and causes earthquakes and eruptions as notorious as the one that destroyed Pompeii.
Three powers fought, at one time or another, for control of the Tyrrhenian Sea: the Etruscans, the Carthaginians, and the Greeks. The Battle of Cumae, won by Greek colonists in 474 BC, marked the southern limit of Etruscan influence, while, conversely, it was the Etruscans who, allied with Carthage, expelled the Phocaeans from Alalia, in Corsica. The Carthaginians controlled the western coasts of Sicily, where they had founded the cities of Lilybaeum (Marsala), Munzia, Panormos (Palermo), and Soluntum. It was on this island that they clashed with the Greek colonies on more than one occasion, until both were defeated by the rising power of Rome. After wars waged primarily against the Carthaginians, including the famous Battle of the Aegadians, Rome took control of the territory and laid the foundations for what would become its private sea: the Mare Nostrum (Our Sea).
The origins of the name Tyrrhenian are to be found in the abundant material provided by myths and legends. In the same territory they called Tyrrhenia, although it was also known as Etruria, twelve cities were founded, which became the main Etruscan settlements. Herodotus, Strabo and other Greco-Roman authors link the origin of the Italic peoples —Etruscans and Latins — with the fall of Troy, either through Tyrrhenus or with the voyage of Aeneas.
According to some sources, Tyrrhenus was the son of Attis and Callitea, in others of Heracles and the Lydian princess Omphale. Robert Graves notes both options: “He (Heracles) fathered on her (Omphale) three sons (…) Some add a fourth, Tyrrhenus, or Tyrsenus, who invented the trumpet and led Lydian emigrants to Etruria, where they took the name Tyrrhenians; but it is more probable that Tyrrhenus was the son of King Atys, and a remote descendant of Heracles and Omphale”. (Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, 136 g). Strabo wrote in his Geography: “It is true that the Romans refer to the Tyrrhenians as ‘Etruscans’ and ‘Tuscans.’ But the Greeks so named them, it is said, in memory of Tyrrhenus, son of Attis, who sent colonists here from Lydia. Indeed, because of famine and hardship, Atys, one of the descendants of Heracles and Omphale, of his two sons, was allotted Lydum by lot, while he sent Tyrrhenus on an expedition accompanied by most of his people. Upon his arrival, he named this territory after himself, Tyrrhenia, and founded twelve cities”. (Strabo, Geography, Book V, 2.2). Herodotus, in his History, also points to the famine in the kingdom of Lydia, in Asia Minor, as the main cause of the emigration: “In the time of King Atys, son of Manes, there was a great famine throughout the land of Lydia. At first, the Lydians endured it with great patience, but seeing that the situation persisted, they sought remedies. (…) Since the famine did not abate, but rather worsened, the king divided all the Lydians into two groups and cast lots: some would stay, others would leave the country. (…) And they set sail in search of lands that would provide them with food; after traveling through many peoples, they arrived in the land of the Umbrians and there founded the city in which they still live today. They changed their name from Lydians to the name of the king who had led them, forming their name after him, so that they are called Tyrrhenians”. (Herodotus, History, Book I.94). Although there are more creative versions, such as that of Hyginus in his Mythological Fabulae: “When the Tyrrhenians —later called Etruscans — practiced piracy, Father Liber, still beardless, boarded their ship and asked them to take him to Naxos. They took him aboard and tried to rape him because of his beauty, but Acetes, the helmsman, prevented it and suffered unjustly at their hands. Liber, seeing that they persisted in their purpose, transformed the oars into thyrsi, the sails into vine leaves, the rigging into ivy; then lions and panthers leaped out. They, seeing this, threw themselves in terror into the sea; and in the sea he transformed them into another kind of beast, because everyone who had jumped in took the form of a dolphin. That is why dolphins are called Tyrrhenians and the sea is called the Tyrrhenian Sea”. (Hyginus, Mythological Fabulae, 134).
There have also been versions that have placed Odysseus's journey back to his native Ithaca in the Tyrrhenian Sea and around Sicily, even locating the legendary Ionian island in the Aegadian archipelago. Some of the Tyrrhenian islands claim their association with one or another book of the Odyssey.
Today, to reach the islands that dot this sea, apart from a few heliports, it is necessary to take one of the various ferry companies that connect the mainland with each of them and, in some cases, also between them.
© J.L.Nicolas
