Thasos

, or Thasus , a small island in the Ægean, on the coast of Thrace, opposite the mouth of the Nestus, anciently known by the name of Æria , Odonis , Æthria , Acte , Ogygia , Chryse , and Ceresis . It received that of Thasos from Thasus the son of Agenor, who settled there when he despaired of finding his sister Europa. It was about 40 miles in circumference, and so uncommonly fruitful, that the fertility of Thasos became proverbial. Its wine was universally esteemed, and its marble quarries were also in great repute, as well as its mines of gold and silver. The capital of the island was also called Thasos. Livy , bk. 33 , chs. 30 & 55.— Hero dot us , bk. 2 , ch. 44 .— Mela , bk. 2 , ch. 7 .— Pausanias , bk. 5 , ch. 25 .— Ælian , Varia Hist or i a , bk. 4 , . — Virgil , Georgics , bk. 2 , li. 91 .— Cornel i us Nepos , Cimon , ch. 2 .