The Seven Seas actually refers to the world's oceans. The Atlantic and Pacific are divided into two (North and South), plus the Arctic, Antarctic (or Southern), and Indian Oceans. Reference: http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761565525/Seven_Seas.html

There is no definitive answer to this question. The phrase is a figure of speech and has been used to refer to different bodies of water at various times and places. Some ancient civilizations used the phrase “seven seas” to describe the bodies of water known at that time. The ancient Romans called the lagoons separated from the open sea near Venice the septem maria or seven seas. Most current sources state that "seven seas" referred to the Indian Ocean, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Persian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. Not all geographers agree on this list of seven, believing that the seven seas reference will be different depending upon the part of the world and the time period in question. Some geographers point to the Age of Discovery and suggest that the seven seas represent the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Other geographers state that the seven seas were the Mediterranean and Red Seas, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, China Sea, and the West and East African Seas. Today we recognize more than 50 seas worldwide. A sea is defined as a division of the ocean which is enclosed or partially enclosed by land. With that said, the Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, and Aral Sea are actually saltwater lakes, because they lack an outlet to the ocean. Conversely, by this definition, the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay are seas. http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/seas.html

I think SilentSerenity's on the right track. Lists will vary with time and culture. The quantity seven would be favored because of its association with the idea of completion or totaltiy. I wouldn't be surprised if the person using the phrase rarely knows what he has in mind, but is simply using a picturesque phrase for "the entire world".

Here's some interesting information about the "Seven Seas" from: --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_seas "Medieval European and Arabic literature often spoke of the Seven Seas. Which seven seas are intended depends on the context. The phrase "seven seas" appears in a translation of one of Enheduanna's hymns to Inanna (Hymn 8), written about 2300 BC in Sumer (Meador 2001). The "Seven Seas" was a commonplace phrase in many ancient literatures before it was taken up by the Greeks and Romans. The number seven has ancient magic of its own in many traditions, informing many groupings of seven. "Seven as an indefinite number remains for a long time synonymous with "several," as in the Greek Seven Seas," Hopkins 1923. In Greek and Western culture, the "seven" seas were arbitrary and changed over time, varying depending upon the part of the world and the period of time. However, they were usually seven out of the following list of nine bodies of water: Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Arabian Sea Black Sea Caspian Sea Indian Ocean Mediterranean Sea Persian Gulf Red Sea Other sets of seas Not all Roman uses of septem maria (Latin) would strike a responsive chord today. The navigable network in the mouths of the Po river discharge into saltmarshes on the Adriatic shore; these were locally called the "Seven Seas" in ancient Roman times. Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and fleet commander, wrote about these lagoons, separated from the open sea by sandbanks: "All those rivers and trenches were first made by the Etruscans, thus discharging the flow of the river across the marshes of the Atriani called the Seven Seas, with the famous harbor of the Etruscan town of Atria which formerly gave the name of Atriatic to the sea now called the Adriatic." (Historia Naturalis, III 120[1]. Thus today at the Septem Maria Museum we can trace water civilization from protohistory until today. This early cultural root may be visited at Adria in Rovigo, the modern Atria [2]. John Lightfoot mentions a very different set of seas in his Commentary on the New Testament. A chapter titled The seven Seas according to the Talmudists, and the four Rivers compassing the Land includes the Great Sea (now called the Mediterranean Sea), the sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), the sea of Sodom (Dead Sea), the lake of Samocho, and the Sibbichaean. [3] Though the ancient sailors were not aware of all of them, under some geographical classification schemes, there actually are seven oceans in the world: Northern Atlantic Ocean Southern Atlantic Ocean Northern Pacific Ocean Southern Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Southern Ocean Arctic Ocean However, paleogeography demonstrates that although these oceans have been present as long as humans have been around, some of these oceans were not present millions of years ago."

YES HISTORY IS A VERY DEBATABLE SUBJECT AND EVERY HISTORY SCHOLAR WILL HAVE A DIFFERENT STORY AND LOGIG

If I google them.

can you name the seven wonders? ; )

yes sea 1, sea 2,sea 3,sea 4,sea 5,sea 6,sea 7