To the east it connects to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. The Sea of Marmara, which is an inner sea like the Black Sea, is rarely considered as a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The much bigger Black Sea is generally not considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The Ancient Greeks called the Mediterranean simply ἡ θάλασσα (hē thálassa; "the Sea") or sometimes ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα (hē megálē thálassa; "the Great Sea"), ἡ ἡμετέρα θάλασσα (hē hēmetérā thálassa; "Our Sea"), or ἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ'ἡμᾶς (hē thálassa hē kath’hēmâs; "the sea around us").