What we call magnets are pieces of magnetite that attract iron or steel. "The magnet stone," ho magnetis lithos (ὁ μαγνῆτις λίθος) in Greek, referred to magnetized ore that came from the region called Magnesia in Thessaly. The ancient Greeks were fascinated by the properties of this stone; it comes up frequently in natural philosophy texts and even in an ancient romance-adventure novel as an example of love and attraction in the natural world.