Europa and the Bull
Europa, according to Greek mythology, was a girl who lived a long
time ago, the daughter of the king of the Phoenicians.
Zeus fell in love with her, and in order to
get close to her, he disguised himself as a white
>bull. He carried her away
from Phoenicia, to Crete (where Zeus himself stayed as
a baby, so you might say it was his home), and she became the mother
of King Minos of Crete. From her name, she
does seem to have something to do with Europe, but it is not clear exactly
what.
Europa holding the horn of Zeus (disguised as a bull) - Athenian vase found in northern Italy, 480 BC
To find out more about Europa, check out this book from Amazon.com or from your local library:
D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, by Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaire.
Main Greek religion page
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