Europa

Europa was a Phoenician princess, the daughter of Agenor (or, in Homer, of Phoenix), whom Zeus carried off to Crete in the form of a bull. She became the mother of Minos and Rhadamanthys, and in some accounts of Sarpedon, and the continent of Europe is said to have taken its name from her.

Who Was Europa?

Family

Apollodorus says that Agenor went to Phoenicia, married Telephassa, and had a daughter Europa and three sons, Cadmus, Phoenix and Cilix; he adds that some make Europa a daughter of Phoenix instead (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1). That second version is Homer’s: in the Iliad Zeus himself, listing the women he has loved, speaks of the “daughter of far-famed Phoenix, who bore me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthys” (Homer, Iliad 14.321–322). Hyginus gives her mother as Argiope and her home as Sidon (Hyginus, Fabulae 178), while Herodotus calls her the Tyrian Europa (Herodotus 4.45).

Zeus and Europa

The Bull

Zeus saw Europa, in the early tradition gathering flowers in a meadow with nymphs, and fell in love with her. He changed himself into a bull and breathed a crocus from his mouth; so he deceived her, and she mounted his back (Hesiod, Catalogue fragment 19, quoted in the scholiast on Iliad 12.292). This fragment, like Homer, calls her the daughter of Phoenix. Apollodorus says simply that Zeus loved her and, turning himself into a tame bull, mounted her on his back and carried her across the sea to Crete (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1).

Ovid tells the story at length. Zeus is the white bull among the royal herd by the shore, gentle enough that the girl strokes it and puts garlands on its horns. She dares to sit on its back, and the god walks into the water and carries her out to sea while she looks back at the shore and clings to a horn (Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875).

The Dream and the Sea Journey

The fullest ancient telling is the short Greek poem Europa by Moschus. Before dawn Aphrodite sends Europa a dream in which two lands in the shape of women quarrel over her: Asia, who says Europa was born in her and belongs to her, and the land across the sea, which claims her as the gift of Zeus. Troubled, Europa rises, calls her companions, girls of her own age, and goes with them to gather flowers in the meadows by the sea, carrying a golden basket made by Hephaestus. Zeus, struck by the shafts of Aphrodite and wishing to escape the anger of jealous Hera, hides his godhead and becomes a bull with a fragrance sweeter than the meadows. The girls stroke him; he kneels before Europa, she sits on his back, and he rushes into the sea. Nereids ride beside them on sea-beasts, Poseidon smooths the waves for his brother, and the Tritons blow their conches. Europa begs the bull to say who he is; Zeus answers that he is Zeus, that Crete, his own nurse, will receive her, and that she will bear him glorious sons who will be kings (Moschus, Europa).

Crete

Zeus took her to Crete. A Hesiodic fragment says that she crossed the sea to Crete beguiled by his tricks, and that Zeus gave her the golden necklace that Hephaestus had made (Hesiod, Catalogue fragment 19A). In the Iliad Zeus himself names Europa to Hera among the women he has loved (Iliad 14.317–322), so Hera is not kept ignorant of the affair in the oldest source.

The Children of Europa

Apollodorus says that Zeus bedded with Europa in Crete and that she bore Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys; he notes that Homer makes Sarpedon the son of Zeus and Laodameia, daughter of Bellerophon (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1; Iliad 6.198–199). Homer in the passage above names only Minos and Rhadamanthys as Europa’s sons (Iliad 14.321–322). Hyginus lists Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys (Hyginus, Fabulae 178).

Asterius, the prince of the Cretans, then married Europa and brought up her sons (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.2). When the sons grew up they quarrelled over a boy named Miletus; Minos won, Miletus fled to Caria and founded Miletus, and Sarpedon went to Lycia, where he became king and Zeus let him live for three generations. Minos became king of Crete (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.2). For the full stories see the page on Minos.

The Search for Europa

When Europa disappeared, her father Agenor sent out his sons and told them not to return until they had found her. They did not find her: Phoenix settled in Phoenicia, Cilix settled near it and gave his name to Cilicia, and Cadmus and Telephassa settled in Thrace (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1). Ovid opens Book 3 with Agenor ordering Cadmus into exile for failing to find his sister (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.1–5). The search of Cadmus leads to the founding of Thebes.

Europa and the Name of Europe

Herodotus says that no one knows where Europe got its name or who gave it, unless the land took its name from the Tyrian Europa, having been nameless before (Herodotus 4.45). In the Persian account that Herodotus reports, certain Greeks, whom he supposes to have been Cretans, landed at Tyre and carried off the king’s daughter Europa (Herodotus 1.2). The Greek constellation Taurus is also sometimes explained by this story: Hyginus says it was placed among the stars because it carried Europa safely to Crete, as Euripides says (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.21).

Europa Sources

Homer, Iliad 6.198–199, 14.317–322; Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fragments 19 and 19A; Herodotus 1.2, 4.45; Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1–2; Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875, 3.1–5; Hyginus, Fabulae 178 and Astronomica 2.21; Moschus, Europa.

See Also: Zeus, Hera, Minos, Cadmus, Taurus, Crete