Europa in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Europa

14 passages from 6 ancient authors that tell of Europa, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Europa was initially a Cretan moon goddess, who was incorporated into the Greek mythology as a virgin Phoenician princess. She was the daughter of the... For the story in one place, read our article on Europa.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.19–29Agenor's line, Thebes and BoeotiaThese fragments give the children of Phoenix and Agenor, including Europa, Phineus and Adonis, and then the children of Niobe and the death of Oedipus at Thebes. The rest are brief notes on places and people of Boeotia, such as the river Cephisus, Arnae and Onchestus.

Apollodorus (2)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.1.1–4Europa, Minos and the birth of the MinotaurZeus takes the form of a bull and carries Europa from Phoenicia to Crete, where she bears Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys, while her brothers Cadmus, Phoenix and Cilix, with Telephassa and Thasus, settle in distant lands. The three sons quarrel over Miletus, and Minos marries Pasiphae and has his children. Minos wins the kingdom by praying for a bull from Poseidon and then sacrificing another; Poseidon makes the bull savage and makes Pasiphae fall in love with it, so that with Daedalus's wooden cow she bears the Minotaur, shut up in the Labyrinth.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.4.1–4Cadmus and the founding of ThebesAfter the death of Telephassa, Cadmus is told at Delphi to follow a cow and found a city where it lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares, sows its teeth to raise the Spartoi, serves Ares for a year, and marries Harmonia. Their daughters Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave are named; Semele is destroyed when she asks to see Zeus in his glory, Dionysus is born from Zeus's thigh, and Ino and Athamas rear him and are driven mad. The section ends with Actaeon, torn apart by his own dogs after seeing Artemis bathing.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.78.1–5.80.4Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon; the peoples of CreteMinos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon are sons of Zeus and Europa; Rhadamanthys is the most just of men and rules many islands and a stretch of the Asian coast. Minos' descendants include Idomeneus and Meriones, and the historian lists the peoples who later mixed with the Cretans.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.1–145Arachne and AthenaArachne, a girl of Lydia famed for her weaving, refuses to say that her skill came from Athena (Minerva) and challenges the goddess to a contest. Athena appears as an old woman and warns her, and then reveals herself, and both begin to weave. Athena's tapestry shows the contest of the gods for Athens and warnings to mortals, Arachne's the loves of the gods, and when the goddess can find no fault she tears it and strikes Arachne, who hangs herself and is turned into a spider.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875Europa and the BullHermes (Mercury) returns to Olympus, and Zeus (Jupiter) sends him to drive the herds of King Agenor down to the shore, where Agenor's daughter Europa is playing. Zeus, taking the form of a bull, wins her favour, and she climbs on his back. He carries her over the sea toward Crete.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.1–137Cadmus and the DragonZeus (Jupiter) reveals himself to Europa in Crete, and her father Agenor sends his son Cadmus to look for her and not to return without her. Cadmus consults the oracle of Apollo, which tells him to follow a heifer and to found a city where she lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares (Mars), which guards a spring, and sows its teeth on Athena's (Minerva's) advice, and armed men spring up from the furrows and fight until only five are left. These help him to build Thebes, and Cadmus prospers, though his story shows that no man can be called happy before his death.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.39.1–14Lebadea: the grove of Trophonius and the procedure of the oraclePausanias describes Lebadea, called Midea in antiquity, the river Hercyna and the grove of Trophonius with its temple, the image by Praxiteles and the sanctuaries of Demeter Europa and Zeus. He gives the full procedure of consulting the oracle: the days of purification, the sacrifices, the drinking of the waters of Forgetfulness and Memory, and the descent into the chasm, from which the consultant is carried out and questioned on the chair of Memory. He says he consulted Trophonius himself.

Nonnus of Panopolis (6)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.178–332Book 8: Hera as Semele's nurseHera takes the shape of an old nurse and comes to Semele's chamber. She asks which god has been her lover and says that if it is Zeus she should ask him to come with thunder, as he does to Hera. Semele, stung, prays to Zeus for a bridal of lightning and complains that she has never seen his true form.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.0–133Book 1: Invocation; Zeus carries Europa across the seaThe poet asks the Muse to tell of the twice-born Dionysos and calls for the wand, cymbals and fawnskin of his rites, picturing Proteus's many shapes as the god's. Zeus, as a bull, carries Europa over the sea while Eros drives him and the sea-gods marvel. The girl cries out to the shores, to her father and to Boreas.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.344–408Book 1: Zeus takes Europa and enlists CadmosZeus takes his human shape and lies with Europa, and the Bull is set among the stars. He then meets Cadmos with Eros and Pan and devises a plan: Cadmos is to pipe as a herdsman and charm Typhoeus so that the weapons can be recovered. Zeus promises him Harmonia as his wife.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.219–343Book 1: Typhon assails the stars and the sea; Hera taunts ZeusThe stars and constellations arm themselves against Typhoeus, who then turns on the sea, hurling cliffs and islands and frightening its creatures. He cannot manage Zeus's thunderbolts, which slip from his clumsy hands. Meanwhile the bull sets Europa down on Dicte, and Hera mocks Zeus for his passion.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 3.216–318Book 3: Dardanos and the flood; Cadmos tells his lineageAfter the third flood Dardanos reaches Ida, and Emathion receives Cadmos at a rich table with the music of Corybantic pipes. Questioned by Electra, Cadmos traces his descent from Io and Epaphos through Belos to his father Agenor, and tells how Europa was carried off by the bull and he was sent to find her.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 40.298–365Book 40: Dionysos in Tyre, the city of CadmosTravelling through Assyria, Dionysos admires the woven and purple-dyed stuffs of the region and comes to Tyre, the country of Cadmos. He sees the palace, the chamber from which Europa was carried off, and the ancient fountains of Abarbarea, Callirhoe and Drosera that spring up in the earth.