Europa
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In Greek mythology, Europa (Greek Ευρώπη) was a Phoenician woman of high lineage. A crete story tells that she was abducted by Zeus in the form of a white bull.
According to legend, Zeus was enamored of Europa and decided to seduce or ravish her, the two being near-equivalent in Greek myth. He transformed himself into a tame white bull and mixed in with her father's herds. While Europa and her female attendants were gathering flowers, she saw the bull, caressed his flanks, and eventually got onto his back. Zeus took that opportunity and ran to the sea and swam, with her on his back, to the island of Crete. He then revealed his true identity, and Europa became the first queen of Crete. Zeus gave her a necklace made by Hephaestus and three additional gifts: Talos, Laelaps and a javelin that never missed. Zeus later re-created the shape of the white bull in the stars, which is now known as the constellation Taurus. Some readers interpret as manifestations of this same bull the Cretan beast that was encountered by Hercules, the Marathonian Bull slain by Theseus (and that fathered the Minotaur). Roman mythology adopted the tale, substituting the god Jupiter for Zeus.
The etymology of her Greek name (ευρυ- "wide" or "broad" + οπ– "eye(s)" or "face") suggests that Europa represented a lunar cow, at least at some symbolic level. Metaphorically, at a later date it could be construed as the intelligent or open-minded, analogous to glaukopis (γλαυκώπις) attributed to Athena.
The continent Europe has ultimately been named after her. In the eighth century ecclesiastical uses of "Europa" for the imperium of Charlemagne provide the source for the modern geographical term. The name of Europe as a geographical term came in use by Ancient Greek geographers such as Strabo.[1] It is derived from the Greek word Europa (Ευρώπη) in all Romance languages, Germanic languages, Slavic languages, Baltic Languages, in Finno-Ugric languages (Hungarian Európa, Finnish Eurooppa, Estonian Euroopa), as well as in Latin.
Statues of Europa and the bull, are placed outside several European Union institutions, and the €2 Greek euro coin pictures them. Europa's name appeared on postage stamps commemorating the Council of Europe, which were first issued in 1956.
Europa's earliest literary reference is in Iliad xiv.321ff. Another early reference to her is in a fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, discovered at Oxyrhyncus. The earliest vase-painting securely identifiable as Europa, dates mid-seventh century BC.
"Europa seated on a bull" has been a frequent motif in European art since Greco-Roman times.
