Europa- Greek FigureMortal"Princess of Phoenicia"

The Abduction

Europa was a princess of Tyre in Phoenicia, daughter of King Agenor (though Homer names Phoenix as her father). One morning, while she gathered flowers with her companions in a meadow near the shore, Zeus appeared among her father's cattle in the form of a white bull. The bull knelt in the grass and nuzzled her hand. Europa adorned its horns with garlands and climbed onto its back. The moment she mounted, the bull leapt into the sea and the waters parted before it. Her companions ran to the water's edge, calling her name, but the waves had already closed behind her. Dolphins and sea nymphs attended the passage to Crete.

On Crete

Zeus revealed his true identity and lay with Europa beneath a plane tree at Gortyna. She bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. As parting gifts, Zeus gave her the bronze giant Talos, who circled Crete's shores three times each day, along with a javelin that never missed and the hound Laelaps. After Zeus departed, Europa married Asterius, the mortal king of Crete, who adopted her divine sons and raised them as his own.

The Search for Europa

When Europa vanished from Phoenicia, her father Agenor sent her brothers to find her, commanding them not to return without her. Cadmus searched throughout the Greek world. Unable to find her, he consulted the oracle at Delphi, which instructed him to follow a cow and found a city where it lay down — leading him to Boeotia, where he founded the city of Thebes. Her other brothers likewise settled abroad: Cilix gave his name to Cilicia, and Phoenix to Phoenicia itself. Europa was honored on Crete with cult worship at the festival called the Hellotia. Zeus placed the bull's form among the stars as the constellation Taurus, and Europa gave her name to the continent.