Europa

[[image:http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/Greek%20Europa%208.jpg width="282" height="302" align="center"]]
=I. Ancestry and Relationships= ====Europa was born to a life of nobility, as was her birth right, considering that her parents are King Agenor and Queen Telaphassa of Phoenicia. She was the sister of Cadmus and Cilix, both of whom would later play a part in her tale; and Phoenix, who according to some sources one of her brothers, or according to others like the Iliad, her father.====

====Europa is considered to be one of Zeus' many lovers, and she bore him three sons, Rhadamantus, Sarpedon, and much renowned King Minos of Crete. After her brief stint with Zeus had ended, she wound up marrying Asterion.====

=II. Character Profile=

=III. Mythology= ====According to the version of the myth told by the poet Moschus, the tale of Europa begins with her waking up after having a troubling dream about two continents fighting over her. One of the continents, Asia, argued that since she had given birth to Europa, the girl belonged to her, while the other, a nameless continent, countered this by saying that Europa would be handed to her by Zeus.====

====From here, nearly all accounts of the story converge. They state that Europa was gathering flowers one day with a group of beautiful maidens, who also shared in her youth. Zeus had been watching from the heavens and he was so attracted by her beauty that he came to Europa on earth in the form of a magnificent white bull that was beyond description. Now the other girls were frightened by it, but Europa so admired it that she dared approach it. She subsequently started caressing the bull and placed a garland of flowers around its neck before she either====

got on it or before the bull forcefully placed her on its back, but regardless of the manner she got on, it is common knowledge that the bull immediately took off after this.
====Europa became especially frightened when the bull started treading on the sea, and she pleaded with it to bring her back, knowing full well that the bull was actually a god. Eventually, the bull revealed itself to be Zeus, and she was then taken to Crete, the sacred island of the god's upbringing. Not much is known about what Europa's tenure on the island, but is understood that she bore Zeus three sons: Rhadamantus, Sarpedon and Minos.====

Over the period of her disappearance however, Europa's brot
====hers were instructed to look for her by their worried father. Cilix headed to Asia Minor, where he founded the city Cilicia over the course of his travels. Cadmus on the other hand Boeotia, where he founded Cadmea, the predecessor of Thebes. Phoenix departed for Africa and he is said to have remained there. Despite their toils, all their searches proved to be unfruitful and none of them were able to return with their sister, and most of them opted to remain in the cities they had founded/ places they had gone to.==== ====After some time, Europa married Asterion. The last time Europa appears in any classical myth is when she gave away the necklace Zeus bestowed unto her, and her death is for the most part undocumented and the reasons for which are unknown.====

=IV. Allusions and Influences= ====Europa is perhaps the most alluded mythological character, as she has lent her name to the continent of Europe, and in ancient times, it was the name colloquially used to refer to Northern Greece. Furthermore, her name is also alluded to by the currency of the European Union, the Euro.====

= = =V. Trivia=

- Europa is perhaps one of Zeus' more fortunate paramours because she did not incur the wrath of Zeus' jealous wife Hera, unlike the god's other lovers
====-Her son, King Minos of Crete, was known for making sacrifices go through a labyrinth, where they face the prospect of being the next meal to his Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man, which was probably named after him. On a similar note, Europa's most famous of sons also appears in the medieval literary work, The Divine Comedy as a judge for damned souls.====

-Europa was first mentioned in Homer's Illiad
- A song by Santana was called Europa

Words derived from Europa Europe- the continent Europe was named after her == =VI. Sources=

Information
1. Online a. http://phoenicia.org/europa.html b. http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/europa.html c. http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0010529.html d. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195658/Europa 2. Print a. Mythology by Edith Hamilton, pp. 81-85

Pictures a. http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/Greek%20Europa%208.jpg b. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Rembrandt_Abduction_of_Europa.jpg c. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Moreau,_Europa_and_the_Bull.jpg/250px-Moreau,_Europa_and_the_Bull.jpg d. http://www.mythindex.com/images/painting-europa.jpg