Greek Myths XS: How Europa founded the Western Civilisation

Three women made up the known world of the ancient Greeks. It consisted of three landmasses around the Mediterranean. One was Asia, in the East, named for the wife of the hero Prometheus. The North of the African continent was known as Libya (the Egyptian goddess Isis). And Europe got its name from the Phoenician princess Europa. When she was herding her father’s cows on the beach, she attracted the attention of Zeus, who transformed himself into a very attractive white bull. (Don’t ask.) Europa couldn’t resist climbing on its back, and he swam away with her to Crete, where he left her under the protection of a bronze guard, Talos. (This giant would later seriously impact the mission of the Argonauts, set out to retrieve the “golden fleece”.) Eventually, Europe married the king of Crete, who adopted the three sons she got by Zeus. One of them, Minos, would take over the crown and found the Minoan civilisation, on which the Greek civilisation is built, on which the Western civilisation is built.

Europa on 20 Euro Note

Europa, May Claerhout, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium