In ancient Greek mythology,
Europa was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus abducted after assuming the form of
a dazzling white bull. He took her to the island of Crete where she gave birth
to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Saredon. The statue here is from the museum in
Delphi, where this story is believed to be related to the term Europe. Homer,
on the other hand, states that Europe (Ευρώπη) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical
designation.
There are numerous theories
concerning the etymology of the name Europa. One theory suggests that it
derives from the Greek ευρύς meaning ‘wide, broad’ and ωψ-ωπ-οπτ meaning
eye, face countenance. Therefore Europe means wide gazing, broad of
aspect.
Nevertheless, whatever the origin
of the name of the mythological figure, Europe is first used as a geographical
term in the 6th century BC, by Greek geographers such as Anaximander
and Hecataeus.
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