The Story of Zeus and Europa The story of Zeus and Europa Europa was a Lebanese princess who was very beautiful. Her name means “wide-eyed”. Every morning she went down to the seashore to play with her friends. As king of the gods, Zeus was able to see everything that happened on earth, and he often noticed how gentle and lovely Europa was. He fell in love with her. How could he get close to her without frightening her? One day Europa was playing on the beach with her friends as usual. They played with a ball, and with yoyos, and they gathered armfuls of the flowers that grew in the rough grass at the edge of the sand. Suddenly they saw a beautiful white bull walking along the beach towards them. Europa’s friends wanted to run away. “Don’t be afraid,” said Europa. “I think he’s quite tame. He looks as though he wants to play.” 2 The bull looked at them through his long eyelashes. He lay down so Europa and her friends could scratch his back. They all admired his sleek white coat, his huge brown eyes and his horns and hooves that shone like mother-of-pearl. Europa took the flowers they had picked and twisted them into garlands. She wound them round the bull’s neck. “Doesn’t he look lovely?” she said. She climbed on to his back and put her arms round his neck. The bull got to his feet and started to walk towards the sea. Europa held on to his horns so as not to fall off and her friends laughed. The bull stepped daintily into the waves as though he was paddling and the girls clapped their hands with delight. But he did not stop there. He walked on and on into the sea until it was up to his chest. Then he started to swim. The girls stopped laughing. The bull was heading out to sea with Europa on his back, and she couldn’t swim. Her friends started to scream and cry, and some of them went to fetch Europa’s father. All Europa could do was cling on to 3 the bull’s horns as tightly as she could. The bull swam further and further, and by the time the king arrived Europa was a little dot on the horizon. By now Europa was beginning to suspect that this was no ordinary bull. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and he swam so strongly, without ever getting tired. At last Europa saw a large island ahead. The bull swam to the beach and walked out of the sea. He knelt down so that Europa could slide off his back. No sooner had her feet touched the sand than the bull shook himself and turned into a tall, majestic, bearded man who was obviously more than mortal. “Don’t be afraid, Europa,” he said. “I am Zeus, the king of the gods. I have seen how gentle and lovely you are, and I am quite in love with you. I have brought you to the island of Crete to be its queen.” Europa fell to her knees. She had never seen a god before, and she knew it was a great honour to be chosen by Zeus. Europa became queen of Crete and ruled well and wisely. Her 4 family never found out what had happened to her, although when her brother asked the Oracle for help finding her he was told not to worry as she was safe and happy. Europa and Zeus had three sons, all of whom became kings. The oldest grew up to be King Minos who built the labyrinth for his minotaur. But that is another story. 5 .