The New International Encyclopædia/Europa

EURO'PA (Lat., from Gk. Εὐρώπη, Europē, from Assyr. ērēbu, to set (of the sun), although the Greeks etymologized the word as broad-eyed, from εὐρύς, eurys, broad + ὤψ, ōps, eye). In Greek legend, a daughter of Agenor (q.v.), or Phœnix, King of Phœnicia. Her beauty attracted the attention of Zeus, who appeared in the form of a white bull, and carried her to Crete, where she became the mother of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. Zeus presented her with the bronze man, Talos, a dog who never lost his prey, and a spear which never missed its mark, and later gave her to King Asterius of Crete, who adopted her sons. After her death she was worshiped under the surname Hellotia, or Hellotis. Modern mythologists are inclined to see in Europa a moon goddess, or else an earth goddess of fertility, like Demeter. See also Cadmus.