dodont | (no subject)

Europa was the beautiful, mortal daughter of the Phoenecian King, Agenor (who named the region of Europe after her). One day, Zeus caught a sight of her on the beach, and decided to turn himself into a bull and rose up out of the water to approach her. Zeus' bull form was so beautiful and sleek, that Europa started petting and stroking him, and eventually climbed onto his back.

Zeus rode away across the water with Europa on his back, all the way to Crete, where he revealed himself to her. And then they engaged in the hanky-panky, and Europa mothered (along with Rhadamanthus, who was made into one of the judges of the underworld, and Sarpedon, a warrior in the Trojan war) the famous King Minos, who fed Athenians to the Minotaur.

Her brother, Cadmus, was asked to find her, so he went to the Oracle of Delphi for advice. He was told to follow a bull, and found a city (which was to be Thebes with the serpent and the men sown from its teeth).