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"Ye coasts, pray tell my
loving father that Europa has left her native land,
seated upon a bull, my ravisher, my sailor, and as
I think, my bed-fellow." [Europa. Nonnus,
Dionysiaca
1.130]
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Europa was carried off from Phoenicia to
Crete, and was never found
by the Phoenician relatives who sought her.
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Europa's father
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Some say that the father of this Phoenician
princess was Agenor 1, but others say that it was
Phoenix 1, who some claim was her brother.
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Europa's family
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Agenor 1 was by birth an Egyptian, but he
departed to Phoenicia and reigned there. According
to some Agenor 1 is the son of
Poseidon and Libya, but
others affirm that his parents were Belus 1 and
Anchinoe.
King Belus 1 of Egypt was son of
Poseidon and Libya, and
was also the father of Aegyptus 1 and Danaus 1 [see
DANAIDS]. His mother
Libya was, in turn, daughter of Epaphus 1 and
Memphis 2. And King Epaphus 1 of Egypt, from whom
sprang the Libyans and the Ethiopians, was the
founder of the city of Memphis in Egypt and the son
of Zeus and
Io, the girl who was once
turned into a cow, but who is one of the
Three Main
Ancestors.
If Phoenix 1 would be considered to be the
father of Europa, everything would amount to the
same, because Phoenix 1, after whom Phoenicia is
called, is said to be the son either of Agenor 1 or
of Belus 1, and we would, also in this way, arrive
to Io. Nothing is known about
Europa's presumptive mothers.
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The Bull
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Some say that Zeus
turned himself into a Bull, mounted Europa on his
back, and conveyed her through the sea from
Phoenicia to Crete. But
others say that the Bull who carried Europa was the
same Cretan Bull that
Heracles 1 enjoined in
one of his
LABOURS, which
in turn could be the same Bull, that was sent by
Poseidon to King
Minos 2 of
Crete, and that later,
consorting with the king's wife Pasiphae, became
the progenitor of the
Minotaur.
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The search for Europa
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When Europa disappeared on the back of the Bull,
Agenor 1 sent out his sons in search of her,
ordering them not to return until they had found
their sister.
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Cilix
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That is how Cilix, Europa's brother, ended up in
Cilicia in Asia Minor, a region called after him,
where he became king after giving up the search.
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Cadmus
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Cadmus, another of
Europa's brothers, went with his mother Telephassa
to Thrace, where he stayed for some time, before
coming to Boeotia, where he founded the city of
Cadmea, which was later called
Thebes. For when
Telephassa died, Cadmus
went to Delphi to inquire
about Europa, and the Oracle told him not to worry
about her sister, but instead, following a cow,
found a city wherever the animal would lay down to
rest. And the cow rested in the spot where today
the ciy of Thebes is.
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Thasus
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Another brother, Thasus, having sailed from
Tyre, gave up the search and settled in an island
off Thrace where he founded a city Thasus, called
after himself.
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Phoenix 1
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Europa's brother Phoenix 1 set out for Africa,
and because he remained there, the Africans were
called Phoenicians.
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Europa marries
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After having children with
Zeus, Europa married
Asterius 3, son of Tectamus, son of Dorus 1, son of
Hellen 1, son of
Deucalion 1, the man
who survived the Flood.
Tectamus had sailed to
Crete with Aeolians and
Pelasgians, becoming on his arrival king of the
island. It is during the time when he was king of
Crete that
Zeus carried off Europa
from Phoenicia. Tectamus' mother was daughter of
Cretheus 1, son of Aeolus
1, brother of Dorus 1.
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Presents to Europa
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Zeus gave Europa
presents. One of them was a wonderful dog calle
Laelaps 2 which was so swift that no beast could
escape it. He also gave her
Talos 1, a creature made
of bronze, who was meant to be the warder of
Crete.
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Present from Europa
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When after some time
Cadmus, now king of
Cadmea (the future
Thebes) married Harmonia
1, daughter either of Ares
and Aphrodite, or of
Zeus and Electra 3 (the
Pleiad), he gave his new wife a Robe and a Necklace
as wedding presents [see Robe
& Necklace of Harmonia 1], and some say
that the Necklace was given by Europa, who had
received it from Zeus. That
is probably the last time someone heard of Europa,
and her death was never reported.
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After her time
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After Asterius 3, Minos 1 became king of
Crete, and after him his
son Lycastus 1. After Lycastus 1,
Minos 2 came to the
throne, and when he died, Idomeneus 1 became king
of Crete. Idomeneus 1 left
his country in order to fight in the
Trojan War, but when
he returned from the war, an usurper Leucus 1 had
taken the kingdom. Idomeneus 1 could not land in
Crete and sailed for
Italy.
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Parentage [three versions]
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Mates
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Offspring
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Notes
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Agenor 1 & Telephassa
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Phoenix 1 & Perimede 3
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Agenor 1 & Argiope 2
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For Europa's father see main text
above. The origin of those who are called
Europa's mother is unknown.
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Either
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Minos 1
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Some say there were two Minos, and that
Minos 2 was the son of
Lycastus 1 and Ide 1, Lycastus 1 being the son of
Minos 1. Ide 1 is daughter of Corybas, an otherwise
unknown man.
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Rhadamanthys
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Rhadamanthys acts as a judge in the
Underworld, along
with Minos 2. He is said
to dwell in the Elysian Fields, or to have married
Alcmena,
Heracles 1's mother,
after death in the Isles of the Blest.
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Sarpedon 1
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Sarpedon 1 and his brother
Minos 2 disputed with
each other, and Minos 2
prevailing, Sarpedon 1 emigrated to Lycia in Asia
Minor, where he became king.
Zeus granted Sarpedon 1
life for three generations, but Sarpedon 1 died at
Troy killed by Patroclus
1.
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Or
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Rhadamanthys
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Sarpedon 1
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Asterius 3
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Crete 1
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According to some, Crete 1 was the wife of
Minos 2, and not
Pasiphae.
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unknown
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Carneus
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Carneus was worshipped in
Sparta. His nurses had
been Apollo and
Leto.
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Abolengo
Album - High Resolution Genealogical Charts
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Names in this chart
Aegyptus 1, Agenor 1, Anchinoe,
Andromeda, Antiphates
4, Asterius 3, Belus 1, Carneus, Cepheus 1, Crete
1, DANAIDS, Danaus 1,
Deidamia 2, Deucalion
1, Dorus 1, Epaphus 1, Europa, Evander
3, Hellen 1, Io, Libya,
Lycastus 1, Memphis 2, Minos 1,
Minos 2, Nilus,
Perseus 1,
Poseidon, Rhadamanthys,
Sarpedon 1, Sarpedon 3, Tectamus, Telephassa, Woman
11 Theban, Zeus.
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