EUROPE

Based on Mosha's poem "Idylls".

The king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon, Agenor, had three sons and a daughter, beautiful as an immortal goddess. The name of this young beauty was Europe 1. I once had a dream of Agenor's daughter. She saw how Asia and that continent that is separated from Asia by the sea fought for her in the form of two women. Every woman wanted to own Europe. Asia was defeated, and she, who brought up and nurtured Europe, had to give way to another. In fear, Europe woke up, she could not understand the meaning of this dream. The young daughter of Agenor humbly began to pray that the gods would avert misfortune from her if sleep threatened them. Then, dressed in purple clothes woven with gold, she went with her friends to a green meadow covered with flowers, to the seashore. There, frolicking, the Sidonian virgins collected flowers in their golden baskets. They collected fragrant, snow-white daffodils, colorful crocuses, violets and lilies. The very same daughter of Agenor, shining with her beauty among her friends, like Aphrodite, surrounded by Charites, collected only scarlet roses in her golden basket. Having collected flowers, the maidens began to dance with laughter. Their young voices carried far across the flowering meadow and the azure sea, drowning out its quiet gentle splash.
It did not take long to enjoy the beautiful Europe of a carefree life. Her son Krona, the mighty cloudworm Zeus, saw her and decided to kidnap her. In order not to frighten young Europe with his appearance, he took the form of a wonderful bull. All wool of the bull-Zeus

1 Abduction myth Europa Zeus om - a remnant of marriage by bride kidnapping. The transformation of Zeus into a bull is a relic of totemism.

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sparkled like gold, only on his forehead a silver spot burned like the radiance of the moon, while the golden horns of the bull were curved, like young month when first seen in the rays of a purple sunset. A wonderful bull appeared in the clearing and with light steps, barely touching the grass, approached the maidens. The maidens of Sidon were not afraid of him, they surrounded the marvelous animal and stroked it affectionately. The bull approached Europe, he licked her hands and caressed her. The bull's breath was fragrant with ambrosia, the whole air was filled with this fragrance. Europe stroked the bull with her tender hand over the golden wool, hugged his head and kissed him. The bull lay down at the feet of the beautiful maiden, as if asking her to sit on it.
Laughing, Europe sat down on the bull's broad back. Other girls wanted to sit next to her. Suddenly the bull jumped up and quickly rushed to the sea. He stole the one he wanted. The Sidonian women cried out loudly from fright. Europe stretched out its hands to them and called them for help; but the virgins of Sidon could not help her. Like the wind, the golden-horned bull rushed. He threw himself into the sea and quickly, like a dolphin, swam through its azure waters. And the waves of the sea parted before him, and their splashes rolled down like diamonds from his wool, without wetting it. Beautiful Nereids surfaced from the depths of the sea; they crowd around the bull and swim after him. The sea god Poseidon himself, surrounded by sea deities, sails ahead on his chariot, he tames the waves with his trident,

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leveling the path across the sea to his great brother Zeus. Trembling with fear, Europa sits on the back of a bull. With one hand she holds on to his golden horns, while with the other she gathers up the edge of her purple dress so that it does not get wet. sea ​​waves. In vain she is afraid; the sea gently rustles, and its salty splashes do not reach her. The sea wind sways the curls of Europe and flutters her light veil. The coast is farther and farther, now he has disappeared into the blue distance. Only the sea is around blue sky. Soon they appeared in the sea gave the coast of Crete. The bull-Zeus quickly sailed to him with his precious burden and went ashore. Europa became the wife of Zeus, and she has lived since then in Crete. Three sons were born to her and Zeus: Minos, Radamanths and Sarpedon. The glory of these mighty and wise sons of the Thunderer Zeus thundered all over the world.

Prepared by edition:

Kun N.A.
Legends and myths ancient greece. Moscow: State Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, 1954.

One day, the Phoenician beauty princess, Europe, had a very strange dream. As if she is standing in front of two women, and they are challenging each other for the right to her, Europe. And as if the girl knows that the first woman is called Azil, who nursed and raised her. But another, unfamiliar foreigner, says:
- Europe will be presented to me by the Thunderer Zeus himself, and I will be called by her name! - and pulls the girl to him, gently hugs.

The princess woke up in confusion. But she soon forgot this, especially when spring was outside, nature blossomed, the birds sang. Europe went with her friends to the coast to sing songs and frolic. One of the girls began to collect fragrant daffodils, the other - violets. And Europe collected bright scarlet roses in a gilded basket made by the craftsman Hephaestus himself. And the flowers in the wonderful kosher were so beautiful that Zeus himself admired them, then drew attention to the beautiful girl in a purple robe. Immediately, his heart was pierced by an arrow of the naughty Cupid (Eros), the son of the goddess of love Aphrodite. It was she who sent the princess a prophetic dream and now decided to make it happen with the help of the Thunderer.

The heart of Zeus flared with passion. He decided to kidnap the young beauty. But in order not to frighten her, but at the same time to avoid the wrath of the jealous wife of Hera, he took the form of a wonderful bull. His hair shone with gold, his horns looked like a young moon, and his bright eyes shone with burning passion. The girl noticed an animal of unusual beauty in the herd, came up to get a better look at it and stroke it. The bull began to caress Europe, bowed his knees before her. Fearing nothing, the princess sat down on his back. Then the bull suddenly jumped up and rushed to the sea. Stepping into its waters, he swam like a dolphin. Farther and farther remained the native shore. Trembling with fear, the girl clung to the horns of the bull, crying out for help.

And suddenly, from the waves of the sea, the brother of Zeus Poseidon appeared on his chariot. With a broad trident he pacified the waves and showed the way. And next to Europe were now sailing beautiful Nereids riding dolphins. On two tritons harnessed to a golden shell, Aphrodite herself glided along the sea surface, showering the princess with roses.
The princess calmed down and smiled when she heard the tritons of the abyss playing mating songs on long pipes made of shells. And in general, it all reminded her of a cheerful wedding procession! Europe forgot about the abandoned house, about the grieving parents and girlfriends.

Finally, the coast of the flowering island of Crete appeared in the distance. Here, in the grotto, where Zeus himself grew up and matured, he brought his beloved and again took on a human form. He gave his young wife a necklace of gold and precious stones.

After the allotted time, Europe gave birth to three sons - Minos, Radomant and Sarpedon. Subsequently, they were adopted by the Cretan king. And the children of Zeus became members of the ruling dynasty on the island.

The legend of Europe connected the birth European civilization with the island of Crete. Her name has become geographical importance. In the time of Homer, the whole of Central Greece was already called Europe. And later, the name of the Phoenician princess began to be called the entire mainland.

The legend of the abduction of Europa by Zeus is one of the most sought after. ancient Greek myths in world art. Zeus, known for his weakness for beautiful girls, fell in love with Europe, the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor. Once, when a girl was walking along the seashore with her friends, God appeared to them in the form of a beautiful bull. The girls began to play with the animal, decorate it with garlands of flowers, and when Europe climbed onto the back of the bull, he rushed into the sea and took the girl to the island of Crete. Here she became the wife of Zeus and bore him three sons, who later became the rulers of the island.

The plot of the abduction of Europa formed the basis of some literary works, sculptures, but most of all he attracted artists: at least 11 painters depicted these characters in their paintings. In Russia, the most famous work of V. Serov "The Abduction of Europe" (1910). Although the artist planned to create a decorative monumental panel, this work is familiar to us as an easel painting. Serov used the stylization technique characteristic of Art Nouveau and created his own version of the ancient plot, far from the canons. To emphasize the dynamics of movement, the artist draws the silhouettes of a bull and dolphins. Original and color scheme of the picture. According to the myth, Zeus turned into a snow-white bull, and Serov depicted him as red. This orange spot against the background of the purple sea is very expressive. Although the early death of the artist did not allow the painting to be completed, it is one of the most recognizable in Serov's work. AT European painting one of the first this story was used by Titian in the painting "The Rape of Europe" (1562). It depicts the same episode with a frightened beauty on the back of a swimming bull. Perhaps this work was negatively influenced by time, but today in the picture the bull-Zeus has such eyes, as if he had already repented of his deed several times.

Jean Cousin senior. 1550

Paolo Veronese. 1578

Rembrandt.1632

Cornelis Shute I. 1640-1642

Francesco Albani. 1645

Francois Boucher.1732-1734

Francesco Zuccarelli.1740-1750

Francois Bush. 1747

French school. 18th century

Sebastiano Conca

Claude Lorrain. 1667

Luca Giordano. 1675-1677

Giovanni Domenico Ferretti. 1720-1740

Noel-Nicolas Coypel.1727

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. 1725

Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre. 1750

The abduction of Europe. Gustave Moreau. 1869

Antonio Caracci

The abduction of Europe. Simon Vouet, 1640

The abduction of Europe. Valentin Serov, 1910

The abduction of Europe. Nikolai Burdykin

"The Abduction of Europe" by Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch (1605-1669), oil on oak panel, circa 1632. J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

The king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon, Agenor, had three sons and a daughter, beautiful as an immortal goddess. The name of this young beauty was Europe. I once had a dream of Agenor's daughter. She saw how Asia and that continent that is separated from Asia by the sea fought for her in the form of two women. Every woman wanted to own Europe.

BOUCHER, Francois 1732-34

Asia was defeated, and she, who brought up and nurtured Europe, had to give way to another. In fear, Europe woke up, she could not understand the meaning of this dream. The young daughter of Agenor humbly began to pray that the gods would avert misfortune from her if sleep threatened them. Then, dressed in purple clothes woven with gold, she went with her friends to a green meadow covered with flowers, to the seashore.

VOUET, Simon 1640

There, frolicking, the Sidonian virgins collected flowers in their golden baskets. They collected fragrant, snow-white daffodils, colorful crocuses, violets and lilies. The very same daughter of Agenor, shining with her beauty among her friends, like Aphrodite, surrounded by Charites, collected only scarlet roses in her golden basket. Having collected flowers, the maidens began to dance with laughter. Their young voices carried far across the flowering meadow and the azure sea, drowning out its quiet gentle splash.

In this video clip, paintings by artists from different eras and their vision of the legend "The Abduction of Europe"

It did not take long to enjoy the beautiful Europe of a carefree life. Her son Krona, the mighty cloudworm Zeus, saw her and decided to kidnap her. In order not to frighten young Europe with his appearance, he took the form of a wonderful bull. All the hair of Zeus the bull sparkled like gold, only a silver spot burned on his forehead, like the glow of the moon, while the golden horns of the bull were curved, like a young month, when it was first seen in the rays of a purple sunset.

BOUCHER, Francois 1747

A wonderful bull appeared in the clearing and with light steps, barely touching the grass, approached the maidens. The maidens of Sidon were not afraid of him, they surrounded the marvelous animal and stroked it affectionately. The bull approached Europe, he licked her hands and caressed her.

Verkolje Nicholas (1673-1746)

The bull's breath was fragrant with ambrosia, the whole air was filled with this fragrance. Europe stroked the bull with her tender hand over the golden wool, hugged his head and kissed him. The bull lay down at the feet of the beautiful maiden, as if asking her to sit on it.

Titian 1559

Laughing, Europe sat down on the bull's broad back. Other girls wanted to sit next to her. Suddenly the bull jumped up and quickly rushed to the sea. He stole the one he wanted. The Sidonian women cried out loudly from fright. Europe stretched out its hands to them and called them for help; but the virgins of Sidon could not help her. Like the wind, the golden-horned bull rushed. He threw himself into the sea and quickly, like a dolphin, swam through its azure waters. And the waves of the sea parted before him, and their splashes rolled down like diamonds from his wool, without wetting it. Beautiful Nereids surfaced from the depths of the sea; they crowd around the bull and swim after him. The god of the sea Poseidon himself, surrounded by sea deities, sails ahead on his chariot, he tames the waves with his trident, leveling the path along the sea to his great brother Zeus.

CARRACCI, Antonio

Trembling with fear, Europa sits on the back of a bull. With one hand she holds on to his golden horns, while with the other she gathers up the edge of her purple dress so that the waves of the sea do not soak him. In vain she is afraid; the sea gently rustles, and its salty splashes do not reach her. The sea wind sways the curls of Europe and flutters her light veil.

Kuapel Noel

The coast is farther and farther, now he has disappeared into the blue distance. Around only the sea and the blue sky. Soon they appeared in the sea gave the coast of Crete. Zeus the bull quickly sailed to him with his precious burden and went ashore. Europa became the wife of Zeus, and she has lived since then in Crete. Three sons were born to her and Zeus: Minos, Radamanths and Sarpedon. The glory of these mighty and wise sons of the Thunderer Zeus thundered all over the world.

Nicholas Kuhn. Legends and myths of Ancient Greece

Paolo Veronese.

COUSIN, Jean the Elder The Rape of Europa c. 1550

Rubens 1630 (copy of Titian)

SCHUT, Cornelis I Rape of Europa 1640-42

Berchem Nicholas Peters (c. 1620-1683)

ZUCCARELLI, Francesco (1702-1788)

TIEPOLO, Giovanni Battista 1725

COYPEL, Noel-Nicolas 1727

ZUCCARELLI Francesco 1740-1750

Giovanni Battista Crosato

V. Serov, "The Abduction of Europe", 1910. Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery.

Series of messages " ": Part 1 -
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Part 22 - The myth of the abduction of Europa by Zeus. | Artists' vision of the "Abduction of Europe" myth

According to the myths, the mighty Zeus does not sit on Olympus. And he constantly descends to earth to meet with the nymphs and mortal wives he likes. Ambitious earthly rulers, wanting to enjoy the respect of their subjects, composed many stories that Zeus himself secretly visited their grandmothers and great-grandmothers. The most famous of these stories made the beautiful Phoenician Europa the beloved of Zeus.

Once, when Europe, the daughter of King Sidon Agenor, was walking with her friends on the seashore, playing and picking flowers, a dazzling white bull with horns curved in the form of a crescent appeared out of nowhere. It seems that he was attracted by the fun of the girls, and he himself is ready to play with them. Peacefully waving his tail, he approaches Europe and exposes his broad back to her. Suspecting nothing, the maiden sits on the back of a peaceful animal. But the bull suddenly becomes rabid. His gentle, curious eyes fill with blood, and he quickly rushes into the waves. Europe has no choice but to hold on tightly to the horns.

On the high seas, with the appearance of dolphins and other sea creatures rising from the bottom to greet and accompany the bull, Europe had not the slightest doubt that a god had assumed the form of her captor. But what?

The Rape of Europa (stone carving)

In her father's house, she saw many guests from overseas countries who visited Sidon on trade business, and learned to distinguish the clothes of the Assyrian from the Egyptian, the Egyptian from the Libyan, the Libyan from the inhabitant of the rich island of Keftiu (Crete). “Obviously, the gods dress like their worshipers, too? the girl thought. “Isn’t this why this cunning god took on the form of a bull, so that my father, having learned from my friends who kidnapped me, did not guess where to look?”

She grasped the tuft of wool forcefully, hoping that some of the clothes she knew were hidden underneath. But the wool was dense, and only a few hairs remained in the palm, golden in the sun. The bull turned his head, and Europe did not catch the fury in his huge eyes, light from the sea blue. They became almost human and reminded her of the eyes of a young commoner who came to the seashore and from afar silently looked at her for a long time.

A mountainous coast appeared in the distance. The bull began to swim faster, as if feeling a chase behind him. But the sea is empty. Sea creatures fell behind, unable to swim with the bull on a par.

No, this is not Egypt, the girl thought. - My father said that the shore at the confluence of the Nile into the sea is flat, like a palm, overgrown in many places with reeds. So this is an island? But what? Are there not enough islands in the sea that stretches to the pillars of Melkart, on which a bull would want to land?

The bull climbed ashore and, letting Europa go down, shook himself off. Blinded by a hail of cold spray, the girl began to wipe her face with her palms, but when she took them away, she saw that a young man with a narrow, aspen waist and broad shoulders was standing in the place of the bull. On his head is a diadem, which is worn only on Keftiu.

"God Keftiu!" - she realized at the moment when the young man grabbed her and, with the speed of lightning, dragged her into the black opening of the cave that could be seen in the rocks.

The fathers of all the daughters on the shores of the Inland Sea knew about the insatiability and ingenuity of this Cretan god, who became the supreme god of Olympus. Whatever tricks they used to keep their maidens from him, Zeus still got his way. One father hid his daughter in a tower, and curtained the window with such a thin lattice that even a mosquito could not fly through it. And Zeus passed golden rain!

Notes:

Delos is the central of the Cyclades, ancient center island union.

Legends often point to the place where the god was originally worshiped. Many texts link Zeus with Crete by a number of facts: the birth and connection with Europe, whose sons become the rulers of Crete. And in historical time in Crete, his image differed from the generally accepted Olympic image - he was perceived in the local tradition as a deity of dying and resurrecting nature, and the Cretans showed not only the cave where Zeus was born, but also his grave. It is no coincidence that Zeus appears in the form of a bull in the myth about the abduction of Europa, and in the cycle of myths about his son Minos, the half-bull-half-man Minotaur appears - the worship of the bull-god, the wife of the mother goddess, as the personification of the productive forces of nature, was witnessed in Crete of the II millennium BC. e. Echoes of the same original incarnation of the agricultural god, besides Crete, also survived in Arcadia, with which the tradition, worked out by the Hellenistic poet Callimachus, connected the birth of Zeus, and in Dodona, where he was worshiped as the deity of fertility, the wife of Gaia, continuously impregnating her.