The god of the Immortals, Zeus, saw beautiful Europa on the beach at Sidon (Tyre), where her father Agenor, a son of Poseidon, was king.
Filled with love for this vision of loveliness, Zeus transformed himself into a bull of dazzling whiteness, with horns like a crescent moon. He lay down at her feet, and after her initial fear, she mounted his back. He plunged into the sea, and swam to Crete, where they lay together under the plane trees.
For her was named the continent in which Thrace, Macedonia,
Greece, and the Peloponessus
reside.