Metamorphosis

The Bull and the Maiden

Previously in mythology: In the kingdom of Tyre in Phoenicia, there lived a beautiful princess called Europa, from the kingdom of Tyre in Phoenicia, born to King Agenor and nymph Lybia. She was obviously so beautiful, and her beauty drew the attention of a creep god who used to always watch her from afar. His name, Zeus. (Read this intro again in the dragon’s voice in Merlin- if you know, you know…if you don’t know?)

One morning after a weird dream-about two women fighting symbolizing the east and west-, Europa and her handmaidens took a walk along the beach and creepy Zeus being overcome by her beauty decides he’d had enough of the side show. He consulted with his cunning son Hermes, and they came up with a devious plan. Zeus transformed himself into a pure white bull that seemingly glowed under the blazing sun apparently to avoid drawing much attention 👀. Hermes gathered Agenor’s cattle that were grazing and drove them towards the beach, close to where the girls were. The girls noticed the extraordinary bull, dah, and went towards it. It was also docile and produced a sweet smell. Now, this is where the myth diverges into different versions that you can check out. In short: For some reason, Europa gets on the bull which later trots with her into the deep sea. The bull swam, yes, to an island called Crete. It all started as a fun adventure, exhilarating even, but now Europa was lost, desperate and alone, with so many questions.

Some authors say Zeus left her there and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, stepped in the next day and possessed Europa, then, Zeus revealed himself and made his case. “Your beauty has captivated my immortal heart.” Others say Zeus revealed himself and made his case, then, Aphrodite came in for back up. Anyway, Zeus was able to introduce himself… and they made offsprings together, the future kings of Crete. The name Europa was immortalized as the lands were named after her. It was later changed to Europe.

Oh! You thought this was a -and they lived happily ever after? Not in Greece. After making offsprings, Zeus left and went back to Olympus to his goddess wife- also sister, Hera, the goddess of marriage👀. He had a wife all this time 🫢. Europa remarried and the children were adopted by the new husband. But, if it’s any consolation, it’s not for me, Zeus in a gesture of eternal love immortalized the form of the white bull (himself?) as the constellation taurus, to be a constant reminder in the night sky of his love for Europa- and now we know where taurus sign came from. The more you know🤔. The Greeks and their myths…I want to visit.

Now that we know how the term Europe came about, can we acknowledge that this was an interesting but weird story? But I probably wouldn’t think it weird if I lived in Greece when the myths were written, right? What’s up with the bestiality and incest? Also, Stockholm Syndrome?

What did you learn from this story?

I learnt that I should not only look out for frogs that may turn into princes but also for bulls that might turn into gods. Seriously though, this was a story about transformation: about expansion, unity between two cultures and the power of love and destiny to transform.

I might not be able to ‘camouflage’ as good as Zeus, but I’ll try my best to love and learn. Will you?

If you haven’t yet, read my previous post here ⬇️⬇️⬇️ 🤗

My Grand Entrance

“The only constant in life is change.”

Heraclitus