Evropa in njeni sinovi

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Evropa in njeni sinovi

1. Having traced the line of Inachus and described the descendants of Belus down to the Heraclids, let us now turn to the story of Agenor. As we have said, Libya bore Poseidon two sons, Belus and Agenor. Belus ruled over the Egyptians and fathered the children already mentioned, while Agenor went to Phoenicia, married Telephassa, and had a daughter, Europa, and three sons, Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix. Some, however, say that Europa was the daughter not of Agenor but of Phoenix. Zeus fell in love with her and, sailing from Rhodes, took the form of a tame bull; when she climbed onto his back, he carried her across the sea to Crete. There Zeus lay with her, and she bore Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthys; according to Homer, however, Sarpedon was the son of Zeus and Laodamia, the daughter of Bellerophon. When Europa disappeared, her father Agenor sent his sons to search for her, telling them not to return until they had found her. Her mother Telephassa also went out in search of her, as did Thasos, the son of Poseidon—or of Cilix, according to Pherecydes. But although they searched everywhere, they could not find Europa. Giving up all hope of returning home, they settled in different places: Phoenix in Phoenicia, and Cilix near Phoenicia, where he named all the land under his rule near the river Pyramus Cilicia. Cadmus and Telephassa settled in Thrace. Thasos likewise settled in Thrace, founding the city of Thasos.

2. Asterius, the ruler of Crete, married Europa and brought up her children. When they reached adulthood, they quarreled with one another, for they had fallen in love with a boy named Miletus, the son of Apollo and Areia, daughter of Cleochus. Since the boy favored Sarpedon, Minos went to war and prevailed. The others fled: Miletus landed in Caria, where he founded a city named Miletus after himself, while Sarpedon became an ally of Cilix, who was at war with the Lycians, in return for a share of their territory, and became king of Lycia. Zeus granted him a life lasting three generations. Some say, however, that they fell in love with Atymnius, the son of Zeus and Cassiepeia, and quarreled over him. Rhadamanthys made laws for the islanders, but later fled to Boeotia and married Alcmene; after his death, he became a judge in Hades alongside Minos. Minos remained in Crete and drew up laws. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Helios and Perseis—or, according to Asclepiades, Crete, the daughter of Asterius—and fathered four sons, Catreus, Deucalion, Glaucus, and Androgeos, and four daughters, Acalle, Xenodice, Ariadne, and Phaedra. By the nymph Pareia he had Eurymedon, Nephalion, Chryses, and Philolaus, and by Dexithea, Euxanthius.

3. When Asterius died childless, Minos wished to become king of Crete, but met with opposition. He claimed that the gods had granted him the kingdom, and, to win belief, declared that whatever he prayed for would come to pass. While sacrificing to Poseidon, he prayed for a bull to rise from the depths, promising to sacrifice whatever bull appeared.

Poseidon sent up a magnificent bull for him, and Minos gained the kingdom; but he sent the bull to join his herds and sacrificed another in its place. He was the first to establish mastery over the sea and ruled over almost all the islands.

4. Angry with Minos for failing to sacrifice the bull, Poseidon made the animal wild and caused Pasiphae to desire it. In love with the bull, she enlisted the help of Daedalus, an architect who had fled Athens after committing murder. He built a wooden cow on wheels, hollowed it out, and skinned a cow and sewed its hide around it. Then he placed it in the meadow where the bull was accustomed to graze and put Pasiphae inside. The bull came up and mated with it as though it were a real cow. Pasiphae gave birth to Asterius, who was called the Minotaur. He had the face of a bull, but the rest of his body was human. In accordance with certain oracles, Minos shut him in the labyrinth and kept him there. The labyrinth, which Daedalus had built, was a structure whose intricate windings made it impossible to find the way out. We shall tell the stories of the Minotaur, Androgeos, Phaedra, and Ariadne later, in our account of Theseus.