Europe

:This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation).

Etymology

In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europa (Greek: Ευρώπη; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece and by 500 BC its meaning was extended to lands to the north.

Related Topics:
Greek mythology - Europa - Phoenicia - Zeus - Crete - Minos - Homer - Greek - List of traditional Greek place names - 500 BC

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The Greek term Europe is derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops), broad having been an epitheton of Earth herself in Proto-Indo-European religion, see Prthivi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest a Greek popular etymology really based on a Semitic word, pointing to Akkadian erebu which means "sunset" (see also Erebus). From a Middle Eastern viewpoint, the sun sets over Europe: the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is also thought to have derived from the Akkadian word asu, which means "sunrise" and is the land to the east from a Mesopotamian perspective.

Related Topics:
Epitheton - Earth - Proto-Indo-European religion - Prthivi - Popular etymology - Semitic - Akkadian - Erebus - Middle East - Asia - Mesopotamian

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