
Europa · the shore disappearing behind her
Europa puts flowers around a gentle white bull and climbs onto its back. It carries her out to sea: the animal she trusted is Jupiter in another shape.
Ovid’s Europa is taken from her home by a god in disguise. The flowers and the quiet approach belong to a scene of deception and abduction.
Original Gajimaru summary, based on Metamorphoses, Metamorphoses II, 833–875. Henry Thomas Riley (1851).
Read the primary text ↗Artwork & credits
The Rape of Europa
Titian · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum · Wikimedia Commons
Europa is carried away by Zeus in the form of a bull. The title uses rape in its historical sense of abduction; the painting also evokes sexual violence. It contains adult nudity.
Public domain. Unmodified downloaded image, scaled to fit. The full downloaded composition is retained.
The Night Parade
50 beings
ZeusΖεύς · father of gods and men
AthenaἈθηνᾶ · the grey-eyed
PoseidonΠοσειδῶν · the earth-shaker
CirceΚίρκη · the enchantress
MedusaΜέδουσα · the Gorgon
The SirensΣειρῆνες · singers of the rocks
PolyphemusΠολύφημος · the one-eyed
The MinotaurΜινώταυρος · the bull of the maze
PersephoneΠερσεφόνη · queen of the dead
Psyche & ErosΨυχή · the soul and love
ApolloἈπόλλων · the far-shooter
ArtemisἌρτεμις · the huntress
AphroditeἈφροδίτη · foam-born
HermesἙρμῆς · the guide of souls
Hadesᾍδης · lord of the dead
DionysusΔιόνυσος · the twice-born
HephaestusἭφαιστος · the smith of the gods
PrometheusΠρομηθεύς · the fire-bringer
HeraclesἩρακλῆς · the strongest of men
PerseusΠερσεύς · the Gorgon-slayer
TheseusΘησεύς · the hero of Athens
OrpheusὈρφεύς · the singer
CerberusΚέρβερος · the hound of Hades
PegasusΠήγασο ς · the winged horse
The HydraὝδρα · the many-headed
The ChimeraΧίμαιρα · the fire-breather
The SphinxΣφίγξ · the riddler
The FatesΜοῖραι · the three spinners
The FuriesἘρινύες · the avengers
CharonΧάρων · ferryman of the dead
AchillesἈχιλλεύς · the greatest of the Greeks
OdysseusὈδυσσεύς · the man of many turns
IcarusἼκαρος · the boy who flew too high
ChironΧείρων · the wise centaur
Demeter · the mother who withheld the harvest
Hecate · the torch beside the searcher
Pan · the music in the mountain paths
Selene · the brightness travelling through night
Iris · the bearer of the binding water
Triton · the call that turns the waters
Ariadne · the thread through the turning house
Atalanta · the runner no suitor could pass
Andromeda · the woman on the sea rock
Europa · the shore disappearing behind her
Hestia · the place kept beside the hearth
Nike · victory at the side of Zeus
Narcissus · the face beyond the water
Echo · the voice that can only answer
Phaethon · the borrowed reins of the sun