Many people think why part of the world Europe is named after an obscure character in Greek mythology who did not play any special role. I will try to give my guess on this score.
I'll start with the name. Scientists believe that the Greek "Εὐρώπη" expands as "εὐρύς" (wide) + "ψ" (eyes), i.e. Europe is “wide-eyed”. Some scholars go further and see in this epithet the Phoenician word "sunset".
In my opinion, these are all incorrect interpretations. The fact that the word "Europe" is compound is understandable, but why not decompose it into "Εὐ" + "ρώπη (or ῥέπω)", where the first word is “good”, and the second is “declension”. And then "Europe" will be translated as "Favor". Agree, you can already work with this!
The dictionary of Russian synonyms picked up the following words:
Indeed, among the Latin words that have passed into the languages of Europe, there is also "favor", which means "supportive." So according to legend, Europe is the real favorite of Zeus!
He turned into a bull, seduced Europe and sailed across the sea with her, making him his mistress.
Promotional video:
Interestingly, in this myth, the emphasis is on the crossing of the sea. Even the process of intercourse itself is not as important as swimming on water. It was then that I remembered the Slavic round dance songs.
But first, a little distraction … The word "bull" has a common root with "side, barrel, box (box)". And then sailing on the sea on the bull of Europe is very much reminiscent of Pushkin's "they put them in a barrel and let them into the sea-ocean" … But these are just associations. Among the Greeks, "bull" is "tavros" or, speaking in Russian, "tour", which has a common root with the tower - "tura", "prison" and with the word "tyrit" (hide … for which the towers are being built - to hide, bury something inside). It's funny, but Zeus is just tying Europe.
The ceremony of abducting the bride (with subsequent ransom) was once widespread among the Slavs, but now all that remains of it is the wedding prank of stealing the bride's shoe. How was this abduction played out in the songs?
Usually this pre-wedding image was reduced to the drowning of the girl in the sea or river, or she was taken by a fisherman or sailor, or carried across the river.
Thus, the image of Europe, taken away by the bull across the sea, is a full-fledged image of the bride from Slavic round dance songs. The Greeks, however, do not have such an integral image in the myths, therefore the mythographers did not understand what it meant.
Moreover, in Slavic songs, the Danube appears as the name of the river in which the virgin drowns (along which the suitors come in boats). And here there is hardly a comparison with the real geographical Danube, because Europe is full of rivers with such a root: Danube, Don, Dnieper, Dniester, Dvina … The symbol itself is important here, marked by the root "Don, Dan" … By the way, there is a character in Greek mythology - Danae, whom my father also put in a barrel-box and launched into the sea …
Meanwhile, ancient geographers made it a rule to divide Europe and Asia along the Don River.
So the following picture is being assembled: the grooms came from behind the Don for the brides and took them away with them, which was reflected in the motives of the songs. The name of Europe is "favor" or "favorite", that is, the one who is pretty (liked), in other words, chosen (chosen one). Europe is on one side of the Don, Asia on the other. And then the grooms are “Asians”, and the brides (chosen ones) are Europeans.
And the whole myth about Europe just depicts the bride for us.
What does this mean for history? Apparently, the colonization of European lands, because the side of the "bride" is subordinate, and the "suitors" are attacking. And the very name - "benevolence" testifies to the attractiveness of the land for the colonialists because of the "Don".
In this regard, it is interesting that for the kidnapped bride it is necessary to pay "Veno" … So, maybe this is an allusion to the names of the colonialists - Veneda?
Author: peremyshlin