Europa (consort of Zeus)

Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later, including modern, Western culture. The Greek word mythos refers to the spoken word or speech, but it also denotes a tale, story or narrative.

As late as the Roman conquest of Greece during the last two centuries Before the Common Era and for centuries afterwards, the Romans, who already had gods of their own, adopted many mythic narratives directly from the Greeks while preserving their own Roman (Latin) names for the gods. As a result, the actions of many Roman and Greek deities became equivalent in storytelling and literature in modern Western culture. For example, the Roman sky god Jupiter or Jove became equated with his Greek counterpart Zeus; the Roman fertility goddess Venus with the Greek goddess Aphrodite; and the Roman sea god Neptune with the Greek god Poseidon.

In Greek mythology, Cadmus (/ˈkædməs/; Ancient Greek: Κάδμος, romanized: Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre, the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa, Cadmus traced his origins back to Poseidon and Libya.

Originally, he was sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus. In early accounts, Cadmus and Europa were instead the children of Phoenix. Cadmus founded or refounded the Greek city of Thebes, the acropolis of which was originally named Cadmeia in his honour.

The culture of Europe is diverse, and rooted in its art, architecture, traditions, cuisines, music, folklore, embroidery, film, literature, economics, philosophy and religious customs.

Tyre is a city in Lebanon, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix, and Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan described it as "a city of ruins, built out of ruins".

Tyre is the fifth-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, and Baalbek. It is the capital of the Tyre District in the South Governorate. There were approximately 200,000 inhabitants in the Tyre urban area in 2016, including many refugees, as the city hosts three of the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon: Burj El Shimali, El Buss, and Rashidieh.

In Greek mythology, Minos (/ˈmaɪnɒs, -nəs/ ; Greek: Μίνως, [mǐːnɔːs]) was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur. After his death, King Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld alongside Rhadamanthus and Aeacus.

Archeologist Sir Arthur Evans used King Minos as the namesake for the Minoan civilization of Crete. The Minoan palace at Knossos is sometimes referred to as the Palace of Minos though there is no evidence that Minos was a real person.

In Greek mythology, Phoebe (/ˈfiːbi/ FEE-bee; Ancient Greek: Φοίβη, romanized: Phoíbē, lit. 'bright, shining') is the name or epithet of the following characters:

• Phoebe, one of the twelve Titans, sister-wife of Coeus and mother of Leto and Asteria.
• Phoebe, daughter of Leucippus.
• Phoebe, a hamadryad who became one of King Danaus's many wives or concubines and possible mother of some of these Danaïdes: Hippodamia, Rhodia, Cleopatra, Asteria, Glauce, Hippomedusa, Gorge, Iphimedusa and Rhode. Apollodorus only identified these daughters of Danaus by Phoebe and Atlantia (another hamadryad), not specifying who was the daughter of the other. These ten women joined the sons of Aegyptus who were begotten by Eurryroe, traditionally seen as an Arabian woman, a naiad, daughter of Nilus (the Nile) and a sister of Europa. Later on, these princesses slew their cousin-husbands during their wedding night. According to Hippostratus, Danaus had all of his progeny by a single woman, Europe, daughter of the river-god Nilus. In some accounts, he married his cousin Melia, daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre. Other classic poets give a number of mothers to the sons of Aegyptus and the daughters of Danaus. Argyphia, Tyria, the naiad Caliadne, Gorgo and Hephaestine are also given as mothers of the sons of Aegyptos. According to Apollodorus twelve of whom were born to the naiad Polyxo; six to Pieria; two to Elephantis; four to Queen Europa; ten to the hamadryad nymphs Atlanteia and Phoebe; seven to an Aethiopian woman; three to Memphis; two to Herse and lastly four to Crino.
• Phoebe, one of the Heliades.
• Phoebe, a Spartan princess who was the daughter of King Tyndareus and Leda, daughter of King Thestius of Pleuron. She was the (half-)sister of Castor and Pollux, Helen, Clytemnestra, Timandra and Philonoe.
• Phoebe, one of the Amazons who fought against Heracles.
• Phoebe, an epithet of Artemis, also shared by Selene.

Also, Phoebe (crater) on Saturn's small moon Janus is named after Phoebe of Messenia.

In Greek mythology, Phoenix or Phoinix (Ancient Greek: Φοῖνιξ Phoinix, gen.: Φοίνικος means "sun-red") was the eponym of Phoenicia who together with his brothers were tasked to find their abducted sister Europa.