The Phoenician capitals of Tyle and Sidon were rich and fertile. Europa, the daughter www.biquge.info of King Agenor, lived in her father's palace all along. One day, in the middle of the night, she had a strange dream.

She dreamed that the two large parts of the world, Asia Minor and the continent opposite, had become two women, fighting fiercely to possess her. One of the women was a stranger, and the other, Asia, looked exactly like the natives.

Asia was so excited that she tenderly and passionately demanded that she be the mother who had raised her, but the strange woman forcibly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away like a robbery. "Come with me, my dear," said the strange woman to her, "I will take you to Zeus!" Because the goddess of fate has appointed you as his lover. “

Europa woke up in a flustered beat. She sat up from the bed, and the dream she had just had just now was still as clear as the real thing of the day. She sat there for a long time, not moving. “

What god in heaven," she pondered, "give me such a dream?" Who is the strange woman in the dream? How I longed to meet her! How kind she was to me, even when she snatched me, she smiled at me gently! May God bring me back to my dreams! “

In the early morning, the bright sunlight erased the girl's nighttime dreams. After a while, many girls of her age gathered around her and played with her. Apparently they were all daughters of prominent families.

They walked with her and led her to the meadow by the sea, where the girls would gladly meet. The seaside, full of flowers, is beautiful. The girls wore bright clothes embroidered with beautiful flowers. Europa wore a long cardigan dress and was radiant.

The clothes are woven with gold and silver threads to weave many scenes of the life of the gods, and this incomparably valuable garment is also the masterpiece of Hephaestus, the god of fire. Poseidon, the god of the sea, who was good at calling the wind and rain and often causing earthquakes, gave this dress to Libea, when they were in love.

Later, the garment became a family heirloom and passed on to his son, Agenor. Europa is dressed in beautiful clothes, and she is very moving. She ran ahead of her companions and ran to the meadow by the sea. The flowers bloom on the meadow, which is especially fragrant. The girls laughed and scattered, picking their favorite flowers, some daffodils, some hyacinths, some violets, some thyme, and some yellow saffron.

Europa also quickly discovers the flower she was looking for. She stood among the girls, holding a flaming bouquet of red roses in her hands, looking like a goddess of love.

The girls collected all kinds of flowers, then sat together on the grass, and everyone started to weave garlands. As a token of gratitude to the meadow fairy, they hung wreaths on verdant branches and offered them to her.

Zeus was deeply impressed by the beauty of young Europa. However, he was afraid of the wrath of his jealous wife, Hera, and that he would not be able to seduce the pure girl in his own image, so he devised a trick and turned into a bull. What a bull it is! It was not an ordinary bull with a yoke on his back and a heavy cart, but a fat, strong, noble and gorgeous cow.

The horns are small and exquisite, like finely carved handicrafts, shining like precious diamonds. A crescent-shaped silver birthmark flashed on his forehead. Its fur is golden yellow, and its bright blue eyes burn with deep affection. Of course, before Zeus transformed, he had called Hermes to him and told him to do something.

"Come quickly, my child, faithful enforcer of my commands," he said, "and have you seen the Phoenician kingdom?" Go down quickly, and drive all the king's cattle that are grazing on the hillside to the sea. Hermes immediately flapped his wings and flew to the pastures of Sidon. He drove the king's cattle from the mountains all the way to the meadows, to the place where Europa, the daughter of Agenor, was happily gathering flowers and weaving garlands.

But Hermes did not know that his father Zeus had been turned into a bull and mixed with the king's herd.

The herd slowly dispersed in the meadow, and only the big bull in the form of a god came to the meadow on the hillside, where Europa and a group of girls were sitting and playing. The bull proudly walked through the fertile meadows, but it was not aggressive, nor was it scary, it seemed to be very docile and cute.

Europa and the girls praised the bull's noble spirit and quiet posture, and they approached the bull with great interest, looked at it, and stretched out their hands to caress its shiny back. The bull seemed to be very human, he got closer and closer to the girl, and finally, he snuggled up to Europa. Europa was startled and couldn't help but take a few steps back. When she saw that the bull was just standing there tamely, she came forward with courage. Bring the bouquet in your hand to the bull's mouth.

The bull licked the flowers and the girl's hands coquettishly. The girl wiped the foam from the bull's mouth with her hand, and stroked the cow gently, and she became more and more fond of the beautiful bull, and finally dared to kiss it gently on the forehead. The bull let out a cry of joy, which was not like an ordinary cow's cry, but sounded like the sound of a Lydian's shepherd's whistle, which echoed through the valley. The bull lay meekly at the girl's feet, looked at her with infinite affection, shook his head, motioned to her, and climbed on his broad back.

Europa was really happy and called out to her female companions. "Come quickly, and we may sit on the back of this beautiful bull. I think there are four people sitting on the back of a cow. This bull is docile and friendly, not at all like other bulls.

I think it's probably spiritual, human-like, but it can't speak! As she spoke, she took the wreath from the hands of her female companions, hung them on the horns, and rode them on the back of the bull with courage, but her female companions were still hesitant to ride.

When the bull had achieved his goal, he leaped from the ground and walked easily and slowly, but still too much for Europa's female companions to catch up. When it stepped out of the meadow and a bare sand appeared in front of it, the bull picked up speed and advanced like a galloping horse.

Before Europa could know what had happened, the bull had already jumped into the sea and happily swam away with his prey on his back. The girl grasped the horn tightly with her right hand and held the cow's back with her left hand, and the sea breeze stirred her clothes like an open sail. She was so frightened that she looked back at her distant homeland, and called out to her female companions, but the wind sent her voice back.

The sea flowed slowly beside the bull, and the girl tried to lift her feet for fear of getting her clothes wet. But the bull swam like a ship to the far side of the sea. Soon the coast disappeared and the sun sank into the water. In the haze of the night, a terrified Europa felt lonely when she saw nothing but waves and stars.

The bull carried the girl all the way forward, and in the swim it ushered in the dawn, and then swam in the water for a whole day. There was always an endless sea around him, but the bull was so deft that he parted the waves, and not a single drop of water touched his lovely prey.

In the evening, when they finally came to the distant shore, the bull climbed up to land, came to a large tree, and let the girl slide gently off her back, but suddenly disappeared. The girl was amazed, but she saw a man as handsome as a god standing in front of her. He told her that he was the master of Crete and that he could protect her if she was willing to marry him.

In desperation, Europa held out a hand to him and agreed to his request. Zeus fulfilled his wish, and later, he disappeared again as he had come.

A red sun rises, and Europa gradually wakes up from his coma. She looked around in panic and called out her father's name. At this time, she remembered what had happened, and complained very sadly: "I am a despicable daughter, how can I call my father's name? I'm careless** and I have to forget everything! She looked around and asked repeatedly, "Where did I come from and where am I going?" Am I really awake, is this ugly thing true? No, I'm innocent, she's just a dream haunting me. “

The girl said, rubbing her eyes with her hands, as if she wanted to get rid of the ugly nightmare. But the strange sights were still there, unknown mountains and woods surrounded her, and the waves of the sea were raging, crashing against the cliffs with an earth-shattering roar. In despair, the girl was so angry that she cried out loudly. "Oh my God, if the damned bull appeared in front of me again, I would break its horns, but that could only be a wish! My hometown is far away, what way out do I have but to die? Heavenly gods, send me a lion or a tiger! But the beast did not appear, and all she saw was a strange sight. The sun shines on its smiling face from the blue sky.

As if driven by the goddess of vengeance, Europa suddenly jumped. "Poor Europa!" She cried out loudly, "If you don't want to end this dishonorable life, don't you feel that your father will curse you?" Are you willing to be a concubine to a king of beasts, and to toil as a maid for him? How can you forget that you are a princess of a noble king? “

The girl who was abandoned by fate hated it so much that she thought of death, but she couldn't get the courage to die. Suddenly, she heard a low laugh from behind her. The girl looked back in astonishment, and she saw the goddess Aphrodite standing in front of her, shining with the radiance of a god. Next to the goddess is her youngest son, the Angel of Love, who bends his bow and arrows and is eager to try.

The goddess smiled at the corner of her mouth and said, "Beautiful girl, hurry up and calm your anger! The bull you cursed will come at once, and it will send you its horns to break off. I am the woman who gave you your dreams.

Europa, you can talk! It is Zeus himself who will take you away. You are now the goddess of the earth, and your name will live on forever, and the continent that contains you will be called Europa after you! “

Europa suddenly realized that she acquiesced in her fate, and with Zeus she had three powerful and wise sons: Minos, Radamantis, and Salperdon. Minos and Radamantis later became judges of the underworld.

Sapidon was a great hero who became king of the kingdom of Lycaia in Asia Minor.

Cadmus was the son of King Azinoel of Phoenicia and the elder brother of Europa. When Zeus took Europa, King Agenor was so distressed that he hurriedly sent Cadmus and his three other sons, Funix, Killix, and Phineus, out to look for him, and told them that they were not allowed to return if they could not find his sister.

After Cadmus went out, he searched everywhere, but never heard of his sister Europa. Helpless to return to his homeland, he asked the sun god Fubos Apollo to give him an oracle telling him where to stay. Apollo replied quickly: "You will meet a cow in a lonely pasture, which has not yet been yoked, and which will carry you all the way."

While it is resting on the grass, you can build a city there and name it Thebes. “

Cadmus was about to leave the sacred spring of Castella, to which Apollo had given him an oracle, when he suddenly saw a cow munching on the green grass in front of him. He prayed to the sun god Phobos, thanked him, and then walked after the cow.

It led him through the shallow stream of Kephissos, and stood on the shore without leaving. The cow raised her head and barked loudly. It turned back to look at Cadmus and his retinue following behind, and then lay down contentedly in the soft green grass.

Cadmus fell to his knees with gratitude and kissed the strange land. Later, when he wanted to offer Zeus a sacrifice, he sent his servants and ordered them to go to the source of the living water to fetch water for the gods to drink. Nearby, there was an ancient forest that the woodcutter had never cut down with an axe, and a spring of water gushed out of the rocks and meandered through the layers of shrubs. The spring is crystal clear and sweet.

In this forest there is a poisonous dragon hidden, the purple crown is shining, the eyes are red, as if spewing raging flames, the body is huge, and three letters are stretched out from the mouth, like a trident, and the mouth is lined with three layers of sharp teeth. The Phoenician servants went into the forest, and were about to sink the jug into the water to draw water, when the blue dragon suddenly stuck its head out of the hole and made a terrible noise from its mouth. The servants were so frightened that even the jug slipped out of their hands, and the blood on their bodies seemed to freeze.

The dragon coiled its scaly body in a ball, then curled up and staggered forward, its head held high, looking down ferociously at the woods. Eventually, it rushed towards the Phoenicians, smashing them to pieces, biting them to death, strangulating them to death, suffocating them to death by the stench it spewed, and the rest being poisoned by the saliva.

Cadmus couldn't figure out why his servants hadn't come back after going for so long, and in the end, he decided to go and find them himself. He was dressed in a lion's skin, armed with a spear and javelin, and had a brave heart, stronger than any weapon. When Cadmus entered the woods, he saw a large pile of corpses, all dead of his servants.

He also saw the dragon spit out blood-red letters as if in triumph, licking and devouring corpses everywhere. "Poor friends!" Cadmus cried out in agony, "I will avenge you, or I will die with you!" As he spoke, he grabbed a large rock and threw it at the dragon. With such a large stone, even the walls and towers can be pierced and smashed.

But the poisonous dragon did not move, its hard thick skin and scaly shell protected it like iron armor. Cadmus threw another javelin, the tip of which stabbed deep into the dragon's guts. The dragon turned its head furiously and bit down on the javelin on its back, crushing it with its body, but the tip of the spear remained in its body, and the dragon was seriously wounded.

Cadmus's fearless actions enraged the dragon, and its throat rapidly swelled, spitting poisonous white foam. It rushed like an arrow, and Cadmus quickly took a step back, wrapped his body in lionskin, and stabbed the dragon into the dragon's mouth, and the dragon bit the spear in one bite. Cadmus desperately pressed against the spear, and the dragon's teeth fell out. Finally, blood flowed from the dragon's neck, but the injuries were not serious, and he was able to dodge attacks.

It was difficult for Cadmus to kill it all at once. Cadmus became more and more courageous. Finally, he took the sword and saw the opportunity to stab the dragon in the neck. The sword stabbed hard and hard, not only piercing the dragon's neck, but also piercing into a large oak tree behind it, pinning the dragon tightly to the tree, and the dragon was subdued.

Cadmus stared at the stabbed dragon for a long time. When he finally wanted to leave, he saw Pallas Athena standing beside him, ordering him to sow the dragon's teeth in the soft soil, the seeds of a future race.

Cadmus listened to the goddess, he made a wide furrow in the ground, and slowly sprinkled the dragon's teeth into the earth. Suddenly, the ground beneath the earth began to move. Cadmus first saw the tip of a spear exposed, and then a warrior's helmet emerging from the earth.

The whole forest was shaking. Soon, shoulders, chests, and limbs were exposed from under the dirt, and the last heavily armed samurai rose from the dirt. Of course, there is more than one. After a while, a whole group of samurai grew underground.

Cadmus was taken aback, and he was ready to enter a new battle, and quickly put on a stance. But a warrior born out of the dirt shouted to him: "Do not take arms against us, and do not participate in the war between our brothers!" He said as he drew his sword and swung it at one of his brothers, who had just grown out of the dirt, and he himself was stabbed to the ground with a javelin. For a while, a team of people fought and were inseparable. Mother Earth swallowed the blood of her first sons.

In the end, only five men remained, one of whom was later named Echeon, who first responded to Athena's suggestion to lay down his arms and be willing to reconcile, and the others agreed.

The Phoenician prince Cadmus founded a new city with the help of five soldiers. At the behest of the sun god Phobos, Cadmus called the city Thebes. In order to reward Cadmus, the gods took the beautiful girl Hamenia as his wife, and attended the wedding, giving him many gifts.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, the mother of Hamenia, gave her a precious necklace and a delicately crafted silk veil.

Cadmus and Hamenia had a daughter, Semele. Zeus was very fond of Semele. Tempted by Hera, Semele asked Zeus to show his divine majesty. Zeus, because he had promised to meet the girl's request, did not dare to break his promise, so he rode the thunderbolt and approached the girl. Semele couldn't bear it anymore and before he died, he gave birth to a child for Zeus, which was Dionysus, also known as bacchus.

Zeus gave the child to Semele's sister Ino to raise. Later, Ino and her other son, Murikertus, fell into the sea in order to escape her husband Atamas. The mother and son were rescued by Poseidon and became the sea god who rescued the victims.

From then on, Ino was called Loyukotea, and her son was called Palermont. Later, Cadmus and Hamenia, who were old and grieved by their children's misfortunes, both went to Illyria.

In the end, they turned into two great snakes and went to heaven after death.

Bacchus, also known as Dionysus, was the son of Zeus and Semele, the grandson of Cadmus, who was named the god of fruit and the first to plant grapes.

Dionysus grew up in India. Soon after, he left the fairies who raised and sheltered him, and traveled to various places to teach the world the art of growing grapes and to ask for temples to be built to worship him. He was generous to his friends, but he often punished those who did not believe that he was a god.

Soon, Dionysus' fame spread throughout Greece and to his native Thebes. By that time, Cadmus had already passed the kingdom to Penthos. Pentheus was the son of Ekaeon and Agau, born of the earth. Agoe is the sister of the bacchus god Bacchus's mother.

Pentheus insulted the gods and especially hated his relative Dionysus. So, when bacchus, the god of wine, came there with a group of fanatical believers and prepared to expound the Shinto to the king of Thebes, Penthos stubbornly refused to listen to the warnings and persuasions of the old blind soothsayer Tirisias.

Penthos was furious when he was told that many men, women, and girls in Thebes were following in praise of the new god. "What is it that makes you mad that you follow him in droves? You are cowardly fools and mad women, have you forgotten your heroic ancestors? Are you willing to let a pampered boy conquer Thebes? He was a vain coward, with a garland of vines on his head, and instead of armor, he wore a robes of purple gold.

He couldn't ride a horse and was a coward who ran away from every battle. As soon as you come to your senses, you will see that he is actually a human being just like us. I am his cousin, Zeus is not his father.

His illustrious ordinances are all false! He swore and scolded. Then he turned his face and ordered the servants to arrest the Protestant leader and put him in shackles.

Penthos' relatives and friends were shocked and frightened by his arrogant words and orders. His maternal grandfather, Cadmus, also shook his gray-haired head in disapproval. But all the persuasion only angered Penthos even more.

At this time, the servants sent on the mission fled with their heads broken and bloody.

"Where did you meet Baccos?" Penthos asked angrily and loudly.

"We didn't see Bakcos at all. We captured one of his retinues, and he didn't seem to have been following him for long. The servants replied truthfully.

Penthos glared at the captured man hatefully and said loudly, "Damn it, what's your name?" Who are the parents and where do they live? Why embrace the new ordinances? The captor was fearless and calmly replied: "My name is Actes, and my hometown is in Mayonion. My parents were ordinary people, with neither livestock nor land.

My father only taught me to fish with a fishing rod, because this skill was his wealth. Later I learned to sail, became familiar with the sky, observed the wind, and knew where the best ports were, and I became a navigator. Once, while sailing to the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea, the ship came to an unknown place in Shawei.

I jumped out of the boat and spent the night hiding alone on the shore. The next day, I climbed a mountain in the morning glow to test the wind and direction. At this time, our fellow shipmates also came ashore one after another. I met them on the way back, except that they were holding a boy who they had subdued on a deserted beach.

The boy was handsome and as beautiful as a girl, and he seemed to be thirsty and drunk, and he staggered as if he were asleep, and it was difficult for him to keep up with everyone.

"Which God is hidden in this child's heart? I asked the crowd.

"I don't know, we're sure he's a god.

"Whoever you are, I continue, I beg to bless us with all the best! Forgive those who took you away!

"What are you muttering? One of the crew shouted, don't pray to him!

"Other people laughed at me, I couldn't play against them. One of the youngest and strongest lads among them, who was actually a vicious murderer, fled after committing the crime, grabbed me by the collar and threw me into the water.

If I hadn't stumbled on one of the ropes on the boat, I would have drowned. At this time, the boy was dragged aboard the boat, and he lay there, as if he were asleep. Later, when he was woken up by everyone, he came to the crew and asked loudly: Why are you making such noise? How did I get here? Where are you going to send me?

"You need not be afraid, there is a sinister crew member who replied, tell us the port you are willing to go to, and we will send you all the way there according to your wishes.

"Well, said the boy, please sail to the island of Naxos, which is my hometown!

"The deceitful sailors pretended to promise him, and commanded me to set sail at once and prepare for my journey. Naxos is on our right. But when I raised the sails, they winked at me and whispered, "What are you doing, you fool?" Are you crazy? Left!

"I don't understand, so please change someone else to carry out the order! With that, I stepped aside.

"It's like sailing really can't live without you! A rough man said mockingly, and at the same time stepped forward and hoisted the sails. In this way, Naxos was on the right, but the ship was moving in the opposite direction.

It was only then that the boy seemed to discover their deception, and with a sneer on his lips, he looked out to sea from the back deck. He feigned despair and pleaded: "Oh, sailors, you promised to send me to Naxos, and now you are traveling in the wrong direction!" It doesn't make sense for you people to deceive a child. The sailors just looked at him and me mockingly, paddling incessantly in their hands, without changing direction. Suddenly, the ship was thrown into the sea, motionless, as if stranded, and no matter how the sailors rowed with their oars, they could not move forward. After a while, the vine got tangled in the oars, and the vine climbed the mast.

Bacchus turned out to be the boy, and stood there with a headband made of grape leaves on his forehead, a scepter wrapped around the vine in his hand, and around him lay tigers, bobcats, and leopards. The sweet smell of wine spreads throughout the ship.

The sailors jumped in fright. The first man was about to scream when he noticed that his lips and nose had joined together and had become a fish's mouth. Before the others could scream, the same fate befell them: their bodies were covered with blue scales, their backs were bent, their arms were shrunk into fins, and their feet had long since turned into tails. All the people turned into fish, jumped from the deck into the sea, and floated up and down.

There were all people on board, and I was the only one left unharmed. But my limbs trembled, ready to lose my human form. But Bacchus came forward in a friendly manner, and because I had not hurt him, he said: Don't be afraid, please send me to Naxos. When we got there, he pulled me to the altar and made me a servant of the gods. “

"We are tired of your nonsense," cried King Penthos, "come on, take him up, put him to a thousand kinds of torture, and put him in a dungeon!" The servants obeyed and bound him up and put him in the dungeon. But an invisible hand let him go.

The king was furious and began to persecute the followers of Bacchus on a large scale. Penthos' biological mother, Agoe, and several sisters attended the service. The king sent men to capture them and put all the followers of Bacchus in prison. However, without anyone's help, their handcuffs and shackles fell off on their own, and the prison doors were wide open.

With reverence for Bacchus, they returned to the woods. The servant sent to capture Bacchus also came back in confusion, for Bacchus smiled and willingly let him be shackled. Bacchus stood in front of the king, who, although the king did not want to look, was amazed by the young beauty of the god of wine, who still attracted his attention. But he was still stubborn, using Bacchus as a liar who stole the name of Bacchus. The king had Bacchus shackled and locked up in a cave near the stables.

But the god of wine gave an order, and the earth immediately shook. The brick wall at the entrance to the cave was shattered, and the shackles on the hands and feet were loosened. He walked out unharmed and returned to his followers, looking prettier and more handsome than before.

Another messenger came to King Penthos and reported to him the miracles of the fanatical women who had led the way in the woods, and his mother and sisters. As soon as they struck the rock wall with their canes, a spring and wine flowed from the cracks in the stones, milk flowed from the stream, and honey dripped from the hollow trunks.

"Yes," added one of the inquirers, "if you were there and saw the god with your own eyes, you would have knelt down before him!" “

Enraged, Penthos ordered heavily armed infantry and cavalry to disperse the crowd of believers. But Bacchus himself came to the king, and he promised to bring the women with him, but the king had to put on women's clothes, because he was a man, and he was not yet converted, and the women would tear him to pieces.

Reluctantly and skeptically, King Pentheus accepted the suggestion, and he followed the god of wine out of the city, only to be struck by a spell that had been taught to him by the almighty god. He seemed to think that there were two suns in front of him, a city of Thebes twice as large, each gate twice as high as before, and bacchus looked to him like a bull with a pair of huge horns on its head.

Filled with passion for Bacchus, he prayed for a scepter, which he took and ran forward excitedly.

They came to a large valley deep in the mountains, surrounded by pine trees. The women of Bacchus gathered together and sang an ode to their gods, and they wrapped fresh vines around their scepters, but Penthos was blind, perhaps Bacchus had deliberately led him down a circuitous path, so he did not see the women who had gathered in frenzy.

Now Bacchus stretched out a hand to the sky, and a miracle occurred, and that hand reached all the way to the crown of the pine tree he had grasped, bent it down like a willow branch, and then sat Penthos on it, and let the pine tree slowly return to its previous position. It was strange that Penthos did not fall, and he sat firmly in the high canopy.

Many of the women of Bacchus in the valley saw the king, but the king could not see them. Then Dionysus, the god of wine, shouted to the valley: "Punish him, women, who mocks our sacred ordinances!" “

Not a single leaf trembled in the forest, and there was no sound of any living thing. The believers of Bakkos looked up, and they heard the voice of the sect master, and immediately ran as fast as they could. As if sent by the gods, they marched through the rushing rivers and dense jungles in the midst of the revelry, and at last they approached and saw their enemy, their king, sitting on the top of the tree.

First, they threw stones, broken branches, and scepters. But none of these things could be thrown into the canopy of the tree where the king was. Later, they used hard oak sticks to dig up the soil around the pine trees and dig out the roots. The tree fell with a thud, and Penthos fell to the ground with the tree.

Bacchus drew a charm on the eyes of Pentheus' mother, Agoe, so she did not recognize her son. Now she bore the brunt of the attack and made a gesture of punishment. The king was so frightened that he suddenly regained consciousness and shouted "Mother" to throw himself into his mother's arms. "Do you still know your son? I am Penthos, the son of your son in the house of Echion.

Have mercy on me, and don't punish your child! But the fanatical female believer of Bacchus was foaming at the mouth and looking at him with slanted eyes, not recognizing him as her own son, but only a fierce wild lion. She grabbed her son by the shoulder and jerked off his right arm. Her sisters swarmed up and pulled down the king's right arm. A group of women rushed forward in a frenzy, each tearing a piece of flesh from him.

Agoe stretched out his bloody hands again, twisted his son's head tightly, and slipped it on her scepter, still thinking it was a great lion's head, and carried it excitedly through the woods of Kitalon. To be continued.

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