Greek terracotta figure showing the myth of Europe

The group comprises two figures: with natural grace, a young woman rides astride a bull that is galloping rapidly towards the viewer’s right. Indeed, the young woman is Europa (the mythological figure after whom our continent is named), who was one of the three daughters of the King of Tyre (a major Phoenician coastal city). She was abducted by Zeus on the beach where she was playing with her sisters: the god appeared to her in the form of a magnificent white bull and carried her, riding the waves of the sea, all the way to Crete.