When an enamored Zeus changed form into a bull to kidnap and ravish the beautiful Phoenician princess Europa, a continent was born. Originally from Tyre, South Lebanon, she was whisked away to Crete, where her union with Zeus would see the birth of many of the Helenistic demi-gods. It’s a local legend of timeless proportions that has fascinated artists of all disciplines for centuries. Europa appears in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ and Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ and since then, her grace and suffering have continued to inspire sculptors, poets and artists over centuries. In today’s world, the force of the myth remains poignant in interpreting the relations between East and West. Lebanese artist Hussein Madi has been obsessed with the myth for decades. “The idea that this woman names a continent is fascinating to me,” the now elderly Madi explains from his atelier. “And the fact that she came from [Tyre] makes it
