The mythological and geographical roots of Europe

pp. 3-16

in: Heikki Mikkeli, Jo Campling, Europe as an idea and an identity, Berlin, Springer, 1998

Abstract

In ancient times, the term "Europe" had two main contexts: a mythological and a geographical. Various hypotheses have been proffered for the etymology of the word itself (Bühler, 1968). The Greek word eurus means "broad", so that Zeus europa is Zeus the broad-minded. The feminine form europa is believed to have signified a woman with a beautiful, broad face and big eyes. According to conjectures that have subsequently been criticized, the words "Europe" and "Asia" have their roots in the Akkadian language of Mesopotamia, where asu and acu mean "rising" and erib and erebu "entering". The former would thus denote sunrise, the Orient, and the latter sunset, the Occident. No unchallengeable definition of the word "Europe" has, however, so far been proposed (Dombrowski, 1984; Milani, 1986).