e u r o p a
Leda, Io and Europa were all maidens to catch the attention of Zeus and
bear him children. From Leda, Pollux and Helen of Troy (Castor was Pollux's half-brother,
and his father was King Tyndareus of Sparta); from Io, Epaphus (ancestor of Hercules); and
from Europa, Minos and Rhadamanthus. Of the three, Europa seems to have the gentlest abduction -
she was enticed and carried over the sea to Crete on the wide back of a swift and gentle bull, Zeus in
disguise. Perhaps after Io, Zeus thought it best to do the transforming himself. Eventually, she married
the King of Crete. The opal in this 1/2" pendant made me think of water and its role in the
story, the simultaneous pull of attraction - an adventure with the most powerful god! (which in
Greek stories is typically portrayed in a positive light, nevermind reality) - and push of fear, being carried
away to places unknown. The materials that create opal are carried along in water and deposited, and
the stone owes its properties to what happens after the water recedes, like Europa being carried
along the water and deposited to make her fate.
The pendant is paired with a lightweight flat cable sterling silver chain.
Cost: $94.00 USD
Cost of gift shipment (domestic shipping only): $5.95 USD
m a k e i t a g i f t
s h i p m e n t :
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c a t e g o r i e s :
- Color: yellow orange
- Material: quartz softie
- Type: necklace - short
- Geek Chic: literary allusions
- Cool Finds: cool stones
- Something Special: iconic pieces