Митът за Европа: организация на мита и конструиране на културната идентичността на древните гърци

This paper explores the organization of the Greek myth as a traditional tale whose sense structure reflects social phenomena of collective importance for the Greeks. The myth of Europa is studied in its epichoric (local) forms, later transformed into a Pan-Hellenic myth. The paper focuses on the processes of transition from traditional communities to political and civil society with the accruing necessity to evolve an own self-identification, eventually embodied into the Herodotean definition of Greekness (8. 144.2).The myth of Europa and her exploits, as well as the narrative texts which tell the stories, in effect, can be seen to perform a double function: on the one hand - to separate ancient society into "us" and "them", and at the same time - to identify, thereby serving to promote the centrality and importance of Greeks in the Mediterranean world.