CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

On the reverse is the mythological scene of the Phoenician princess Europa being carried off across the sea to Crete by Zeus in the guise of a bull. There she bore him three sons including King Minos. The sea is shown as a scrolling wavy line with a giant octopus with tentacles fanned out beneath. For Etruscan representations of Europa and the bull see LIMC, IV, p. 83 including no. 120 - a similar mirror back.