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The first of these gifts was a decorative necklace as created by Hephaestus, the Olympian gods' blacksmith. There were also three other gifts that were more useful.

The first of these was Talos, a gigantic man made of bronze who would offer protection to the island of Crete by circling it three times every day. The second gift was that of a dog known as Laelaps. Laelaps was a magical dog that would always catch what ever it was chasing, it was though eventually turned to stone by Zeus as it was chasing the Teumessian Fox. The Teumessian Fox was also turned to stone as Zeus could not deal with quandary of the fox that could not be caught and the dog that could not miss its target. The third and final gift from Zeus to Europa was that of a javelin, that when thrown would never miss its target.

Europa though did well on Crete and went on to marry Asterion the king of Crete, and so she became the first queen of Crete. The story of Europa ends at this point although the tales of her sons, especially that of Minos, continue on through other stories of Greek mythology. Minos went on to become the king of Crete, and Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys went on to become the three judges of the underworld after they had died.

The abduction of Europa though also saw other Greek tales established. King Agenor did not just allow the abduction of his daughter to go without an attempt to recover her, as such he sent out her brothers, Cadmus, Cilix, and Phoenix to search for her. It was a hopeless search though but each of the brothers had their own adventures, Cadmus indeed founded the city of Thebes during his wanderings.

The name of Europa survives today, as the name of the continent of Europe is derived from her. Additionally the tales of Greek mythology also tell of how Zeus went on to create the constellation Taurus in remembrance of the original white bull. The white bull also appears in the adventures of Greek heroes, especially that of Theseus and Heracles, this though is not surprising with the Cretans worshipping bulls for hundreds of years.

In itself the story of Europa and Zeus is only a minor one in the whole world of Greek mythology; it does though play a linking role into the stories of many other central Greek mythological figures. Standing by itself it is also another example of the love that Zeus had for beautiful mortal women and the lengths that he would go to satisfy his desires.

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