The bull was closely linked to the gods, especially in the context of Zeus, the king of the gods. One of the most famous myths involving a bull is the story of Zeus transforming into a bull to abduct the Phoenician princess Europa. This myth reflects the bull’s association with both divine authority and transformation, as Zeus used the animal form to enact his will. Additionally, bulls were sacred to many deities, such as Apollo and Poseidon, symbolizing the gods’ power over the natural world and their control over fertility and agricultural abundance. In these contexts, bulls were often depicted in art and religious iconography as representations of divine force and fertility.

The bull’s strength and virility also made it a symbol of fertility and agricultural prosperity. Bulls were essential in farming for plowing fields, and their association with the land and its fertility was crucial to the success of ancient Greek society. Bulls were often sacrificed in rituals to honor gods like Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, in hopes of securing a bountiful crop. The act of sacrificing a bull was seen as a means of invoking divine favor for agricultural fertility, with the animal representing the life-giving force of nature.

In Greek mythology, the bull was sometimes seen as a symbol of sacrifice and renewal. The myth of the Minotaur—a half-man, half-bull creature imprisoned in the labyrinth of Crete—illustrates the bull’s darker side as a symbol of destructive power and the need for control and order. In this story, the bull also symbolizes the wild, untamed forces of nature that must be subdued. The myth of the Minotaur was connected to the ritual of bull-leaping in Crete, a practice that involved jumping over bulls as a form of symbolic conquest over the animal’s power, signifying mastery over chaos and the untamed forces of nature.