178 As to Minos and Britomartis or Dictynna, see Callimachus, _Hymn to Diana_, 189 _sqq._; Pausanias, ii. 30. 3; Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._ 40; Diodorus Siculus, v. 76. On Britomartis as a moon-goddess, see K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, ii. 170; W. H. Roscher, _Über Selene und Verwandtes_, pp. 45 _sq._, 116-118. Hoeck acutely perceived that the pursuit of Britomartis by Minos “is a trait of old festival customs in which the conceptions of the sun-god were transferred to the king of the island.” As to the explanation here adopted of the myth of Zeus and Europa, see K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, i. 90 _sqq._; W. H. Roscher, _op. cit._ pp. 128-135. Moschus describes (ii. 84 _sqq._) the bull which carried off Europa as yellow in colour with a silver circle shining on his forehead, and he compares the bull’s horns to those of the moon. 179 See W. H. Roscher, _op. cit._ pp. 76-82. Amongst the passages of classical writers which he cites are Plutarch, _De facie in orbe lunae_, 30; _id._, _Isis et Osiris_, 52; Cornutus, _Theologiae Graecae compendium_, 34, p. 72, ed. C. Lang; Proclus, on Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 780; Macrobius, _Commentar. in Somnium Scipionis_, i. 18. 10 _sq._; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ ii. 45. When the sun and moon were eclipsed, the Tahitians supposed that the luminaries were in the act of copulation (J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), p. 346). M54 Octennial tribute of youths and maidens probably required as a means of renewing the sun’s fire by human sacrifices. The Minotaur a bull-headed image of the sun. 180 Plutarch, _Theseus_, 15 _sq._; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 61; Pausanias, i. 27. 10; Ovid, _Metam._ viii. 170 _sq._ According to another account, the tribute of youths and maidens was paid every year. See Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 14 _sqq._, with the commentary of Servius; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 41. 181 Apollodorus, i. 9. 26; Apollonius Rhodius, _Argon._ iv. 1638 _sqq._, with the scholium; Agatharchides, in Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. 443b, lines 22-25, ed. Bekker; Lucian, _De saltatione_, 49; Zenobius, v. 85; Suidas, _s.v._ Σαρδάνιος γέλως; Eustathius on Homer, _Odyssey_, xx. 302, p. 1893; Schol. on Plato, _Republic_, i. p. 337A. 182 Apollodorus, i. 9. 26. 183 Hesychius, _s.v._ Ταλῶς. 184 Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14; Clitarchus, cited by Suidas, _s.v._ Σαρδάνιος γέλως, and by the Scholiast on Plato, _Republic_, p. 337A; Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 13; Paulus Fagius, quoted by Selden, _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 _sq._ The calf’s head of the idol is mentioned only by P. Fagius, who drew his account from a book Jalkut by Rabbi Simeon. 185 Compare M. Mayer, _s.v._ “Kronos,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon d. griech. u. röm. Mythologie_, iii. 1501 _sqq._