In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman who was abducted by a bull who was actually Zeus. Europe is also named after her. Enceladus was one of the Gigante, the children of the Gaia, a Titan. So what do these two mythological figures have to do with anything. Well they are both the names of moons in our solar system. Enceladus is a moon of Saturn, and Europe is one of the Galilean Moons of Jupiter, discovered by Galileo. But these moons are not your average floating rock in space, they are the locations of large oceans. Enceladus’ ocean was only recently confirmed using gravitational data from Cassini’s most recent pass-by of the moon. The oceans are caused by a phenomenon called tidal flexing. Much like the moon moving our oceans back and forth, the gravity of Jupiter and Saturn pulls hard, back and forth on the moons that rotate around it. However, since the mass of these two gas giants is so immense compared to the moons, the pull is able to keep the rocky cores of the moon molten, and melt ice on the planet. To the naked eye, each moon looks like a giant snowball with cracks in it, but below is a ocean of liquid water. Both moons are now considered to be the prime candidates for the life in our solar system, and the race is now on to see which one travel to first. Europa was first, and naturally would be hit quite hard by the news of any perceived dismissal of interest towards it, but Enceladus has a distinct advantage. The icy crust on Enceladus is much thinner. Thinner ice means less drilling, and an easier mission, less cost. Whichever one wins out, scientist and space enthusiasts alike are awaiting which of these water worlds( don’t read the Kevin Costner movie) we will travel to first. Either should provide us with a good chance of confirming that we are not alone in this universe, and that’s pretty cool. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140403142019.htm