In Greek mythology, culture hero, king of Thebes; son of
Agenor of Phoenicia and Argiore (or Telephassa); brother of Cilix, Electra,
Demodoce, Phineus, Thasus, Europa, and Phoenix; married Harmonia; father of
Agave, Autonoe, Illyrius, Ino, Polydorus, and Semele. Cadmus's sister Europa
was carried off and raped by Zeus. Cadmus and his brothers Phoenix and Cilix
were sent out with the command to find Europa. They were forbidden to return to
Phoenicia without their sister. In the course of their wanderings they arrived
in Thrace, where Cadmus's mother, who had accompanied him so far, died. Cadmus
then asked the Delphic oracle what he should do. He was told to cease his
search for Europa and follow a certain cow and to establish a city on the spot
where the cow would lie down. The cow met Cadmus in Phocis and led him to the
site that was to become Boeotia.
Cadmus wanted to sacrifice the cow to Athena,
so he sent his companions to a nearby spring to bring water for the rites. The
spring was guarded by a dragon-serpent, the offspring of Ares and the Erinys
Tilphosa. When the men did not return in a short time, Cadmus went in search of
them. He found the dragon-serpent feeding on their flesh, and he killed the
monster. (Medieval European paintings show the beast with wings.) Athena then
advised Cadmus to sow the teeth of the dragon like seeds. He did so, and
immediately a crop of armed warriors sprang up. Cadmus then flung a stone into
their midst. A battle broke out, and all but five of the men killed each other.
The five were called Spartoi (sown men). They were Echion (snake man), Udaeus
(ground man), Chthonius (earth man), Hyperenor (superman or overbearing), and
Pelorus (monster).
The price Cadmus had to pay for killing the dragon of Ares
was to serve the god for an "eternal" year-about eight years, the
period of banishment for a homicide. Afterward Athena made him ruler of Thebes.
Zeus gave Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, to Cadmus as his wife.
Cadmus gave Harmonia an outer robe or cloak and a necklace made by the craft
god Hephaestus.
As further punishment for killing Ares' dragon-serpent, many
of the children of Cadmus and Harmonia died. Childless, the couple left Thebes
and settled in the country of the Enchelians. The people received them kindly,
making Cadmus their king. One day Cadmus said, "If a serpent's life is so
dear to the gods, I would I were myself a serpent." No sooner had Cadmus
uttered the words than he began to change into a snake. When Harmonia saw him,
she asked the gods to grant her the same. The two became serpents. When they
died, they went to Elysium.
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