Cadmus and the dragon's teeth

Of all the cities of Greece none is more famous for myths than Boeotian Thebes. Thebes's beginnings, however, lie far from that region, in Phoenician Lebanon, where one day Europa, daughter of King Agenor, was picking flowers in a field by a beach.

As Europa squatted on the grass making posies, she suddenly saw a bull in front of her, white as snow with horns polished like semiprecious stones. The bull was gentle and nuzzled her and ate the flowers she held out, and lay down on the soft grass alongside her, as tame as can be. She made a chain of flowers, placed them on his horns, and climbed on his broad back, riding him like a pony round a paddock. But as soon as he felt her weight, the gambolling bull began to run, galloping straight out to sea. Europa feared she would drown, but the bull swam on across the Mediterranean to arrive in Crete.

There, at last in a secluded place, the bull revealed himself as Zeus. He had disguised himself to escape the notice of jealous Hera, and he lay with Europa and she bore to him Minos, who would become king of Crete, and Rhadamanthys, who was famously just. Zeus named the continent of Europe in honour of this daughter of Asia as if it had been discovered anew.

Back in Phoenicia, Agenor sent his sons in all directions to find his beloved daughter. One of these, Cadmus, went west, sailing from Lebanon to Greece. He put in at Delphi to consult Apollo's oracle. "Your search for your sister is at an end," the oracle told him. "For she is Zeus's mistress and needs no rescuing. But he bids you stay in Greece and found a city, which will become famous for all time." "And where shall I found it?" asked Cadmus. "Where lies the cow with two moons," said the oracle. As the Phoenicians left the temple they saw a cow on the road in front of them, black as night. It turned and walked away and they saw that it had two great silvery circles on its back, like full moons in the night sky. They followed it for days as it climbed rocky passes and ambled over river meadows, unhurried and tireless, never resting. Finally it came to Boeotia, which means "oxen-land", and stood upon a rocky hill, looking out over the surrounding fields. There finally it lay down and the Phoenicians knew their long journey was at an end.

On that very spot they built an altar to the city goddess Athena, whom they called Onga in their own tongue, and made preparations to sacrifice the cow to her in order to win her blessing for the foundation of the city, which they named Thebes. Cadmus went to fetch water for the ritual from a nearby spring, but the spring belonged to a dragon, the offspring of Ares, god of savagery and war, and it refused Cadmus's request. So Cadmus killed the dragon and took the water anyway and made the sacrifice.

Ares advised him to take the dragon's teeth and to sow them on the plains. Thus would Thebes become mighty in war. Cadmus did so, but when the field was ploughed and sown, it produced a great crop of warriors, sons of the teeth of the dragon, offspring of Ares, bristling with swords and spears, full of warrior spirit, ready to fight and kill. Athena, grateful for the Thebans' sacrifice, handed Cadmus a stone. "With this you expect me to fight an army?" asked Cadmus. Athena nodded. So he threw the stone into the middle of the ranks of the sown men as they were still shaking the soil from their hair. It hit one of them on the head. His blood up, he let out a great war cry. "We are under attack, my brothers," he shouted. "Let battle commence!" So saying he charged at his neighbour, thinking he was his attacker. And he in turn called out to his brothers: "Earth-born sons of savage Ares, or should I call you Ares's gentle daughters? Join me in the fight or go and join the womenfolk." And so the sown men fought each other, and soaked the field in blood. All day long they fought until but five were left standing, the bravest of all, now utterly exhausted. Cadmus invited them to lay down their swords and join with him in building his city so that its population would be a mixture of foreigner Phoenicians and native sons of the soil.

Ares was embarrassed at how easily Cadmus had defeated his mighty warriors, who had shown bravery and aggression but no intelligence or discipline. So he made peace with Cadmus and gave him the hand of his own daughter, Harmonia, in marriage, for her mother was lovely Aphrodite, who knows how to bring people together in harmonious union. With Harmonia Cadmus enjoyed the happiest of marriages and together they had four daughters: Ino, Agave, Semele and fair Autonoë.