Cadmus was the son of Agenor, and brother of Europa, who was carried away
by Jupiter in the likeness of a bull; this prince being ordered by his
father never to return if he was unable to find and bring back his sister;
he at last consulted the oracle of Delphos, to obtain its assistance in
accomplishing his mission.
[Illustration]
"Look no longer for thy sister," replied Apollo, "but follow the first cow
which presents itself to thy sight, and wherever that shall stop, build a
city for thee and thy successors." Cadmus obeyed and was guided in this
manner towards Boeotia, which he founded.
Previous to this, wishing to thank the gods by a sacrifice, he sent his
companions to fetch some water from a neighbouring grove; becoming alarmed
at their delay, he went in search of them, and found they had desecrated a
fountain sacred to Mars, and that the dragon which presided over it had
slain them. He arrived but just in time to witness him finishing the meal,
which had followed their destruction.
In fierce despair Cadmus attacked, and by the aid of Minerva overcame the
monster, he then sowed the teeth of the dragon in the plain, upon which
armed men rose suddenly from the ground.
In his alarm he threw a stone at them, and they instantly attacked one
another, leaving only five, who assisted him in building the city.
He soon after married Hermione, the daughter of Venus; and had by her four
sons and four daughters, whom Juno, out of hatred to Venus, cruelly
persecuted. {265}
Cadmus was the first who introduced the use of letters into Greece, though
others maintain that the alphabet brought by him from Phoenicia, was only
different from that used by the ancient inhabitants of Greece.
It was composed of seventeen letters, and to these were added some time
after, by Palamedes, an additional four, and by Simonides of Melos, also,
the same number.
In addition to the alphabet, by which the name of Cadmus has become
renowned, he introduced likewise, the worship of many of the Egyptian and
Phoenician deities, to the inhabitants of Greece, into which country, he is
believed to have come about one thousand four hundred and ninety years
before the christian era.
In stories so remote, it is difficult to separate the true from the false,
and still more so to give a plausible explanation of apparent
incongruities: it has, however, been suggested, that the dragon's fable,
arose from some country which Cadmus conquered; that the armed men who are
stated to have arisen from the field, were men armed with brass, a crop
very likely to arise from the attempted subjection of a free country.
We have now related the most celebrated fables in the Mythology of the
Greeks and Romans, without asserting that we have given all of them, some
of which would be out of keeping in a work meant to be placed in the hands
of youth, while others are not sufficiently authenticated, or do not bear
sufficient interest, to induce us to present them to our readers.
[Illustration] {266}