Cadmus
Agenor, hearing of the extraordinary abduction of Europa,[19] called his
son Cadmus to him and ordered him to bring back the maiden or never
again enter his house. Cadmus wandered over the earth for a long time,
but could nowhere find his sister. As he did not dare to venture home
without her, he consulted the oracle and asked where she might dwell.
The oracle replied: "In a lonely field you will find a young steer which
has never worn a yoke. Follow it, and where it lies down in the soft
grass to rest, there build a city. It shall be called Thebes, and the
country round about, Boeotia."
Cadmus left the cave in which he had heard the voice of the deity and
soon found the steer which had never worn a yoke. He followed it with
his companions, humbly supplicating Apollo. The steer led him afar, but
at last stopped, turned its head towards him and his companions, and
loudly lowed. Then it laid down in the soft grass.
Cadmus knelt down, kissed the soil, and greeted the surrounding fields,
mountains, and forests. Then turning to his companions he said: "Arise,
and bring water that we may make an offering to Zeus, the all-powerful."
There was a forest nearby which had never been touched by the axe. In
the centre of this forest they found a cavern, grown round about with
bushes, from which an abundance of water gushed. This cavern was the
lair of a dragon. The body of the monster was swollen with poison. Fire
darted from its eyes, its crest gleamed golden, its tongue was thrice
cloven, and there were triple rows of teeth in its jaws.
As the men, suspecting no danger, made their way through the forest,
they heard the plashing of water. Joyously they hastened towards it and
came to the cavern. But hardly had they dipped their buckets into the
water before the dragon awoke from its sleep. It raised itself and
beheld the victims who had approached it so unsuspectingly. Suddenly the
men heard a frightful hissing, and as they looked around they saw the
dragon's bluish head emerging from the cavern. They dropped their
buckets. Their faces grew deadly pale and their limbs trembled. In the
meantime the dragon coiled its scaly body and arched itself over the men
so that they could not fly. Not one of them escaped. The monster tore
some with its teeth, killed some by strangling them in its coils, and
the rest were killed by the poisonous breath from its throat.
It was already midday, and as the men had not returned, Cadmus decided
to search for them. He threw around him the shaggy lion's skin which
served for a cloak and donned his glittering helmet. He took two spears
with him. He had not gone far before he saw the dragon and under it his
dead companions, whose wounds the horrible monster was licking.
"I will have revenge or die like you," he cried. He seized a huge rock
and hurled it at the dragon with such force that it might have shattered
a tower, but it did not harm the monster. The rock glanced from its
scaly hide and fell heavily to the ground. Deep into its back he hurled
a spear, the point of which penetrated its entrails. The monster reared,
bent its neck, and seized the spear with its teeth. It jerked it one
side and the other powerfully and at last tore it out. But it had only
taken out the handle. The iron remained sticking in the entrails. In its
fury its eyes flashed fire terribly, its veins and throat swelled, and
white foam flew from its poisonous jaws. Next it coiled itself, with a
terrible rattling of its scales, and hurled itself at Cadmus with the
swiftness of lightning. Cadmus sprang to one side and plunged his second
spear into the dragon's neck. The spear glanced, the dragon turned its
neck, seized it, and broke it to pieces. Cadmus thereupon drew his sword
and drove it into its neck with such force that it not only ran it
through, but also penetrated an oak, thus holding the dragon fastened to
the tree. It coiled itself around the trunk and lashed it with its tail
until it shook. Cadmus sprang back, for the air was poisonous near the
monster. Blood and foam streamed from its neck and at last it died.
As Cadmus advanced to look at the monster, Athene suddenly appeared at
his side and said: "Cadmus, make a circle in the ground with your sword
and furrow it and sow in the furrows the teeth of the dead dragon."
Athene disappeared and Cadmus set about the work. He furrowed the soil
with his strong arms, took the dragon's teeth, scattered them in the
furrows, and covered them with earth. Lo, instantly the clods stirred,
spear points pierced upwards, followed by glittering helmets, bearded
heads, and at last the bodies of armed men. The human crop increased
until at last a troop of warriors stood before him. Cadmus sprang to his
weapons, but one of the warriors said: "Do not arm yourself, Cadmus, but
avoid the contest."
Thereupon the warriors began to attack each other and a mighty struggle
ensued. Only five of them survived. Their weapons were thrown to the
ground and they made peace with each other. The five followed the brave
Cadmus and helped him to build the city upon the spot designated by the
oracle. He named it Thebes, as Apollo had ordered.[20]