Cadmus

Also known as: the Sidonian stranger / the son of Agenor · Family: Thebes · Role: son of Agenor · First appears: Fable 30

Cadmus, the son of Agenor, is commanded to search for his sister Europa, and lives in Thrace until the death of his mother, Telephassa, who has accompanied him. As a suppliant, he consults Apollo at Delphi, who tells him to follow a cow and build a city where it lies down; when the cow rests in the fields, Cadmus follows its sign and reaches the place destined for Bœotia. While preparing a sacrifice to Jupiter, he sends his companions for water from the fountain of Mars, where the guarding Dragon devours them.

Cadmus kills the Dragon by pinning its throat against an oak with his spear. Minerva, his patron and the favorer of the hero, then instructs him to sow the dragon’s teeth, and armed men rise from the earth. With Echion and four other survivors as associates, Cadmus builds at Thebes the city ordered by Apollo.

Cadmus later marries Hermione, also called Harmonia, the daughter of Mars and Venus. He is linked by family to Semele, Agave, Pentheus, and Actæon, while Zethus and Amphion become his enemies. After exile from his dominions, Cadmus reaches Illyria with Hermione; there he transforms into a serpent, and Hermione changes beside him, leaving them as two gentle serpents that enter a nearby grove.