View source for Cadmus

{{Short description|Greek mythology character, founder of Thebes}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox deity
| deity_of = Slayer of the [[Dragon]]<br />Founder and King of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]
| type = Greek
| name = Cadmus
| image = Kadmos dragon Louvre N3157.jpg
| alt = Cadmus
| caption = 4th century BC painting of Cadmus slaying the [[dragon]], from the [[Louvre]] in [[Paris]], [[France]]
| god_of = 
| abode = [[Elysium]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]
| symbol = 
| consort = [[Harmonia]]
| parents = [[Agenor]] and [[Telephassa]]
| siblings = [[Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa]], [[Cilix]], [[Phoenix (son of Agenor)|Phoenix]]
| children = [[Illyrius]], [[Polydorus of Thebes|Polydorus]], [[Autonoë of Thebes|Autonoë]], [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]], [[Agave (Theban princess)|Agave]], [[Semele]]
| mount = 
| Roman_equivalent = 
| birth_place = [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], [[Phoenicia]]
| death_place = [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], [[Boetia]], [[Greece]]
}}
{{Greek mythology sidebar}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Cadmus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|d|m|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Κάδμος|Kádmos}}) was the legendary [[Phoenicia]]n founder of [[Boeotia]]n [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].{{sfn|Schachter|2012|p=257}} He was, alongside [[Perseus]] and [[Bellerophon]], the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of [[Heracles]].<ref>[[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi, Karl]], 1959. ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' (London: Thames and Hudson) p. 75.</ref>  Commonly stated to be a prince of [[Phoenicia]],<ref name="Colavito">{{harvnb|Colavito|2014|p=28}}</ref> the son of king [[Agenor]] and queen [[Telephassa]] of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], the brother of [[Phoenix (son of Agenor)|Phoenix]], [[Cilix]] and [[Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa]], Cadmus traced his origins back to [[Poseidon]] and [[Libya of Egypt|Libya]].

Originally, he was sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus.<ref>A modern application of genealogy would make him the paternal grandfather of [[Dionysus]], through his daughter by [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]], [[Semele]]. [[Plutarch]] once admitted that he would rather be assisted by [[Lamprias]], his own grandfather, than by Dionysus's grandfather, i.e. Cadmus. (''Symposiacs, Book IX, [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/plutarch/symposiacs/chapter9.html#section91 question II] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013230602/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/plutarch/symposiacs/chapter9.html |date=13 October 2008 }}'')</ref> In early accounts, Cadmus and Europa were instead the children of [[Phoenix (son of Agenor)|Phoenix]].<ref name=":02">[[Scholia]] on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' B, 494, p. 80, 43 ed. Bekk. as cited in [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]]'s ''Boeotica''</ref> Cadmus founded or refounded the Greek city of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]], the [[acropolis]] of which was originally named ''[[Cadmeia]]'' in his honour.

He is also credited with the foundation of several cities in [[Illyria]], like [[Bouthoe]] and [[Lychnidus]]. In ancient Greek literature, the end of the mythical narrative of Cadmus and Harmonia is associated with [[Enchelei]] and [[Illyrians]], a tradition deeply rooted among the Illyrian peoples.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Katičić|first=Radoslav|title=Enhelejci (Die Encheleer)|trans-title=The Encheleans|journal=Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja|issue=15|year=1977|page=81}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|title=Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria|journal=Arheološki Vestnik|volume=44|year=1993|page=113}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Dedvukaj|first=Lindon|title=Linguistic evidence for the Indo-European and Albanian origin of Aphrodite|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5500|volume=8|number=1|year=2023|pages=7–8|s2cid=258381736 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

His parentage was sometimes modified to suit, e.g. claims of Theban origin name his mother as one of the daughters of [[Nilus (mythology)|Nilus]], one of the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river gods]] and deity of the Nile river.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|publisher=Little Brown and Company|year=1870|editor-last=Smith |editor-first=William |location=Boston|pages=524|id=ark:/13960/t9s17xn41}}</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens 002.jpg|thumb|Sowing the Dragon's teeth. Workshop of [[Rubens]]|left]]
Cadmus was credited by the Greek historian [[Herodotus]] with introducing the original [[Phoenician alphabet]] to the Greeks, who adapted it to form their [[History of the Greek alphabet|Greek alphabet]].<ref>"Herodotus' ''Histories'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.58&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 Book V, 58].</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Woodard|2013|p=37}}.</ref> Modern scholarship has almost unanimously agreed with Herodotus concerning the Phoenician source of the alphabet.<ref>{{harvnb|Woodard|2013|p=37}}</ref>

Herodotus estimates that Cadmus lived sixteen hundred years before his time, which would be around 2000 BC.<ref>Herodotus. ''Histories'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D145%3Asection%3D4 Book II, 2.145.4].</ref> Herodotus had seen and described the Cadmean writing in the temple of [[Apollo]] at Thebes engraved on certain tripods. He estimated those tripods to date back to the time of [[Laius]] the great-grandson of Cadmus.<ref>Herodotus. Histories, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.59.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 Book V.59.1]</ref> On one of the tripods there was this inscription in Cadmean writing, which, as he attested, resembled [[Ionic Greek|Ionian letters]]: {{lang|grc|Ἀμφιτρύων μ᾽ ἀνέθηκ᾽ ἐνάρων ἀπὸ Τηλεβοάων}} ("[[Amphitryon]] dedicated me from the spoils of [the battle of] Teleboae.").

Although Greeks like Herodotus dated Cadmus's role in the [[founding myth]] of Thebes to well before the [[Trojan War]] (or, in modern terms, during the [[Aegean civilizations|Aegean Bronze Age]]), this chronology conflicts with most of what is now known or thought to be known about the origins and spread of both the Phoenician and Greek alphabets. The earliest Greek inscriptions match Phoenician letter forms from [[History of the Greek alphabet#Chronology of adoption|the late 9th or 8th centuries BC]]—in any case, the [[Phoenician alphabet]] properly speaking was not developed until around 1050 BC (or after the [[Bronze Age collapse]]). The [[Homer]]ic picture of the Mycenaean age betrays extremely little awareness of writing, possibly reflecting the loss during the [[Greek Dark Ages|Dark Age]] of the earlier [[Linear B]] script. Indeed, the only Homeric reference to writing<ref>There are several examples of written letters, such as in Nestor's narrative concerning [[Bellerophon]] and the "[[Bellerophontic letter]]", another description of a letter presumably sent to [[Palamedes (mythology)|Palamedes]] from [[Priam]] but in fact written by [[Odysseus]] ([[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]]. ''Fabulae'', [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae3.html#105 105]), as well as the letters described by [[Plutarch]] in ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', Theseus, which were presented to [[Ariadne]], presumably sent from [[Theseus]]. Plutarch goes on to describe how Theseus erected a pillar on the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], which bears an [[inscription]] of two lines.</ref> was in the phrase "σήματα λυγρά", ''sēmata lugra'', literally "baneful signs", when referring to the [[Bellerophontic letter]]. Linear B tablets have been found [[Thebes tablets|in abundance at Thebes]], which might lead one to speculate that the legend of Cadmus as bringer of the alphabet could reflect earlier traditions about the origins of Linear B writing in Greece (as [[Frederick Ahl]] speculated in 1967<ref>F. M. Ahl. "Cadmus and the Palm-Leaf Tablets". ''American Journal of Philology'' 88.2, Apr. 1967, pp. 188–194.</ref>).

According to Greek myth, Cadmus's descendants ruled at Thebes on and off for several generations, including the time of the [[Trojan War]].

==Etymology==
The etymology of Cadmus's name remains uncertain.<ref>[[LSJ]] s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D*ka%2Fdmos Κάδμος].</ref> According to one view,{{Refn|Supported by [[Walter Burkert]] and [[Liddell–Scott]] among others|group=note}} the name originates from [[Phoenicia]]n, from the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] root ''qdm'', which signifies "the east", the equation of ''Kadmos'' with the Semitic ''qdm'' was traced to a publication of 1646 by R. B. Edwards.<ref>Edwards, ''Kadmos the Phoenician: A Study in Greek Legends and the Mycenaean Age'' (Amsterdam 1979), noted by [[Walter Burkert]], ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Bronze Age'' (Harvard University Press) 1992:2, and note, who remarks that the complementary connection of ''Europa'' with ''rb'', "West" was an ancient one, made by [[Hesychius of Miletus|Hesychius]].</ref> According to another view,{{Refn|Supported by [[Vladimir I. Georgiev]], {{ill|Émile Boisacq|fr|Émile Boisacq}} and others|group="note"}} the name is of [[Greeks|Greek]] origin, ultimately from the word ''kekasmenos''. ({{Langx|el|κεκασμένος}}, {{Lit|excellent}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Ahl|1967|p=}}.{{page needed|date=January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Allan R. Bomhard |title=Georgiev: Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages |url=http://archive.org/details/georgievintroductiontothehistoryoftheindoeuropeanlanguages1981 |edition=3rd |language=English}}</ref>

Possible connected words include the Semitic [[triliteral root]] ''qdm'' ({{langx|uga|[[wikt:𐎖𐎄𐎎|𐎖𐎄𐎎]]}})<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gregorio del Olmo Lete |author2=Joaquín Sanmartín|url=http://cnqzu.com/library/To%20Organize/Books/Brill%20Ebooks/Brill._Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies/Brill.%20Handbook%20of%20Oriental%20Studies/A_Dictionary_of_the_Ugaritic_Language_in_the_Alphabetic_Tradition__Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies_.pdf|title=A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition - Part One|publisher=Brill|year=2003|page=694|isbn=90-04-12891 3|access-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230191225/http://cnqzu.com/library/To%20Organize/Books/Brill%20Ebooks/Brill._Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies/Brill.%20Handbook%20of%20Oriental%20Studies/A_Dictionary_of_the_Ugaritic_Language_in_the_Alphabetic_Tradition__Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies_.pdf|archive-date=30 December 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> which signifies "east" in Ugaritic, in [[Arabic]], words derived from the root "qdm" include the verb "qdm" meaning "to come" as well as words meaning "primeval" and "forth" as well as "foot", names derived from it are "Qadim", which means "the elder one",{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}─in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], ''qedem'' means "front", "east" and "ancient times"; the verb ''qadam'' ({{langx|syr|ܩܕܡ}}) means "to be in front",<ref>Compare: {{cite book| last1 = Graves| first1 = Robert| author-link1 = Robert Graves| chapter = 58: Europe and Cadmus |year=1990 |orig-year = 1955| title = The Greek Myths| volume  = 1| location = London| publisher = Penguin |isbn = 9781101554982| access-date = 2016-11-11| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PuXnAe6STUYC| quote = [...] a small tribe, speaking a Semitic language, seems to have moved up from the Syrian plains to Cadmeia in Caria–Cadmus is a Semitic word meaning 'eastern' [...].}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ruprecht | first1=Louis A. Jr. |title=God Gardened East: A Gardener's Meditation on the Dynamics of Genesis |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |date=2008 |page=31 |isbn=9781556354342}}</ref> and the Greek ''kekasmai'' (<*''kekadmai'') "to shine".{{Refn|group="note"|[[Robert Beekes]] rejects these derivations and considers it [[Pre-Greek]].<ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 614.</ref>}} Therefore, the complete meaning of the name might be: "He who excels" or "from the east".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/cadmus |title=Cadmus |quote=The name Cadmus is a Greek baby name. In Greek the meaning of the name Cadmus is: He who excels; from the east. |department=Baby Names |publisher=SheKnows |access-date=14 January 2017}}</ref>

==Wanderings==

===Travel to Samothrace===
[[File:Hendrick Goltzius Cadmus Statens Museum for Kunst 1183.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hendrick Goltzius]], Cadmus fighting the Dragon]]

After his sister Europa had been carried off by [[Zeus]] from the shores of [[Phoenicia]], Cadmus was sent out by his father to find her, and enjoined not to return without her. Unsuccessful in his search—or unwilling to go against Zeus—he came to [[Samothrace]], the island sacred to the "Great Gods"<ref>The ''Megaloi theoi'' of the [[Samothrace temple complex|Mysteries of Samothrace]].</ref> or the [[Kabeiroi]], whose mysteries would be celebrated also at [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]].

Cadmus did not journey alone to Samothrace; he appeared with his mother [[Telephassa]]<ref>Or known by another lunar name, Argiope, "she of the white face" (Kerenyi 1959:27).</ref> in the company of his nephew (or brother) [[Thasus]], son of [[Cilix]], who gave his name to the [[island]] of [[Thasos]] nearby. An identically composed trio had other names at Samothrace, according to [[Diodorus Siculus]]:<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#48.2 5.48.2]; [[Clement of Alexandria]], to wit ''Proreptikos'' 2.13.3.</ref> the [[Pleiad]] [[Electra (Pleiad)|Electra]] and her two sons, [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanos]] and [[Eetion]] or [[Iasion]]. There was a fourth figure, Electra's daughter, [[Harmonia (Greek goddess)|Harmonia]],<ref>Harmonia at Thebes was accounted the daughter of [[Ares]] and [[Aphrodite]]; all these figures appeared in sculptures on the pediment of the [[Hellenistic]] main temple in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods at Samothrace, the ''Hieron''; the ancient sources on this family grouping were assembled by N. Lewis, ''Samothrace. I: The Ancient Literary Sources'' (New York) 1958:24-36.</ref> whom Cadmus took away as a bride, as Zeus had abducted Europa.<ref>Kerenyi (1959) notes that Cadmus in some sense found another Europa at Samothrace, according to an obscure [[scholium]] on Euripides's ''Rhesus'' 29.</ref>

[[File:Kadmos and the Serpent.tif|thumb|Cadmus and the Serpent (c. 100 BC)]]

The wedding was the first celebrated on [[Earth]] to which the gods brought gifts, according to Diodorus<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#49.1 5.49.1]; when the gods attended the later wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], the harmony was shattered by the [[Apple of Discord]].</ref> and dined with Cadmus and his bride.<ref>The full range of references in Antiquity to this [[wedding]] is presented by Matia Rocchi, ''Kadmos e Harmonia: un matrimonio problemmatico'' (Rome: Bretschneider) 1989.</ref>

===Founder of Thebes===
[[File:Cadmus Asks the Delphic Oracle Where He Can Find his Sister, Europa LACMA M.83.119.6.jpg|thumb|''Cadmus Asks the Delphic Oracle Where He Can Find his Sister, Europa'', [[Hendrick Goltzius]]]] 

Cadmus came in the course of his wanderings to [[Delphi]], where he consulted the [[Pythia|oracle]]. He was ordered to give up his quest and follow a special cow, with a [[Crescent#Symbolism|half moon]] on her flank, which would meet him, and to build a town on the spot where she should lie down exhausted.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mythology.stackexchange.com/a/2495/2892/|title = Reference request - What is the source work for Cadmus visiting Delphi?}}</ref>

The cow was given to Cadmus by [[Pelagon]], King of [[Phocis]], and it guided him to [[Boeotia]], where he founded the city of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Intending to sacrifice the cow to [[Athena]], Cadmus sent some of his companions, Deioleon and Seriphus, to the nearby Ismenian spring for water.<ref>[[John Tzetzes]]. ''[http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades10.html#32 Chiliades, 10.32 line 4]''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonIsmenios.html|work=Theoi Greek Mythology|last=Atsma|first=Aaron J.|title=Drakon Ismenia|access-date=5 September 2014}}</ref> They were slain by the spring's guardian water-dragon (compare the [[Lernaean Hydra]]), which was in turn destroyed by Cadmus, the duty of a [[culture hero]] of the new order.

[[File:Cadmus teeth.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's Teeth'', by [[Maxfield Parrish]], 1908.]]

He was then instructed by Athena to sow the [[dragon's teeth (mythology)|dragon's teeth]] in the ground, from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called the ''[[Spartoi]]'' ("sown"). By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, who assisted him to build the Cadmeia or citadel of Thebes, and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.{{Sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

The dragon had been sacred to [[Ares]], so the god made Cadmus do penance for eight years by serving him. According to Theban tellings, it was at the expiration of this period that the gods gave him [[Harmonia (Greek goddess)|Harmonia]] ("harmony", literally "putting or assembling together", "good assembly", or "good composition") as wife.<ref name=":02"/> At Thebes, Cadmus and Harmonia began a dynasty with two sons [[Polydorus (son of Cadmus)|Polydorus]] and [[Illyrius]], and four daughters, [[Agave (Theban princess)|Agave]], [[Autonoë]], [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]] and [[Semele]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In rare accounts, the couple instead had six daughters which are called the Cadmiades: Ino, Agaue, Semele, [[Eurynome]], [[Kleantho]] and [[Eurydice (Greek myth)|Eurydike]].<ref>[[John Malalas|Malalas]], ''Chronography'' 2.39</ref>

At the wedding, whether celebrated at Samothrace or at Thebes, all the gods were present; Harmonia received as bridal gifts a ''[[peplos]]'' worked by Athena and a necklace made by [[Hephaestus]].{{Sfn|Chisholm|1911}} This necklace, commonly referred to as the [[Necklace of Harmonia]], brought misfortune to all who possessed it. Notwithstanding the divinely ordained nature of his marriage and his kingdom, Cadmus lived to regret both: his family was overtaken by grievous misfortunes, and his city by civil unrest. Cadmus finally abdicated in favor of his grandson [[Pentheus]], and went with Harmonia to [[Illyria]], to fight on the side<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 3.5.4.</ref> of the [[Enchelii]].<ref>Pierre Grimal, Pierre, Maxwell-Hyslop, A. R. ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''. Blackwell, 1996, {{ISBN|0-631-20102-5}}, p. 83.</ref> Later, as king, he founded the city of [[Lychnidos]] and [[Bouthoe]].<ref>Wilkes, J. J. ''The Illyrians''. Blackwell Publishing, 1992, {{ISBN|0-631-19807-5}}, p. 99.</ref>

Nevertheless, Cadmus was deeply troubled by the ill-fortune which clung to him as a result of his having killed the sacred dragon, and one day he remarked that if the gods were so enamoured of the life of a serpent, he might as well wish that life for himself. Immediately, he began to grow scales and change in form. Harmonia, seeing the transformation, thereupon begged the gods to share her husband's fate, which they granted (Hyginus).

In another telling of the story, the bodies of Cadmus and his wife were changed after their deaths; the serpents watched their tomb while their souls were translated to the fields. In [[Euripides]]'s ''[[The Bacchae]]'', Cadmus is given a prophecy by [[Dionysus]] whereby both he and his wife will be turned into snakes for a period before eventually being brought to live among the blessed.

== Genealogy ==
Cadmus was of ultimately divine ancestry, the grandson of the sea god [[Poseidon]] and [[Libya (mythology)|Libya]] on his father's side, and of [[Nilus (mythology)|Nilus]] (the [[River Nile]]) on his mother's side; overall he was considered a member of the fifth generation of beings following the (mythological) creation of the world:

{{Argive genealogy in Greek mythology}}
{{Family tree of the Theban royal house}}

==Offspring==
With [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]], he was the father of [[Semele]], [[Polydorus (son of Cadmus)|Polydorus]], [[Autonoe]], [[Agave of Thebes|Agave]] and [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]]. Their youngest son was [[Illyrius]].<ref>Pierre Grimal, Pierre, Maxwell-Hyslop, A. R. ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''. Blackwell, 1996, {{ISBN|0-631-20102-5}}, pp. 83, 230.</ref> According to [[Greek mythology]], Cadmus is the ancestor of [[Illyrian people|Illyrians]] and [[Theban kings in Greek mythology|Theban royalty]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFHYlxvkUmAC&pg=PA204 |last=Parsons|first=P.J.|title=Culture In Pieces: Essays on Ancient Texts in Honour of Peter Parsons|page=204|date=2011|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199292011}}</ref>

== Samothracian connection ==
The fact that [[Hermes]] was worshipped in [[Samothrace]] under the name of Cadmus or Cadmilus seems to show that the Theban Cadmus was interpreted as an ancestral Theban hero corresponding to the Samothracians.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Another Samothracian connection for Cadmus is offered via his wife Harmonia, who is said by [[Diodorus Siculus]] to be daughter of [[Zeus]] and the Samothracian [[Electra (Pleiad)|Electra]], who was one of the seven [[Pleiades (Greek mythology)|Pleides]].<ref>Diodorus Siculus 5.48.2</ref>

== Modern scholarship ==
=== Origins of Cadmus and his myth ===
The question of Cadmus's eastern origin have been debated for a long time in modern scholarship.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrison|2019|p=91}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = right
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| image1            = Skyphos, relief, Kadmos, from Tanagra, 2nd c BC, AM of Thebes, 201068.jpg
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| caption1          = Ancient Greek second-century BC [[skyphos]] depicting the founding of Thebes by Cadmus, [[Archaeological Museum of Thebes]].
<!-- Image 2 -->| image2            = Εκθέματα του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Θηβών 187 (cropped).jpg
| width2            = 235
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| caption2          = Illustration of the relief on the Cadmus skyphos; the Spartoi, Ares, Athena, Cadmus and the cow are shown.
}}

[[Homer]] mentions Cadmus only once, but he had already referred to the inhabitants of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] with the name "Cadmeans". [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]], in particular, repeatedly mention the "city of Cadmus" and "Cadmeans", relating Thebes with Cadmus. Also [[Euripides]] linked Thebes with Cadmus, but he was one of the earliest authors and the only tragedian to mention "Cadmus the [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Harrison |2019|pp=90–91}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] refers to Cadmus the Tyrian, and he was the first to mention Cadmus's 'Phoenician' origins,<ref name="Shavit 2001 294">{{harvnb|Shavit|2001|p=294}}</ref> but he certainly was not the initiator of this transformation, as his ''Histories'' provides evidence that the myth was already widespread.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrison |2019|p=91}}</ref> Since Herodotus Cadmus has been commonly described as a prince of [[Phoenicia]].<ref name="Colavito" /> According to [[Diodorus Siculus]] (1st century BC), Cadmus had [[Thebes, Greece|Theban]] origins.<ref name="Shavit 2001 294"/>

Modern historian Albert Schachter has suggested that Cadmus was a [[Fiction|fictitious hero]] named after the Thebean [[acropolis]] and was made 'Phoenician' due to the influence of immigrants from the [[Eastern world|East]] to [[Boeotia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schachter|2016|pp=29}}</ref><ref name="Shavit 2001 294"/> According to [[M. L. West]] the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia at Thebes originated from 9th or 8th century BC Phoenician residents in the city.<ref name="Shavit 2001 294"/> According to Jason Colavito, although modern scholars have debated on whether the myth came from Phoenicia, there is evidence that the core of Cadmus's myth originated in Near Eastern stories of the battle between a hero and a dragon. The myth of Cadmus the Phoenician was not a literal reinterpretation of an original Phoenician myth, although being probably inspired by one, rather it was the Greeks' interpretation of the Phoenician civilization and the benefits they acquired from it, specifically the alphabet.<ref name="Colavito" /> According to archaeologist [[John Boardman (art historian)|John Boardman]], the "Phoenicians" who came with Cadmus, were not "Phoenicians", but rather Greeks who had lived in the [[Near East]] for a while and had returned to teach what they had learned there, including the alphabet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boardman |first=John |date=1957 |title=Early Euboean Pottery and History |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annual-of-the-british-school-at-athens/article/abs/early-euboean-pottery-and-history/FE85A9C1BFC1A66CE9E08CC0BC09B015 |journal=Annual of the British School at Athens |language=en |volume=52 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.1017/S0068245400012867 |s2cid=162393980 |issn=2045-2403|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Sfn|Schachter|2016|p=35}}

Given the absence of a Phoenician colony in Thebes, several hypotheses arguing against Cadmus's eastern origin have been proposed by modern scholars:

;Mycenaean hypothesis
According to historian [[Frederick M. Ahl]], scholarly suggestions{{Refn|e.g. [[Martin P. Nilsson]]'s<ref name=":2">M. P. Nilsson, ''The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology'' (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1932), p. 126</ref>)|group=note}} that Cadmus was a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] must be taken into account against Cadmus's Phoenician origin, as for him it is becoming harder and harder to reconcile literary and archaeological evidence, not to mention epigraphical difficulties.<ref>{{harvnb|Ahl|1967|p=193}}</ref> Ahl rather suggest that "Cadmus was a Mycenaean, and the writing he brought to Thebes was [[Linear B]], which may have been known to Greek-speaking peoples then or later as ''φοινικήια γράμματα''."<ref>{{harvnb|Ahl|1967|p=194}}</ref>

;Cretan hypothesis
[[Henry Hall (Egyptologist)|Henry Hall]] set forth an hypothesis, arguing that Cadmus and the Cadmeians came from [[Crete]].<ref name="Ahl 1967 192">{{harvnb|Ahl|1967|p=192}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=H. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvAMAAAAIAAJ |title=Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology |date=1909 |publisher=Society of Biblical Archaeology |volume=31 |pages=282 |language=en |chapter=The Discoveries in Crete and Their Relation to the History of Egypt and Palestine}}</ref> There are a number of difficulties involved in this hypothesis, however, notably the assertion that Mycenaean society resulted from the triumph of the Minoan civilization over the mainland one.<ref name="Ahl 1967 192"/><ref>Matz, Friedrich (1962) ''Minoan civilization: Maturity and Zenith''. Cambridge University Press. p. 45</ref><ref name=":2" />

;Argive hypothesis
Cadmus was used as an identification figure by the [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argives]], representing an intriguing example of mythical requisition in relation to the wars between Argos and Thebes. According to the Argive legend, Cadmus's father Agenor was descended from the Argive princess [[Io (mythology)|Io]]. In this light, Cadmus becomes an Argive and Thebes his "home away from home", which is connected with the emergence of hybrid identities during the period of the Great Colonization.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Renger |first=Almut-Barbara |date=2014-05-27 |title=Tracing the Line of Europa: Migration, Genealogy, and the Power of Holy Origins in Ancient Greek Narrative Knowledge and Cultural Memory |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2013.832240 |journal=History and Anthropology |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=356–374 |doi=10.1080/02757206.2013.832240 |issn=0275-7206 |s2cid=161789417|url-access=subscription }} p. 368.</ref>

=== Hittite records controversy ===
It has been argued by various scholars that in a letter from the King of [[Ahhiyawa]] to the [[Hittites|Hittite]] King, written in the Hittite language in c.&nbsp;1250 BC, a specific Cadmus was mentioned as a forefather of the Ahhijawa people. The latter term most probably referred to the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] world (Achaeans), or at least to a part of it.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joachim |last=Latacz |translator-first=Kevin |translator-last=Windle |title=Troy and Homer towards a solution of an old mystery|year=2004|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199263080 |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ccQIyA9CW-wC&q=mycenaeans+troy+and+homer|author2=Ireland, Rosh}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=R D'Amato |author2=A Salimbeti |others=illustrated by Giuseppe Rava|title=Bronze age Greek warrior 1600-1100 BC|publisher=Osprey Pub Co.|location=Oxford, UK |isbn=9781849081955 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ydE6bwAACAAJ&q=bronze+age+greek+warrior|date=22 March 2011}}</ref> Nevertheless, this reading about a supposed Cadmus as historical person is rejected by most scholars.<ref>{{cite book|last=Strauss|first=Barry|title=The Trojan War : a new history|year=2007|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=9780743264426|page=19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFYrk7VXOtMC&q=cadmus+hittite+thebes|edition=1st trade paperback}}</ref>

==Legacy==
* The [[Syria]]n city of [[Al-Qadmus]] is named after Cadmus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esyria.sy/etartus/index.php?p=stories&category=places&filename=200904202025168 |title="أهلا بكم في مدينة الفينيقين القديمة "القدموس|work=esyria|language=ar|date=20 April 2009}}</ref>
* [[E. Nesbit]]'s 1901 novel ''[[The Wouldbegoods]]'' includes an episode in which the children protagonists sow what they believe are dragon's teeth, and the next day, "just like Cadmus," they find an encampment of soldiers there.
* The element [[cadmium]] is named after Cadmus.

==See also==
* [[Cadmean victory]]
* [[Teumessian fox|Cadmean vixen]]
* [[Cadmium]]
* [[Cadmus of Miletus]]
* [[Theban kings in Greek mythology]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General and cited references==
===Primary sources===
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus, ''The Library'']], with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. III, i, 1-v, 4. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. 5.333. {{ISBN|978-0674995611|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]] from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. 178. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'', III, 1–137; IV, 563–603. Translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

=== Secondary sources ===
* {{Cite journal |last=Ahl |first=F. M. |date=1967 |title=Cadmus and the Palm-Leaf Tablets |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/293470 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=188–194 |doi=10.2307/293470 |jstor=293470 |issn=0002-9475|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Colavito |first=Jason |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0ZXAwAAQBAJ |title=Jason and the Argonauts through the Ages |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-7972-6 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aUxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |title=Greeks And Barbarians |date=2019|publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-6891-6 |language=en}}
* [[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi, Karl]]. ''The Heroes of the Greeks'', 1959.
* R. B. Edwards. ''Kadmos, the Phoenician: A Study in Greek Legends and the Mycenaean Age''. Amsterdam, 1979.
* Matia Rocchi. ''Kadmos e Harmonia: un matrimonio problemmatico''. Rome, Bretschneider, 1989.
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Cadmus|volume=4|page=931}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shavit |first=Yaacov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VlNkzTO6IecC&pg=PA294 |title=History in Black: African-Americans in Search of an Ancient Past |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-7146-8216-7 |language=en}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Schachter|first=A.|editor-last1=Hornblower|editor-first1=Simon|editor-last2=Spawforth|editor-first2=Antony|editor-last3=Eidinow|editor-first3=Esther|dictionary=The Oxford Classical Dictionary|date=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954556-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA257 |language=en|entry=Cadmus|page=257}}
* {{Cite book |last=Schachter |first=Albert |date=2016 |chapter=Kadmos and the implications of the tradition for Boiotian history |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boiotia-in-antiquity/kadmos-and-the-implications-of-the-tradition-for-boiotian-history/5C5924F19362F17154E67C54AB0B92A2 |title=Boiotia in Antiquity: Selected Papers |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=25–35 |isbn=978-1-107-05324-3}}
* {{cite encyclopaedia|last=Woodard|first=Roger D.|editor-first=Nigel|editor-last=Wilson|encyclopaedia=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece|entry=Alphabet|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|pages=37–39|isbn=9781136788000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pXhAQAAQBAJ}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|last=Calasso|first=Roberto|title=The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780394581545|url-access=registration|publisher=Knopf| location=New York|year=1993|isbn=0-394-58154-7}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Castiglioni |first1=Maria Paola |title=Cadmos-serpent chez les Illyriens |journal=Hypotheses |date=2006 |volume=1 |issue=9 |page=241 |doi=10.3917/hyp.051.0241}}
* {{cite book |last1=Castiglioni |first1=Maria Paola |title=Cadmos-serpent en Illyrie. Itinéraire d'un héros civilisateur |date=2010 |publisher=Pisa University Press |isbn=978-8884927422 |url=https://www.academia.edu/9184443}}
* T. Gantz. ''Early Greek Myth''. Volume 2. pp. 467–73.
* Svetlana Janakieva, "Lе Mythe de Cadmos et l'aire ethnolinguistique paleobalkanique," ''Thracia'', 11, 1995 (= Studia in honorem Alexandri Fol. Sofia, 1995).
* Kühr, Angela (2006). ''Als Kadmos nach Boiotien kam. Polis und Ethnos im Spiegel thebanischer Gründungsmythen'' [When Cadmus came to Boeotia. Polis and ethnos as reflected in Theban founding myths]. [[Hermes (classical philology journal)|Hermes]] Einzelschriften, vol. 98. Stuttgart: Steiner, {{ISBN|978-3-515-08984-5}}.
* Vian, F. ''Les origines de Thébes: Cadmos et les Spartes''. Paris, 1963.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cadmus}}
* [http://www.theoi.com/ Theoi Project]
* [https://www.allartclassic.com/pictures_zoom.php?p_number=691&p=&number=PIE001 Cadmus in painting]

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{{Theban Kings}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
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