When Zeus kidnapped Europa under the guise of a bull, her father, the king of Sidon, Agenor, was saddened. Nothing could console him. He called his three sons - Foinix, Kilix and Cadmus - and sent them to look for Europe. He forbade his sons, on pain of death, to return home without their sister. The sons of Agenor went in search. Foinix and Kylix soon left Cadmus. They founded two kingdoms: Foinix - Phenicia, and Kilix - Cilicia, and remained in them.
Cadmus went on alone to look for his sister. He wandered around the world for a long time, asking everywhere about Europe. How could he find his sister, since Zeus himself hid her from everyone! Finally, having lost hope of finding his sister and fearing to return home, Cadmus decided to remain forever in a foreign land. He went to the sacred Delphi and asked the oracle of the archer Apollo there in which country he should settle and found a city. This is how the oracle of Apollo answered Cadmus:
- In a secluded clearing you will see a cow that has never known a yoke. Follow her, and where she lies on the grass, build the walls of the city, and call the country Boeotia.
Having received such an answer, Cadmus left the sacred Delphi. As soon as he walked out the gate, he saw a snow-white cow grazing, unguarded, in a clearing. Cadmus followed her with his faithful Sidonian servants, praising the great Apollo. He had already passed the valley of Kephis, when suddenly a cow stopped, raised her head to the sky, mooed loudly, looked at the warriors following her and calmly lay down on the green grass. Full of gratitude to Apollo, Cadmus knelt down, kissed the soil of his new homeland and invoked the blessing of the gods on unfamiliar mountains and valleys. Cadmus immediately built an altar of stones to offer a sacrifice to the aegis-power Zeus, but since he did not have water for the sacrifice, he sent his faithful Sidonians for water.
Not far away there was a centuries-old grove that had never been touched by a woodcutter’s ax. In the middle of this grove there was a deep grotto, all overgrown with bushes, around it lay huge stones piled up in disarray. From this grotto flowed a spring of crystal clear water, babbling between the stones. In the grotto lived a huge serpent, dedicated to the god of war Ares. His eyes sparkled with fire, a triple sting protruded from his mouth, lined with a triple row of poisonous teeth, and a golden crest swayed menacingly on the snake’s head. When Cadmus' servants approached the source and had already immersed the vessels in its icy water, he crawled out of the grotto with a menacing hissing of snakes, wriggling between the stones with his huge body. The servants of Cadmus turned pale with fear, the vessels fell from their hands, and chilling horror shackled their limbs. The serpent rose on the tail; higher than the centuries-old trees of the forest is his head with an open mouth. Before any of the Sidonians could think of fleeing or defending themselves, a terrible serpent rushed at them. The servants of Cadmus died.
Cadmus waited a long time for the servants to return. The sun had already begun to lean towards the west, the shadows on the ground became longer, but still there were no servants. The son of Agenor wonders where his Sidonians have disappeared, why are they delaying. Finally, he followed in their footsteps into the grove, covering himself like a shell with a lion's skin, girded with a sharp sword and with a spear in his hands, and his courage served as an even more reliable defense for the hero. Cadmus entered the grove and saw there the torn bodies of his faithful servants; a huge snake lay on their bodies. Cadmus exclaimed in grief and anger:
- Oh, faithful servants, I will be your avenger! Either I will avenge you, or I will go down with you into the dark kingdom of shadows!
Cadmus grabbed a stone the size of a rock, and, swinging, threw it at the snake. The impact of this stone would have toppled the fortress tower, but the snake remained unharmed - it was protected by scales as hard as steel that covered its entire body. Then the son of Agenor shook his spear and, gathering all his strength, thrust it into the back of the monster. The snake's steel scales did not protect the snake from the spear of Cadmus. The spear plunged into the body of the serpent up to the shaft. Wriggling, the snake grabbed the spear with its teeth and wanted to tear it out of the wound. His efforts were in vain; the tip of the spear remained deep in the wound, only the shaft was broken off by the serpent of Ares. The snake's neck swelled from black poison and rage, foam gushed from its mouth, a fierce hiss spread far across the entire country, the whole air was filled with the stench of its breath. Either the snake wriggles in huge rings along the ground, or, spinning madly, it rises high up. He knocks down trees, uprooting them, and scatters huge stones in all directions with his tail. He wants to grab Cadmus with his poisonous mouth, but, covering himself with the lion's skin as a shield, the hero repels the snake with his sword. A sharp sword gnaws at the snake with its teeth, but only dulls its teeth on its steel.
Finally, with a mighty blow, the son of Agenor pierced the neck of the serpent and nailed him to the oak tree, so strong was the blow of the mighty hero.
A hundred-year-old oak tree bent under the weight of the monster’s body. Cadmus looks in amazement at the serpent he has slain, marveling at its size. Suddenly an unknown voice was heard:
“Why are you standing there, son of Agenor, and marveling at the serpent you killed?” Soon people will marvel at you, turned into a serpent.
Cadmus looks around, he doesn’t know where the mysterious voice came from. The hero shuddered with horror when he heard such a prediction; the hair stood on end on his head. Almost losing consciousness, he stands in front of the killed snake. Then the beloved daughter of Zeus, Pallas Athena, appeared to Cadmus. She told him to pull out the teeth of the serpent and sow them like seeds in a plowed field.
Cadmus did what the owl-eyed warrior goddess commanded him to do. As soon as he sowed the serpent's teeth, lo and behold! — the tips of spears first appeared from the ground; Here the crests of helmets rose above the arable land, then the heads of the warriors, their shoulders, armored chests, arms with shields, and finally a whole detachment of armed warriors grew from the teeth of the dragon. Seeing a new unknown enemy, Cadmus grabbed the sword, but one of the warriors born of the earth exclaimed:
- Don't grab the sword! Beware of interfering in internecine battles!
A terrible, bloody battle began between the warriors. They struck each other with swords and spears and fell one after another onto the earth that had just given birth to them. There were only five of them left. Then one of them, at the command of Pallas Athena, threw his weapon to the ground as a sign of peace. The warriors formed a close fraternal friendship. These warriors, born of the earth from the teeth of a dragon, were Cadmus’ assistants when he built Cadmeia, the fortress of the seven-gate Thebes.
Cadmus founded the great city of Thebes, gave laws to the citizens and organized the entire state. The gods of Olympus gave Cadmus the beautiful daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, Harmony, as his wife. The wedding feast of the great founder of Thebes was magnificent. All the Olympians gathered for this wedding and richly presented the newlyweds.
Since then, Cadmus became one of the most powerful kings of Greece. His wealth was incalculable. His army was numerous and invincible, led by warriors born of the earth from the teeth of the serpent. It would seem that eternal joy and happiness should have reigned in the house of Agenor’s son, but the Olympians sent him more than one happiness. He had to experience a lot of grief. His daughters, Semele and Ino, died in front of their father. True, after death they were accepted into the host of the Olympian gods, but still Cadmus lost his dearly beloved daughters. Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus, son of his daughter Autonoe, fell victim to the wrath of Artemis. Cadmus also had to mourn his grandchildren.
In his old age, depressed by grave grief, Cadmus left the seven-gate Thebes. With his wife Harmony, he wandered for a long time in a foreign land and finally came to distant Illyria[4]. With pain in his heart, Cadmus recalled all the misfortunes that befell his home; he remembered his fight with the snake and the words spoken by an unknown voice.
“Wasn’t that serpent,” said Cadmus, “which I struck with my sword, dedicated to the gods?” If the gods are punishing me so severely for his death, it would be better for me to turn into a snake myself.
As soon as Cadmus said this, his body stretched out and became covered with scales, his legs grew together and became a long writhing snake tail. In horror, with tears in his eyes, he stretches out his remaining hands to Harmony and calls to her:
- Oh, come to me, Harmony! Touch me, touch my hand, before I turn completely into a snake!
He calls Harmony, he still wants to tell her a lot, but his tongue forks, and the snake’s sting is already swaying in his mouth, and only a hiss comes out of his mouth. Harmony runs towards him:
- Oh, Cadmus! - she exclaims. - Get rid of this image quickly! Oh gods, why didn’t you turn me into a snake too!
Cadmus, turned into a huge serpent, wrapped himself around his faithful wife and licked her face with his forked sting. With sadness, Harmony strokes the scaled back of the snake. And the gods turned Harmony into a snake, and now there are two snakes - Harmony and Cadmus.
Cadmus and his wife ended their lives under the guise of snakes.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru