Greek Mythology: Cadmus

Cadmus was the son of King Agenor of Phoenicia and the brother of Europa. After Zeus took away Europa, King Agenor was in great pain. He hurriedly sent Cadmus and his three other sons Phonix, Cylix and Phineus out to search for him, and told them that his sister could not be found. Not allowed to come back. After Cadmus went out, he searched here and there, but could not find any news about his sister Europa. He had no choice but to dare to return to his hometown, so he asked the sun god Phoebus Apollo to give him an oracle to tell him where to settle. Apollo quickly replied: "You will meet a cow in a lonely pasture. This cow has not yet been yoked. It will lead you forward. When it lies on the grass to rest, you You can build a city there and name it Thebes. "

Cadmus was just about to leave the holy spring of Castelia where Apollo gave him the oracle, when suddenly he saw ahead. There is a cow grazing on the green meadow. He prayed to the sun god Phoebus to express his thanks, and then followed the cow. It led him through the shallow stream of Kephissos and stood on the shore without leaving. The cow raised her head and cried loudly. It turned back again, looked at Cadmus and his followers who were following behind, and then lay down contentedly in the deep soft green grass.

Cadmus knelt on the ground with gratitude and kissed this strange land. Later, he wanted to present a sacrifice to Zeus, so he sent his servants and ordered them to fetch water from the source of living water for the god to drink. There is an ancient forest nearby that the woodcutter has never cut down with an axe. A clear spring gushes out from the rocks in the forest, winding through the layers of shrubs. The spring is crystal clear and sweet.

There is a poisonous dragon hidden in this forest. Its purple dragon crown is shining, its eyes are red, as if it is spraying blazing flames, its body is huge, and three letters protrude from its mouth, like a trident, with rows of Three layers of sharp teeth. The Phoenician servants walked into the forest and were about to sink the pitcher into the water to draw water. Suddenly, the giant blue dragon stuck its head out of the hole and made a terrible noise from its mouth. The servants were so frightened that the water jug ??slipped from their hands, and the blood in their bodies seemed to have solidified. The poisonous dragon coiled its scaly body into a ball, then curled up and surged forward, holding its head high and looking down at the woods fiercely. Finally, it finally rushed towards the Phoenicians, beating them to pieces. Some were bitten to death, some were entangled and strangled by it, and some were suffocated to death by the stench it exhaled. The remaining people were also poisoned to death by the poisonous saliva.

Cadmus could not figure out why his servants had not returned for so long, and finally he decided to go find them himself. He was clothed in a lion's skin, and carried a spear and a javelin, and a brave heart, stronger than any weapon. When Cadmus entered the woods, he saw a large pile of corpses, all of which were his servants. He also saw the victorious dragon vomiting out bloody worms and licking the corpses all over the place. "Poor friends!" Cadmus cried out in agony. "I will avenge you, or I will die with you!" As he said this, he grabbed a big stone and threw it at the dragon. . Such a big stone can break through even city walls and towers. But the poisonous dragon remained unfazed. Its thick, hard skin and scales protected it like iron armor. Cadmus threw another javelin fiercely, and the tip of the spear penetrated deeply into the dragon's entrails. The dragon was in agony, turned its head violently, bit off the javelin on its back, and crushed it with its body, but the tip of the spear remained in its body, and the dragon was seriously injured. Cadmus' fearless actions angered the dragon, and its throat expanded rapidly, spitting out poisonous foam. It rushed at him like an arrow. Cadmus quickly took a step back, wrapped his body with the lion's skin, and thrust his spear into the dragon's mouth. The dragon bit the spear in one bite. Cadmus pressed hard against the spear, and the dragon's teeth fell out. Finally, blood flowed from the dragon's neck, but the injury was not serious and he could still avoid the attack. It would be difficult for Cadmus to kill it all at once. Cadmus became more and more courageous as he fought. Finally, he picked up the sword, saw the opportunity, and stabbed the dragon in the neck. The sword stabbed hard and hard, not only piercing the dragon's neck, but also piercing into a large oak tree behind, nailing the dragon tightly to the tree, and the dragon was subdued.

Cadmus stared at the stabbed dragon for a long time. When he finally wanted to leave, he saw Pallas Athena standing beside him, ordering him to sow the dragon's teeth in the soft soil, which were the seeds of the future race. Cadmus obeyed the goddess, and he dug a wide trench in the ground, and then slowly spread the dragon's teeth into the soil. Suddenly, there was movement beneath the soil. Cadmus first saw the tip of a spear emerging, and then saw a warrior's helmet emerging from the earth. The whole forest was shaking. Soon, shoulders, chest and limbs were exposed from under the soil, and the last fully armed warrior stood up from the soil. Of course, there is more than one. After a while, a whole team of warriors grew out of the ground.

Cadmus was taken aback. He was ready to engage in a new battle and quickly took a stance. But a warrior who grew out of the soil shouted to him: "Don't bring weapons against us, and don't take part in the war between our brothers!" As he said this, he drew his sword and pointed it at a brother who had just grown out of the soil. He swung it away fiercely, and he himself was stabbed to the ground by others with a javelin. For a moment, a group of people started fighting, and they were inextricably killed. Mother Earth drinks the blood of her first sons.

In the end, only five people remained. One of them, later named Echion, first responded to Athena's suggestion and laid down his arms and was willing to reconcile. The others also agreed.

The Phoenician prince Cadmus founded a new city with the help of five soldiers. According to the will of the sun god Phoebus, Cadmus named the city Thebes. In order to reward Cadmus, the gods married the beautiful girl Harmonia to him and attended the wedding and gave him many gifts. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, the mother of Harmonia, sent a precious necklace and an exquisitely crafted silk veil.

Cadmus and Harmonia had a daughter, Semele. Zeus loved Semele very much. Tempted by Hera, Semele asked Zeus to show his majesty as a god. Because Zeus had promised to meet the girl's request, he did not dare to break his promise, so he approached the girl with a thunder and lightning. Semele couldn't bear it anymore and gave birth to a child to Zeus before he died. This was Dionysus, also called Bacchus. Zeus gave the child to Semele's sister Ino to raise. Later, Ino and her other son Merkeltes accidentally fell into the sea to escape the pursuit of her husband Athamas. Mother and son were rescued by Poseidon, who became the god of the sea who rescued people in distress. From then on Ino was called Loucotea, and her son Palemon. Later, Cadmus and Harmonia were old and grieved for the misfortune of their children, so they both went to Illyria.

Finally, he turned into two big snakes and went to heaven after death.