# Cadmus—The Myrmidons explained — Bulfinch’s Mythology

> Chapter companion for Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch.

## What happens

Cadmus, sent by his father Agenor to find his sister Europa, consults the oracle of Apollo and is told to follow a cow and build a city where it stops. He follows the cow to the plain of Panope, where he decides to offer a sacrifice to Jupiter. His servants are killed by a serpent sacred to Mars. Cadmus slays the serpent and, following a divine voice, sows its teeth, which sprout into armed warriors who fight among themselves until only five survive. These five help Cadmus build Thebes. Cadmus marries Harmonia, daughter of Venus, but a fatality hangs over his family. Eventually, Cadmus and Harmonia are turned into serpents. The chapter also recounts the origin of the Myrmidons: after a plague sent by Juno devastates Aegina, King Aeacus prays to Jupiter and sees a swarm of ants transformed into men, whom he names Myrmidons. These men later become the soldiers of Achilles.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hubris and Divine Retribution

Cadmus kills the serpent sacred to Mars, bringing a fatality upon his family; Juno's wrath against Aegina causes a devastating plague.

### Cultural Transmission and Education

Cadmus is said to have introduced the Phoenician alphabet to Greece, a key moment in the transmission of writing and culture.

## Character check-ins

### King Cadmus

Son of Agenor, founder of Thebes, slayer of the serpent, and husband of Harmonia.

### Jupiter

Disguised as a bull, he carried away Europa; Cadmus offers sacrifice to him; Aeacus prays to him for citizens.

### Phoebus Apollo

Oracle consulted by Cadmus, who directs him to follow a cow and build Thebes.

### Venus

Mother of Harmonia, whom Cadmus marries; the gods attend the wedding.

### Vulcan

Presents Harmonia with a necklace of surpassing brilliancy at her wedding.

### Cephalus

King of Athens, seeks assistance from Aeacus in his war with Minos.

## Key lines

> He obeyed. He made a furrow in the ground, and planted the teeth, destined to produce a crop of men.

Cadmus followed the command, plowed a furrow, and sowed the dragon's teeth, which were fated to grow into armed men.

_Describes the miraculous sowing of the serpent's teeth and the birth of the Spartoi._

> But a fatality hung over the family of Cadmus in consequence of his killing the serpent sacred to Mars.

Because Cadmus had slain the serpent dedicated to Mars, a curse plagued his descendants.

_Explains the divine retribution that led to the tragic fates of Cadmus's children and grandchildren._

> I observed a troop of ants busy with their labor, carrying minute grains in their mouths and following one another in a line up the trunk of the tree. Observing their numbers with admiration, I said, ‘Give me, O father, citizens as numerous as these, and replenish my empty city.’

Aeacus watched a line of ants carrying grains up a tree and prayed to Jupiter for citizens as numerous as those ants to repopulate his city.

_Aeacus's prayer and the subsequent transformation of ants into the Myrmidons._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xii-cadmus-the-myrmidons
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters