Myth of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes - Greeka.com Discover the myth of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes Looking of his sister Cadmus was the son of Agenor, king of Tyre, and his queen, Telephassa. He was also the brother of Europa, who was abducted by Zeus in the guise of a white bull. The chief of the gods had been seduced by the beauty of Europa, so he decided to kidnap her. One day, when Europa and her fellow nymphs were gathering flowers, Zeus came to her in the guise of a white bull. When Europa stepped on the bull to stroke him, the bull promptly ran off with Europa on his back and, swimming through the sea, he arrived in Crete where Europa realized that she had been abducted by none other than the chief god himself. To make a long story short, Europa gave birth to three sons from Zeus, married a local king and became the first queen of Crete . Europa was the apple of the eye of King Agenor and he was devastated at the news of his daughter's mysterious disappearance.

He entrusted his four sons, Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix and Thasus, with the mission to find Europa, charging them never to return without his beloved daughter. The queen Telephassa also accompanied her sons. They searched far and wide for Europa without getting any clue for her disappearance. Unable to find his sister, Phoenix gave up the quest and settled in a place which was said to have been later named Phoenicia after him. Europa's brothers Cilix and Thasus likewise gave up the search for their sister and settled in regions founding cities that were also named after them: Cilicia, in Asia Minor and Thassos, on a small island of the eastern Aegean. Founding a new town While his brothers dispersed in search of Europa, Cadmus along with his mother settled in Thrace where Telephassa soon died of grief at the loss of her daughter. After performing the last rites to his mother, Cadmus went on a pilgrimage to the oracle of Delphi to ask for his sister. The oracle advised him to give up the search for Europa and instead to found a new city.

He was instructed to follow a cow he would find outside the oracle and build a city on the spot where the cow would stop to rest. Sure enough, Cadmus soon found a cow a few meters from the oracle and followed it. The cow reached Boeotia where, after crossing the shallow stream of Cephisus river, it lied to the ground in fatigue. Having found the place where he was to build a new city, Cadmus decided to sacrifice the cow to Athena, the goddess of heroic endeavor. For that purpose, he sent his companions to look for pure water to do the sacrifice. They found the purest water in a lovely spring. As they were filling their vessels with water, a fierce serpent-like dragon, guardian of the spring, emerged from a nearby cave. The dragon happened to be son of Ares, the god of warfare. The horrid serpent, with its crest-like head and venomous teeth shining like gold, slaughtered all the unfortunate companions of Cadmus. When his companions failed to return, Cadmus went looking for them and soon came face to face with the enraged dragon. Cadmus attacked the malevolent monster and, after a fierce struggle, managed to slay it.

He then sacrificed the cow to Athena, who told him to get the teeth of the dragon and plant half of them in the ground. As soon as Cadmus did so, a host of fierce warriors appeared out of the ground and, before Cadmus could engage them, the armed men began a ferocious and bloody battle among themselves. At the end of the vicious fight only five warriors were left alive and made peace among themselves. These five people, called the "Spartoi" ("sown men"), subjected themselves to Cadmus and helped him to build the city of Cadmea. After a few years, Cadmus named the city Thebes, after the Egyptian Thebes, founded by his father, Agenor. In the ancient times, the noble families of Thebes claimed their descent directly from these five Spartoi. A long and adventurous life In the meanwhile, god Ares was outraged that his son was killed by Cadmus. He punished the valiant hero with servitude for a period of eight years, after which Ares not only forgave Cadmus but also gave him the hand of his daughter, Harmonia, in marriage. The wedding was solemnly celebrated in Cadmea in the presence of all gods.

Cadmus gave his lovely bride a golden necklace made by god Hephaestus as a wedding present. Harmonia bore Cadmus five children: Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave and Polydorus. Semele later became the mother of Dionysus, the god of wine. However, the curse of the dragon was still clinging over Cadmus and his family. His family members had troubles and were leading a miserable life. Finally, when civil strife assailed the city he founded, Cadmus abdicated his throne and, along with his wife, settled in the land of the Enchelians, to the north of modern Epirus area, who made him their king. The Enchelians were engaged in a war with a neighbouring tribe that time, but with Cadmus as their leader, they managed to win. Cadmus had another son while he was there whom he called Illyria. However, the misfortunes and tragedies in his family continued to trouble him profoundly. He began to have this strange idea that a serpent would be happier than him, as it would have no troubles. While he was having these thoughts, he was transformed into a serpent.

So the sacred dragon of Ares had its final sweet revenge. Harmonia prayed to the gods to be allowed to share her husband's fate and was also turned into a serpent. Taking pity on this couple, Zeus carried them to the Elysian Fields, where the people favored by the Gods would go when they died. However, above all, Cadmus is famous for one thing: it is said that he was the man who introduced writing and the alphabet into Greece, an alphabet borrowed by the Phoenicians. Through Greece, writing was spread to the Romans and then the whole Europe. Share it! Thebes (Greece) - Ancient History Encyclopedia by Mark Cartwright published on 18 July 2012 Thebes is a town in central Greece which has been continuously inhabited for five millennia. It was an important Mycenaean centre in the middle to late Bronze Age and was a powerful city-state in the Classical period, participating in both the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, reaching its peak of influence in the early 4th century BCE when it was the most powerful city in Greece.

THEBES IN MYTHOLOGY In mythology the city was founded by Kadmos, son of Agenor, brother of Europa, and ancestor of Oedipus. After killing a giant serpent (or dragon) which Ares had sent to protect the Areia Spring, Athena instructed Kadmos to sow the serpent’s teeth into the ground from which sprang up warriors who would found the city of Thebes. The myth of Kadmos may hint at the eastern origins of the city, as his name may derive from the Semitic word qedem, meaning east. Also, according to Herodotus , it was Kadmos who introduced the Phoenician script to Greece. Remove Ads Advertisement Thebes was, according to legend, the birthplace of the mythological pan - Hellenic hero Hercules . It was also the place where the Sphinx - a mythical creature with a woman’s head and a winged lion’s body - appeared to terrorize the area until her riddle was solved. Her riddle asked passersby to identify the creature that may have two, three, or four feet, can move in air, water, and on land, and moves more slowly the more feet it has.

Oedipus solved the riddle - man - and in a rage the Sphinx leapt to her death from the Theban acropolis . Another mythological story connected to the city is the legendary expedition of The Seven Against Thebes (and subject of the play of the same name by the 5th century BCE tragedian, Aeschylus ). This was traditionally dated a generation before the Trojan War . A war had started between the two sons of Oedipus, Polyneikes had been exiled by his brother Eteokles, and the former enlisted the help of the Achaeans from the Peloponnese to re-take the city. However, when scaling the walls of Thebes, six of the seven champions, including Polyneikes, were killed. Nevertheless, the attackers were successful and the Kadmeians of Thebes fled to the north. Thus a less civilized force took over the citadel. The myth was perhaps a symbolic metaphor for the general situation in Greece following the end of the Mycenaean civilization . Historical Overview Strategically situated on a low plateau commanding the surrounding plains of Boeotia, Thebes (also known as Kadmeia) was first inhabited around 3000 BCE.

The fact that the modern town lies directly upon the historical site has created difficulties in reconstructing an accurate history for the ancient city. In the early to mid-third millennium, there is evidence of fortified buildings with rock-cut foundations, stone-paved courtyards, mud-brick walls and drains. Advertisement Following the Dark Ages in Greece (c.1100 to 700 BCE), Thebes re-emerged as an influential Greek city-state. From 2500 BCE there is evidence of food and wool production and storage - grinding stones and terracotta loom-weights and spools, and bronze carpentry tools. Trade, both local and further afield, is suggested by the presence of precious goods such as gold , silver, ivory, and Cycladic influenced stone vessels. From 2000 BCE the site expanded with the first presence of stone cists and pits for burials and shaft graves which contained precious objects. From 1700 BCE the settlement became more dense, and during the 14th century BCE the site reached its Bronze Age peak during the Mycenaean period.

There is evidence of palatial buildings of two stories and with wall paintings, greater fortifications (probably of a Cyclopean nature and referred to in Homer ’s Iliad), workshops (especially for jewellery), and stone-built aqueducts with terracotta pipes. Clay Linear B tablets and seals suggest the site was an important trading centre in olive oil, wood, livestock, wool, and leather goods. Finds of Cretan stirrup jars suggest that contacts were spread across the Aegean . From the 13th century BCE there are also chamber tombs with benches and drains, some with wall paintings and precious grave objects such as gold jewellery and bronze weapons. The end of this period is marked by evidence of earthquake and fire damage. Following the Dark Ages in Greece (c.1100 to 700 BCE), Thebes re-emerged as an influential Greek city-state and for the next four centuries the city would be a constant rival to Athens and Sparta for regional dominance.

In 480 BCE Thebes sided with Persia when Xerxes invaded Greece, and the city was a major protagonist in the Peloponnesian War from 431 to 404 BCE, siding with Sparta against Athens. Thebes - The Founding By N.S. Gill Family of Cadmus: The founder of Thebes is known as Cadmus or Kadmos. He was a descendant of the union of Io and Zeus in bull shape. Cadmus' father was a Phoenician king named Agenor and his mother was named Telephassa or Telephae. Cadmus had two brothers, one named Thasos, and the other Cilix, who became king of Cilicia. They had a sister named Europa, who was also carried off by a bull -- Zeus, again. Search for Europa: Cadmus, Thasos, and their mother went to look for Europa and stopped in Thrace where Cadmus met his future bride Harmonia. Taking Harmonia with them, they then went to the oracle at Delphi for a consultation.

Delphic Oracle: The Delphic Oracle told Cadmus to look for a cow with a lunar sign on either side, to follow where the cow went, and to make sacrifices and establish a town where the bull lay down. Cadmus was also to destroy the guard of Ares. Boeotia: After finding the cow, Cadmus followed it to Boeotia, a name based on the Greek word for cow. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Where it lay down, Cadmus made sacrifices and started to settle. His people needed water, so he sent out scouts, but they failed to return because they had been killed by Ares' dragon who guarded the fountain. It was up to Cadmus to slay the dragon, so with divine assistance, Cadmus slew the dragon using a stone, or perhaps a hunting spear. Cadmus and the Stones: Athena, who helped with the slaying, advised Cadmus that he should plant the teeth of the dragon. Cadmus, with or without Athena's help, sowed the teeth-seeds. From them emerged fully armed warriors of Ares who would have turned on Cadmus had Cadmus not thrown stones at them making it appear that they were attacking one another.

Ares' men then fought with each other until only 5 worn out warriors survived, who came to be known as Spartoi "the sown men" who then helped Cadmus found Thebes. Thebes: Thebes was the name of the settlement. Harmonia was a daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. The conflict between Ares and Cadmus was resolved by the marriage of Cadmus and Ares daughter. The event was attended by all the gods. Offspring of Cadmus and Harmonia: Among the children of Harmonia and Cadmus was Semele, who was the mother of Dionysus, and Agave, mother of Pentheus. When Zeus destroyed Semele and inserted the embryonic Dionysus in his thigh, the palace of Harmonia and Cadmus burned. So Cadmus and Harmonia left and traveled to Illyria (which they also founded) first handing over the kingship of Thebes to their son Polydorus, father of Labdacus, father of Laius, father of Oedipus.

Ancient Sources on the House of Thebes: Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, Euripides, Herodotus, Hyginus, Nonnius, Ovid, Pausanias, and Pindar. Points to Note About the Founding Legend: Athena reserved some of the dragon's teeth to give to Jason. See Apollodorus Aeetes . Thebes was an Egyptian city, too. One story of the founding of Thebes says that Cadmus gave the Greek city the same name his father had just given to the Egyptian city. Instead of Polydorus, Pentheus is sometimes named as the successor of Cadmus. Cadmus is credited with bringing the alphabet/writing to Greece. The continent of Europe was named for Europa, the sister of Cadmus. This is the background for the first of three sets of stories from Greek mythology about Thebes. The other two are the sets of stories surrounding the House of Laius, especially Oedipus and those around the conception of Dionysus [see 'The Bacchae' Study Guide ]. One of the more enduring figures in the Theban legends is the long-lived, transgendering Tiresius the seer .

See: "Ovid's Narcissus (Met. 3.339-510): Echoes of Oedipus," by Ingo Gildenhard and Andrew Zissos; The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 121, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 129-147/ Cadmos | Article about Cadmos by The Free Dictionary Cadmos | Article about Cadmos by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Related to Cadmos: Kadmos Cadmus, in Greek legend, son of Agenor Agenor , in Greek mythology. 1 King of Tyre, father of Cadmus and Europa. When Europa disappeared, Agenor sent Cadmus and his other sons in search of her. 2 Trojan hero, son of Antenor. ..... Click the link for more information. and founder of Thebes Thebes, chief city of Boeotia, in ancient Greece. It was originally a Mycenaean city. Thebes is rich in associations with Greek legend and religion (see Oedipus; the Seven against Thebes; Epigoni). Sometime before 1000 B.C.

..... Click the link for more information. . Misfortune followed his family because he killed the sacred dragon that guarded the spring of Ares. Athena told him to sow the dragon's teeth, and from these sprang the Sparti [sown men], ancestors of the noble families of Thebes. Cadmus married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. At their wedding he presented her with a sacred robe and necklace, made by Hephaestus, which later brought misfortune to their possessors (see Amphiaraüs Amphiaraüs , in Greek mythology, a prophet, one of the ill-fated Seven against Thebes. He foresaw the disaster of the expedition, but Polynices bribed his wife, Eriphyle, with the magic necklace of Harmonia, to convince him to go. ..... Click the link for more information. ; Alcmaeon Alcmaeon , in Greek legend, son of Amphiaraüs and Eriphyle, a leader of the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes. He murdered his mother in revenge for his father's death and consequently was haunted by the Erinyes until he found haven on Achelous' island. .....

Click the link for more information. ). They had four daughters—Ino, Semele, Autonoe, and Agave. In their old age Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents by Zeus and sent to live in the Elysian fields. Cadmus Thebes © 1998 Bernard SUZANNE Last updated December 25, 2004 Plato and his dialogues : Home - Biography - Works - History of interpretation - New hypotheses - Map of dialogues : table version or non tabular version . Tools : Index of persons and locations - Detailed and synoptic chronologies - Maps of Ancient Greek World . Site information : About the author . This page is part of the "tools" section of a site, Plato and his dialogues , dedicated to developing a new interpretation of Plato's dialogues. The "tools" section provides historical and geographical context (chronology, maps, entries on characters and locations) for Socrates, Plato and their time. By clicking on the minimap at the beginning of the entry, you can go to a full size map in which the city or location appears.

For more information on the structure of entries and links available from them, read the notice at the beginning of the index of persons and locations . City of Boeotia , in central Greece, north-west of Athens (area 2) . Thebes was the largest and richest city of Boeotia, owing to the fertility of its territory. In mythological traditions, it was founded by Cadmus, a Phoenician , son of Agenor, king of Sidon (or Tyre , in Phoenicia ), himself the son of Poseidon and a descendant of Zeus and Io through his mother Libya . Cadmus had a sister named Europa who was abducted by Zeus under the guise of a bull (Zeus brought her to Crete and, from her, had three sons : Minos , Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus). Agenor then ordered Cadmus and his brothers Thasus , Phoenix and Cilix to go search for their sister and not come back till they had found her. Each one took a different road and, unable to find her, they kept going, founding city after city along their way.

These wanderings led Cadmus in Crete , Thera , Samothrace , Rhodes and in many other place. Cadmus was eventually ordered by the oracle of Delphi to stop searching his sister and found a city where, upon following a cow, the animal would stop of exhaustion. The cow he thus followed stopped at the location of what became Thebes. In order to cleanse the cow before offering it in sacrifice to Athena, Cadmus sent some of his companions draw water from a neighboring spring. But there, they were killed by a dragon. Upon seeing that, Cadmus fought and killed the dragon and Athena, appearing to him, suggested that he sow the teeth of the dead animal. As soon as he had done this, armed warriors sprang from the earth. Feeling threatened by these men, Cadmus threw stones in the middle of them. Not knowing where the stones came from, the "sowed men" (the Spartoi, as they became called) killed each other, except for five of them, one of whom, Echion, later married Agave, a daughter of Cadmus.

To expiate the murder of the dragon, Cadmus had to serve Ares for eight year, and after that, with the help of Athena, he became king of Thebes and Zeus gave him Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, for wife. All the gods attended the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia, where the Muses sang, and they brought gifts to the bride, including a wonderful dress weaved by the Graces (Charites inGreek), daughters of Zeus, and a golden necklace made by Hephaistus (which would later play a role in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, in the time of Adrastus , king of Argos ).

[ Herodotus , in his Histories, V, 57-58 , credits Cadmus and his Phoenician companions with introducing many new techniques in Greece, including the alphabet (and indeed, the Greek alphabet is derived from the Phoenician alphabet, which is the first known alphabet, that is, a writing system based on letters representing elementary sounds rather than ideograms, like the Egyptian hieroglyphs, or syllables, like the Cretan Linear A and B writing systems that preceeded it ; this alphabet was invented by the Phoenicians around 1100 B. C. and introduced in Greece probably around the end of the IXth century B. C. or beginning of the VIIIth ; the main innovation of the Greeks with respect to writing was to add letters for vowels to an alphabet which, like today's Hebrew or Arabic alphabets, included only consonants).

Plato too alludes to the story of Cadmus in several places : at Menexenus, 245d , he mentions the offspring of Cadmus as not being genuine Greeks ; at Laws, II, 663e , he mentions the story of "the Sidonian" and the sowing of the teeth as an example of how easy it is to make people believe a worthy lie, in keeping with what was said at Republic, III, 414b, sq about the noble lie, with a reference to the same "Phoenician story" ; the story of the sowed men fighting each other is behind Plato's reference to "Cadmeian victories" at Laws, I, 641c to show the ill effects of pride in victory ; then, in the Phædo, Socrates compares Simmias and Cebes, who are Thebans, to Harmonia and Cadmus respectively, when moving from the answer to Simmias objection of the soul-harmony to the answer to Cebes' objection ( Phædo, 95a ).

] Cadmus and Harmonia had several children : Polydorus, a son, and four daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Agave and Semele. Semele was loved by Zeus and, when Hera learned that she was pregnant, filled with jealousy, she suggested Semele to ask Zeus to appear to her in all his glory. Zeus, who had promised her to do all she would ask, showed himself amidst lightnings and thunderstorms, which Semele couldn't bear and which caused her death. Zeus immediately removed the child she was bearing (she was in her sixth month of pregnancy) and sewed him in his own thigh, until the time of birth came and Dionysus (the "twice-born") was born in perfect health. Zeus entrusted the baby to Hermes, who gave him to his mother's sister Ino and her husband Athamas, king of Coronea (or Orchomenus ) in Boeotia , and brother of Sisyphus , king of Corinth . But Hera, still jealous, struck Athamas with madness, so that he killed one of the sons he had had from Ino.

Ino herself, rendered mad by this, killed her other son, Melicertes, by plunging him into a pot of boiling water, and then, killed herself by jumping into the sea, somewhere between Corinth and Megara , with the body of her dead son, and thereafter became a marine goddess under the name Leucothea ("the white goddess"). According to some traditions, the Isthmian games , that were celebrated near Corinth , were instituted by Sisyphus in honor of his nephew Melicertes. As for Dionysus, he was carried by Zeus away from Greece to be raised by nymphs of a country variously located in Asia, Ethiopia or Africa, daughters of Atlas , that later became the stars of the Hyades. When grown up, he discovered vine and its use, but was struck with madness by Hera. He wandered through Egypt and Syria before reaching Phrygia , where the goddess Cybele purified him and initiated him to her cult. Then, he went to Thracia where the local king, Lycurgus (not to be confused with the legislator of Sparta ) refused to let him pass through his kingdom and tried to capture him.

Dionysus took refuge in the sea near the Nereid Thetis, and Lycurgus, who had managed to capture Bacchæ accompanying Dionysus (whose other name is Bacchus), was struck with madness while the Bacchæ were miraculously freed, and, with an axe, killed his own son that he had mistaken for a vine. Lycurgus recovered his reason but his country had become sterile and, following an oracle, his people had to put him to death to stop the malediction, which they did by having him torn apart by four horses (this episode inspired a trilogy to Æschylus , the Lycurgia, of which only fragments are extant). From Thracia, Dionysus moved to India, that he conquered, before coming back to Thebes, the native land of his mother, where Pentheus, the son of his mother's sister Agave and of Echion, one of the few surviving " sowed men " born from the teeth of the dragon, was now king. There, he introduced Bacchanalia, orgiastic festivals in his honor, but Pentheus opposed such dangerous rites.

In retaliation against him and against his mother Agave, who wouldn't believe that her sister Semele had been loved by Zeus, but claimed she had had an affair with a mortal and had been punished by Zeus for putting the blame on him, Dionysus managed to have Agave kill her own son Pentheus during one of these festivals, mistaking him for a wild beast (this episode is the theme of Euripides ' Bacchæ ). Dionysus then went to Argos , where he similarly struck with madness the daughters of Proetus and the women of Argolis , so that they roamed the country pretending to be cows, forcing Proetus to call upon Melampous to heal them, which cost him part of his kingdom as fee for Melampous' intervention. Next, Dionysus tried to reach the island of Naxos with the help of pirates. But when he saw that the pirates were trying to bring him to Asia to sell him there as a slave, he changed their oars into snakes, grew ivy in their boats, played invisible flutes and paralyzed their boats in vine, so that the pirates, become mad, jumped into the sea where they were changed into dolphins.

After that, Dionysus was recognized as a god and could return to heaven, now that his cult had been established everywhere, but not before going to Hades free his mother Semele. From heaven, Dionysus came back to Naxos , where Theseus had just abandonned Ariadne who had helped him out of the Labyrinth. They fell in love and Dionysus took her with him to the Olympus and married her. When Cadmus was old, for unknown reasons, he left Thebes with his wife and went to Illyria , leaving the throne of Thebes to Pentheus, the son of his daughter Agave and of Echion, one of the Spartoi (or, according to other sources, to his own son Polydorus, who was later ousted by Pentheus). As indicated above , Pentheus was killed by his own mother when Dionysus came back to Thebes and introduced Bacchic cults there. From his wife Nycteis, daughter of Nycteus, the son of Chthonius, another surviving " sowed man ", Polydorus had a son named Labdacus.

But he was then too young to rule, so the regency was entrusted to his grandfather Nycteus who, along with his brother Lycus, had befriended Pentheus. Nycteus had an incredibly beautiful daughter, named Antiope, who was loved by Zeus under the guise of a Satyre (Antiope was sometimes said to be the daughter of the river-god Asopus). Having become pregnant, she fled to Sicyon for fear of her father, and seeked refuge at the court of Epopeus, the king of the place. Sadenned by the disappearance of his daughter, Nycteus killed himself, but, before dying, asked his brother Lycus to avenge him. Lycus attacked Sicyon, killed Epopeus and took Antiope with him to bring her back to Thebes. During the trip back, at Eleutheræ , Antiope gave birth to twins, Amphion and Zethus. Lycus exposed the babies on a nearby mountain and continued his journey to Thebes with Antiope, whom he forced to serve his wife Dirce, who was jealous of her beauty, as a slave.

The twins were saved and raised by a shepherd living nearby. As they grew older, Zethus became fond of violent activities and manual work, wrestling, toiling the soil, raising cattle, while Amphions, who had received a lyre from Hermes, dedicated himself to music (at Laws, III, 677d , Plato has Clinias credit Amphion for the invention of the lyre), and the two brothers would spend hours comparing the merits of their respective trades. Meanwhile in Thebes, Labdacus had come of age and he became king of Thebes. During his reign, Thebes was involved in a border conflict with Pandion, the king of Athens , leading to a war which the Athenians won with the help of Tereus, the king of Thracia . When Labdacus died (some say in the same manner and for the same reason as Pentheus, that is, in opposing Bacchic cults), his son Laius was too young to succeed him and the regency was given to Lycus, who still held Antiope in his custody.

But one night, Antiope was miraculously freed of her chains and escaped surrepticiously to the place where her sons, now adults, lived. Amphion and Zethus, having learned who she was from the shepherd who had raised them, set to avenge her, went back to Thebes and killed Lycus and Dirce, the later by tying her behind a bull which dragged her on rocky slopes Later, Antiope, in reprisal for the murder of Dirce, was struck with madness by Dionysus and wandered throughout Greece until she was met by Phocus, the first king of Phocis , who healed and married her.

(the story of Antiope, Amphion and Zethus inspired Euripides a drama (no longer extant) called Antiope which Plato quotes in the Gorgias through the mouth of Callicles in his introductory speech ( 484e-486d ) : in this speech, Callicles quotes the words of Zethus ( 485e ) to criticize Socrates, whose devotion to philosophy makes him in his eyes a like of Amphion, while at the same time giving a brotherly look to his criticism ; and when, later, Callicles threatens to quit, upset by Socrates' dialectic, Socrates is all too happy to remind him that he owes him Amphion's answer ( 506b )). Having killed Lycus, Amphion and Zethus took over kingship in Thebes, where they built the walls of the city, Zethus carrying rock on his shoulders while Amphion would move them simply by playing his lyre. Amphion married Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus and sister of Pelops (not to be confused with the daughter of Phoroneus ), and they had seven sons and seven daughters.

Niobe was so proud of her children that she once declared herself superior to Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, who had only one son and one daughter. Upset at hearing this, the goddess sent her childs to avenge her : with their bows and arrows, they killed, Artemis the girls and Apollo the boys and their father. Only one boy and one girl survived. The surviving girl had become so pale at seeing what had happened to her brothers and sisters that she was hereafter called Chloris (a word meaning "pale" in Greek). She later married Neleus, the king of Pylos , and was the mother of Nestor, the wise old king of the Iliad. In her grief at the death of her children, Niobe returned to the country of her father, in Asia Minor, where the gods turned her into a weeping rock (Plato refers to Niobe's grief at Republic, II, 380a ). Meanwhile, young Laius, deprived of his kingdom, had fled Thebes and seeked refuge at the court of Pelops .

There, he fell in love with Chrysippus, a son of Pelops (some say he was thus the first to get involved in homosexual love) and abducted him. This earned him a curse on the part of Pelops that is at the root of all the evils that befell his family hereafter. After the death of Amphion and his children, and of Zethus, Laius came back to Thebes and recovered his kingdom. Laius married Jocasta, daughter of Menoeceus, himself a grandson of Pentheus (there are in fact various traditions on the name and ascendance of Laius' wife ; this one is the one found in the Greek tragedies). But an oracle told him that, if he had a son, this son would kill him and bring all sorts of evils on his progeny. Not listening to the advice, Laius had a son from Jocasta, named Oedipus, and, to try and escape the oracle, exposed the baby as soon as he was born.

The traditions vary on how Oedipus was saved from death, but they all agree that he was raised at the court of Polybus, a king of Corinth (or, according to other traditions, of Sicyon ), of which he firmly believed during all his youth he was the son. Having reached adulthood, one day, for some reason, either to run after stolen horses, or to go consult the oracle of Delphi about his true parents after someone had told him he was a foundling, he left Corinth. In one version of the story, he went to Delphi, where the oracle told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother ; so, because he still thought he was Polybus' son, he decided not to return to Corinth and took the road to Thebes. No matter what, the fact is that, on his way, somewhere at a crossroad on narrow paths, he met Laius, not knowing who he was. After Laius' herald had asked him to give way to the king and had killed one of his horses because he was not fast enough to move, an angered Oedipus killed both of them.

Arriving near Thebes, Oedipus met the Sphinx, a monster half-woman, half-lion, who used to asked travellers riddles and devour those unable to solve them, which was the case for all so far. Oedipus was submitted to the test and had no trouble solving the riddle, after what he killed the Sphinx. Thankfull for having been rid of the monster, the Thebans, who had just lost their king (Laius), asked him to marry Laius' widow and to become their king, which he did. Yeas later, after Oedipus and Jocasta had had four children, two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, the truth started to unfold. In Sophocles ' version ( Oedipus Tyrannus ), a plague in Thebes was the occasion. To know the cause of the plague, Oedipus sent Creon, Jocasta's brother, consult the oracle at Delphi , and learned that the plague would only cease after the murderer of Laius had been punished.

As the inquiry proceeded, conducted by Oedipus himself who had cursed the murderer in advance, and despite the silence of Tiresias, the seer who knew the truth but didn't want to tell it, so horrendous it was, more and more hints pointed at the inquirer himself, each attempt by Jocasta to disprove the oracles turning, after investigation, into one more lead toward the truth, till the arrival of a herald from Corinth announcing the death of Polybus, who had left his throne to Oedipus. Oedipus was now convinced that the prophecy about him killing his father would not come true, only to learn minutes later that he was indeed a foundling and that Polybus was not his true father. This was the last straw and all the pieces could now fit together Once the truth had been unveiled, Jocasta hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself, before being banished from Thebes. He then began a life of wandering, accompanied only by his daughter Antigone, and was eventually offered hospitality by Theseus in Attica . He died in Colonus , a village near Athens , and was buried there.

Yet, before leaving Thebes, Oedipus had cursed his sons, Eteocles and Polynices, predicting that they could never live in peace and would kill each other, because neither had come to his rescue and helped him avoid banishment. So, the two brothers decided that, rather than staying together, they would reign over Thebes in turn, one year each. Eteocles was first and Polynices left the city. But when, one year later, he came back to take his turn, Eteocles refused to give way. So Polynices went to Argos to seek help from Adrastus , one of its kings at the time. Adrastus and Polynices, who had by then married one of Adrastus' daughters, drummed up support and assembled an army to march against Thebes led by seven princes, them included, under the supreme command of Adrastus, to help Polynices recover his throne. During the battle that took place in front of Thebes, so the story goes, each one of the seven princes fought in front of one of the seven gates of the city.

Polynices fought at the gate that was guarded by his brother Eteocles and, during the fight, they killed each other. In fact, the expedition, known as the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, ended in failure and all the leading princes on Polynices' side died except Adrastus (a more detailed account of this expedition is available in the section on Adrastus of the entry on Argos ). After the death of Oedipus' sons, as Eteocles' son was too young to become king, Creon, Jocasta's brother, assumed the regency in Thebes (in some traditions, he had already reigned there after the death of Laius and before Oedipus killed the Sphinx, and it is him who had promised his throne to whomever would rid the city of the monster ; it was also sometimes said that, when Oedipus was recognized as the murderer of his father and had to leave Thebes, he had taken over kingship while Eteocles and Polynices were too young to be kings).

Creon's first decision after taking power was that Eteocles should receive proper burial, but that Polynices, who had borne arms against his own city, should be deprived of burial and left to rot where he had died. Yet Antigone, their sister, who had come back to Thebes after the death of Oedipus at Colonus , refused to obey the decree and to let her brother without burial rites, prefering to honor the gods rather than to obey the law. Despite guards posted by Creon near Polynices' body to enforce his decree, she managed to lay a handful of dust on him, which was enough to accomplish the sacred rites required by the gods. As a result, Creon condemned her to death and had her buried alive in her family's grave, where she hanged herself. But Creon's son, Hæmon, who was in love with her, killed himself on her body and, when learning that, his mother Eurydice, Creon's wife, hanged herself. [The story of Oedipus and his children was the most famous legendary cycle of ancient Greece after the Trojan cycle.

It inspired Æschylus a cycle known as the Theban tetralogy, made up of three tragedies : Laius, Oedipus and The Seven against Thebes, and a satirical drama : The Sphinx, of which only The Seven against Thebes is still extant ; it also inspired several tragedies to Sophocles , of which Oedipus Tyrannus , Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus are still extant, and to Euripides , including a lost Antigone and the extant Phoenician Women and Suppliants ; Oedipus is mentioned only twice in Plato's dialogues, both times in the Laws : first, at Laws, VIII, 838b-c , as an example of the role of tragedy to teach us laws against incest, then at Laws, XI, 931b-c , as an example of the fact that the gods listen to the prayers of parents, even when they curse their own children, which should induce us to worship our parents ; this last instance may be at the root of two mentions of Oedipus in the Second Alcibiades, at 138b-c and 140e-1

41a , a dialogue that has come down to us under the name of Plato].

Ten years after the first expedition against Thebes, at a time when Laodamas, the son of Eteocles, had become king after Creon's regency, Adrastus sponsored a second expedition against Thebes, known as the expedition of the Epigones, with the sons of the princes killed during the first expedition. Its purpose was to restore Thersandrus, the son of Polynices and Argia (Adrastus' daughter), on the throne owed his father. The Epigones, on the faith of an oracle ensuring them success by so doing, wanted Alcmæon for their leader. Alcmæon was the son of Amphiaraus, a remote cousin, and brother-in-law, of Adrastus who was also a seer and had ben forced by his wife Eryphile (Adrastus' sister, bribed by Polynices who offered her, to ensure her support, the necklace of Harmonia , stolen by him before fleeing Thebes) to take part in the first expedition as one of the seven leaders, though he knew he would die there.

Indeed, Amphiaraus, before leaving for the doomed campaign, had made his sons promise to avenge him and to undertake a second expedition that, he foresaw, would be successful. But Alcmeon was hard to convince and only Eryphile, his mother, could decide him, after she had been bribed by Thersandrus, Polynices' son, as she had been by Polynices in the time of the first expedition to send Amphiaraus to his death (this time, the bribe was Harmonia 's dress). During the war that ensued, which was waged in the villages around Thebes, Laodamas killed Ægialeus, the son of Adrastus, but then, Alcmæon killed Laodamas, and this ensured victory to his party. After that victory, Thersandrus was installed as king of Thebes.

He married Demonassa, daughter of Amphiaraus and sister of Alcmæon and took part in the first expedition against Troy at the beginning of the Trojan War, where he was killed by Telephus, a son of Heracles and Auge (daughter of Aleus, king of Tegea , a city of Arcadia ) who had settled in Mysia and was fighting on the Trojan side. His son Tisamenus was too young to lead the Thebans during the second expedition against Troy and was replaced in that role by a certain Peneleos, but after having come of age, he reigned over Thebes. His son Autesion could not succeed him and took the road of exile to end up in Sparta that was then ruled by the Heraclidæ. He was the father of Theras, who left Sparta to settle in the island of Calliste, which took his name to become the island of Thera ( Herodotus, IV, 147-149 ). In Thebes meanwhile, the offspring of Peneleos took over kingship.

Thebes was also the birthplace of Heracles , at a time when his mother Alcmene and her husband Amphitryon , both grandchildren of Perseus where in exile there at the court of Creon. But, owing to his parents' origin, Heracles always considered that Argos , not Thebes, was his true homeland, and that he was a Peloponnesian and more specifically an Argive. That is where he and his sons after him always tried to return but were prevented to do so so long as Eurystheus was alive. Eurystheus was another grandson of Perseus who had become king of Mycenæ with the help of Hera, jealous of Alcmene after Zeus had seduced her to become the true father of Heracles and he is the one who imposed upon Heracles his twelve labors. By the third quarter of the VIth century B. C., Thebes had become the head of the Boeotian Confederacy, an alliance of all Boeotian cities.

Thebes and most of the Boetian cities (with the exception of Platæa and Thespiæ ) played an ambiguous role during the Persian wars : they submitted to Xerxes , offering him "earth and water" ( Herodotus' Histories, VII, 131-132 ) while he was approaching, yet, they were forced to fight with the Greeks at the battle of Thermopylæ ( 480 ) but switched side during the battle ( Histories, VII, 202 , 205 , 222 and 233 ) and fought on the side of the Persians at the battle of Platæa in 479 ( Histories, IX, 31 ). As a result, the Boeotian Confederacy was dissolved by the winning allies and Thebes was reduced to a much less prominent life. It is during that time that the most famous of Thebes' poets, Pindar , flourished.

When the relations between Athens and Sparta started deteriorating, Thebes sided with the later and contributed to the defeat of Athens at the battle of Tanagra in 457 , only to be defeated by Athens at Oenophita two months later after the Spartans had returned home (see Thucydides, I, 107-108 ). About ten years later, Boeotian oligarchs started retaking control of Boeotian cities despite Athenian support of democratic regimes. Athens was once again defeated by the Thebans at Coronea in 447 (see Thucydides, I, 113 ) and Thebes took advantage of its victory to reconstruct the Boeotian Confederacy. It was the failed attempt by Thebes, a few years later, in 431 , in violation of the Thirty Year Peace of 446 between Athens and Sparta , to recapture the Boeotian city of Platæa , which had remained a faithful ally of Athens , which marked the start of the Peloponesian war (see Thucydides, II, 2, sq ).

In that war, Thebes sided with Sparta and brought about the total destruction of Platæa after a two years' siege ( 427 ), defeated Athens at Delium ( 424 ) and razed the walls of Thespiæ , accused of sympathy for Athens ( 423 , see Thucydides, IV, 133 ) thus getting rid of all opposition in Boeotia. At the end of the war ( 404 ), Thebes had fully restored its leadership over Boeotian cities and was, along with Corinth , a leading voice in asking the allies a complete destruction of Athens (Xenophon's Hellenica, II, 2, 19 ), a demand which was rejected by Sparta . A few years later, Thebes sided with Athens , Corinth , Argos and other Greek cities in a coalition against the growing power of Sparta fomented and largely financed by the Persians of Artaxerxes II , that led to the so-called Corinthian War of 395 - 386 .

At the end of this war, the "Peace of the King" imposed by the Persians, required the autonomy of all Greek cities, thus leading once again to the dissolution of the Boeotian Confederacy that was at the root of Thebes' power. Yet , Thebes managed to once again reconstruct the Confederacy and, under the leadership of Gorgidas and, above all, Epaminondas, reached the peak of its glory. In 371 , Epaminondas defeated the Spartan army at Leuctra , putting in effect an end to Sparta 's hegemony and reputation of invincibility. For a while, Epaminondas' Thebes took over the role of leading Greek city, freeing the Messenians from Spartan dominion, intervening in all parts of Greece, until Epaminondas was killed in 362 at the battle of Mantinea while fighting a coalition led by Athens and Sparta reconciled against him. The death of Epaminondas put an end to Thebes' glory and power. In trying to restore its influence over its neighbors, Thebes seeked help from Philip II, king of Macedon , at a time he was a growing menace for Greece.

Eventually persuaded to switch sides by Demosthenes and to team up with Athens against Philip, Thebes took part in the battle of Chæronea ( 338 ), where the victory of Philip and is 18 years old son Alexander over the Greek coalition marked the end of Greek autonomy. Thebes was once more deprived of its leadership over Boeotian cities and Philip installed a Macedonian garrison in Thebes. Three years later, in 335 , Thebes tried to rebel against Macedon upon rumors that Alexander who, one year earlier had succeeded his assassinated father, had been killed in Thracia . But Alexander , who was in fact alive and well, took no time to return to Thebes, quench the rebellion and raze the city, with the exception of its temples and Pindar 's house. Thebes | Series 'Ancient but still populated cities' | OrangeSmile.com From series “The oldest inhabited cities on the planet” Year: 1 400 year BC. . Speaking about the oldest cities in the world, it’s worth to mention wonderful Thebes, founded in 1400 BC.

A story of the city is extremely interesting, it involves a lot of beautiful myths. According to one of them, the founder of Thebes and powerful Cadmea was the son of the Phoenician king Agenor, Cadmium. Ancient city of Greece was a place of many outstanding mythical events; one of the most important among them is considered a campaign against the seven kings of Thebes. Despite the fact that many myths are just amazing poetic creations, they make atmosphere of the city even more romantic and mysterious. The main historical symbol of Thebes is represented by ruins of the ancient Cadmean fortress, which was built in the Bronze Age. You can see items found in the territory of Thebes by scientists in the local Archaeological Museum. Thebes is an ideal place for travelers who have long dreamed to explore culture and history of ancient Greece. During the tour, guests of the city will hear interesting legends about the birth of Dionysus and Heracles, about the exploits of the legendary king Cadmium and bloody battles that has being devastated the thriving city for thousands of years.

Developed tourist infrastructure of the city will be a nice addition to stay, as modern Thebes offers its guests a lot of attractive hotels, magnificent local restaurants and lots of amazing places to relax. Ancient Greece Reloaded ANCIENT GREECE RELOADED ENTER THE WORLD OF MYTHS AND LEGENDS Cadmus Cadmus is known as the founder and the first king of Thebes, a powerful town in the ancient times, close to Athens. He is also known as the man who brough the writing and the alphabet from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, and through the Greeks to the whole world. According to mythology, his life was long and adventurous. Everything started when his sister was abducted by Zeus, the chief of the gods. That is when he left his country to look for her. Although he probably didn't find her at the end, the Fates had planned a great life for him. Looking for his sister Cadmus was the son of Agenor, king of Tyre, and his queen, Telephassa. He was also the brother of Europa, who was abducted by Zeus in the guise of a white bull.

The chief of the gods had been seduced by the beauty of Europa, so he decided to kidnap her. One day, when Europa and her fellow nymphs were gathering flowers, Zeus came to her in the guise of a white bull. When Europa stepped on the bull to stroke him, the bull promptly ran off with Europa on his back and, swimming through the sea, he arrived in Crete where Europa realized that she had been abducted by none other than the chief god himself. To make a long story short, Europa gave birth to three sons from Zeus, married a local king and became the first queen of Crete. Europa was the apple of the eye of King Agenor and he was devastated at the news of his daughter's mysterious disappearance. He entrusted his four sons, Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix and Thasus, with the mission to find Europa, charging them never to return without his beloved daughter. The queen Telephassa also accompanied her sons. They searched far and wide for Europa without getting any clue for her disappearance. Unable to find his sister, Phoenix gave up the quest and settled in a place which was said to have been later named Phoenicia after him.

Europa's brothers Cilix and Thasus likewise gave up the search for their sister and settled in regions founding cities that were also named after them: Cilicia, in Asia Minor and Thassos, on a small island of the eastern Aegean. Founding a new town While his brothers dispersed in search of Europa, Cadmus along with his mother settled in Thrace where Telephassa soon died of grief at the loss of her daughter. After performing the last rites to his mother, Cadmus went on a pilgrimage to the oracle of Delphi to ask for his sister. The oracle advised him to give up the search for Europa and instead to found a new city. He was instructed to follow a cow he would find outside the oracle and build a city on the spot where the cow would stop to rest. Sure enough, Cadmus soon found a cow a few meters from the oracle and followed it. The cow reached Boeotia where, after crossing the shallow stream of Cephisus river, it lied to the ground in fatigue. Having found the place where he was to build a new city, Cadmus decided to sacrifice the cow to Athena, the goddess of heroic endeavor.

For that purpose, he sent his companions to look for pure water to do the sacrifice. They found the purest water in a lovely spring. As they were filling their vessels with water, a fierce serpent-like dragon, guardian of the spring, emerged from a nearby cave. The dragon happened to be son of Ares, the god of warfare. The horrid serpent, with its crest-like head and venomous teeth shining like gold, slaughtered all the unfortunate companions of Cadmus. When his companions failed to return, Cadmus went looking for them and soon came face to face with the enraged dragon. Cadmus attacked the malevolent monster and, after a fierce struggle, managed to slay it. He then sacrificed the cow to Athena, who told him to get the teeth of the dragon and plant half of them in the ground. As soon as Cadmus did so, a host of fierce warriors appeared out of the ground and, before Cadmus could engage them, the armed men began a ferocious and bloody battle among themselves. At the end of the vicious fight only five warriors were left alive and made peace among themselves.

These five people, called the "Spartoi" ("sown men"), subjected themselves to Cadmus and helped him to build the city of Cadmea. After a few years, Cadmus named the city Thebes, after the Egyptian Thebes, founded by his father, Agenor. In the ancient times, the noble families of Thebes claimed their descent directly from these five Spartoi. A long and adventurous life In the meanwhile, god Ares was outraged that his son was killed by Cadmus. He punished the valiant hero with servitude for a period of eight years, after which Ares not only forgave Cadmus but also gave him the hand of his daughter, Harmonia, in marriage. The wedding was solemnly celebrated in Cadmea in the presence of all gods. Cadmus gave his lovely bride a golden necklace made by god Hephaestus as a wedding present. Harmonia bore Cadmus five children: Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave and Polydorus. Semele later became the mother of Dionysus, the god of wine. However, the curse of the dragon was still clinging over Cadmus and his family.

His family members had troubles and were leading a miserable life. Finally, when civil strife assailed the city he founded, Cadmus abdicated his throne and, along with his wife, settled in the land of the Enchelians, to the north of modern Epirus area, who made him their king. The Enchelians were engaged in a war with a neighbouring tribe that time, but with Cadmus as their leader, they managed to win. Cadmus had another son while he was there whom he called Illyria. However, the misfortunes and tragedies in his family continued to trouble him profoundly. He began to have this strange idea that a serpent would be happier than him, as it would have no troubles. While he was having these thoughts, he was transformed into a serpent. So the sacred dragon of Ares had its final sweet revenge. Harmonia prayed to the gods to be allowed to share her husband's fate and was also turned into a serpent. Taking pity on this couple, Zeus carried them to the Elysian Fields, where the people favored by the Gods would go when they died.

However, above all, Cadmus is famous for one thing: it is said that he was the man who introduced writing and the alphabet into Greece. Through Greece, writing was spread to the Romans and then the whole Europe. [1] Cadmus | Article about Cadmus by The Free Dictionary Cadmus | Article about Cadmus by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Cadmus, in Greek legend, son of Agenor Agenor , in Greek mythology. 1 King of Tyre, father of Cadmus and Europa. When Europa disappeared, Agenor sent Cadmus and his other sons in search of her. 2 Trojan hero, son of Antenor. ..... Click the link for more information. and founder of Thebes Thebes, chief city of Boeotia, in ancient Greece. It was originally a Mycenaean city. Thebes is rich in associations with Greek legend and religion (see Oedipus; the Seven against Thebes; Epigoni). Sometime before 1000 B.C. ..... Click the link for more information. . Misfortune followed his family because he killed the sacred dragon that guarded the spring of Ares.

Athena told him to sow the dragon's teeth, and from these sprang the Sparti [sown men], ancestors of the noble families of Thebes. Cadmus married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. At their wedding he presented her with a sacred robe and necklace, made by Hephaestus, which later brought misfortune to their possessors (see Amphiaraüs Amphiaraüs , in Greek mythology, a prophet, one of the ill-fated Seven against Thebes. He foresaw the disaster of the expedition, but Polynices bribed his wife, Eriphyle, with the magic necklace of Harmonia, to convince him to go. ..... Click the link for more information. ; Alcmaeon Alcmaeon , in Greek legend, son of Amphiaraüs and Eriphyle, a leader of the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes. He murdered his mother in revenge for his father's death and consequently was haunted by the Erinyes until he found haven on Achelous' island. ..... Click the link for more information. ). They had four daughters—Ino, Semele, Autonoe, and Agave.

In their old age Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents by Zeus and sent to live in the Elysian fields. Cadmus transformation References in classic literature ? But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler than usual, and leaned almost her whole weight on the arm of Cadmus, and walked more slowly than ever before. As long as you please, dear mother," answered Cadmus. Dearest Cadmus," said she, "thou hast been the truest son that ever mother had, and faithful to the very last. O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, "couldst thou but have seen my sister before this hour I will not sadden you, my little hearers, with telling how Telephassa died and was buried, but will only say, that her dying smile grew brighter, instead of vanishing from her dead face; so that Cadmus left convinced that, at her very first step into the better world, she had caught Europa in her arms.

On his way thither, he still inquired of most people whom he met whether they had seen Europa; for, to say the truth, Cadmus had grown so accustomed to ask the question, that it came to his lips as readily as a remark about the weather. Poor Cadmus found it more wearisome to travel alone than to bear all his dear mother's weight, while she had kept him company. The place of the oracle was a certain cavity in the mountain side, over which, when Cadmus came thither, he found a rude bower of branches. When Cadmus had thrust a passage through the tangled boughs, and made his way into the bower, he did not at first discern the half-hidden cavity. But Cadmus was more fortunate than many others who went to Delphi in search of truth. And when these words had been repeated until Cadmus was tired of hearing them (especially as he could not imagine what cow it was, or why he was to follow her), the gusty hole gave vent to another sentence. These words were pronounced but a single time, and died away into a whisper before Cadmus was fully satisfied that he had caught the meaning.

The Theban Stories The Theban Stories Thebes The Theban Stories Pentheus torn apart by Agave and Ino. Attic red-figure lekanis lid, c. 450-425 B.C. 8.6 cm X 25.4 cm. Louvre Campana Collection, 1861. Bibi Saint-Pol By N.S. Gill Updated August 09, 2016. The great Greek playwright Sophocles (c. 496-406 B.C.) describes the city of Thebes "as the only city where women are mothers of gods." He refers to the mothers of the divine Dionysus and Heracles [see Parents of Hercules ], Semele and Alcmene, both of whom were born in this ancient Greek Boeotian city. [Source: (Sophocles fragment [773 Radt]) - Michael Gagarin and Elaine Fantham.] With such a claim to fame, it is small wonder that many of the stories from Greek tragedy and Greco-Roman mythology feature Thebes.

Theban Cycle There is a Theban Cycle (Greek: Θηβαϊκὸς Κύκλος) -- like the epic cycle on the city of Troy -- that refers to four almost entirely lost Greek epics about Oedipus and his family. N.B.: Sometimes "epic cycle" refers to both the Trojan War cycle and the Theban cycle of epic poems; sometimes "Theban cycle" refers to all the pivotal stories about Thebes. Publius Papinius Statius (c.45-c.96) wrote a 12-book latin epic about the Theban cycle. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Statius' poem, known as the Thebaid , was based on Greek epic poems on the topic -- now lost, and Greek tragedy. Three Generations of a Cursed Family In Etruscan Myths, classicist (and especially Etruscan archaeologist) Larissa Bonfante, with her co-author Judith Swaddling, describes the Theban Cycle as the stories about three generations of a cursed family.

The topic interests Bonfante because the stories were popular with Etruscan painters who knew the stories from Greek tragedy and painted, imported Greek vases. Featured Theban Oedipus The three generations begin with the Theban King Laius, who knows better than to father a son. Still, lust gets the better of him, as Bonfante and Swaddling say, so he orders the inevitable son to be exposed. Oedipus is the son, named swollen foot because of a piercing through his ankles. Years later, after he fulfills the prophecy that Laius had failed to avoid, he blinds himself out of remorse, and sets out from Thebes. His children, who are also his brothers and sisters, since he fathered them on his own mother, Jocasta, are the third generation of this cursed family. Oedipus adds to the curse by showing a paternally-inherited lack of affection for his own sons when he, too, tries a passive method of filicide . Instead of exposing Eteocles and Polyneices , which he can't, since they aren't infants, but full grown men, he curses them.

They fulfill his curse by killing each other in the section of the cycle known from the Seven Against Thebes . The Oedipal stories are one of the three sets of stories that focus on Thebes. The other two are the founding stories featuring Cadmus and his wife Harmonia (or the wall-building twin sons of Zeus and Antiope, Amphion and Zethos) and the stories of Dionysus and the sparagmos or tearing apart of Pentheus . The Heracles stories are not counted part of the Theban cycle. Cadmus Cadmus had been sent on an impossible quest by his father, King Agenor of Sidon. Being sent on impossible quests is common in the heroic lore. Generally, the king sending the young hero on the mission is not his (loving) father, but someone jealous of him. In this vein, Jason is sent to fetch the Golden Fleece, by the wrongful claimant to the throne, while Theseus went after the minotaur, but only over the objections of his father. Cadmus' father sent him off to find his daughter, a young girl abducted by a white bull that turned out to be the king of the gods.

Fortunately, since Cadmus failed, this particular quest was not a suicide mission. Cadmus and his brothers, accompanied by their mother, went off to find their missing sister, whose name was Europa . When it became obvious they had failed, but couldn't return home, the oracle directed Cadmus to found the city of Boeotia, which he did. His band found drinking water nearby at a spring guarded by a dragon of Ares. Because it ate Cadmus' followers, Cadmus slew it; thereby earning the long-lasting enmity of Ares, who later became his father-in-law. Harmonia, the daughter of a still unappeased Ares, married Cadmus. They had four daughters and a son. Then, in their dotage, Zeus turned them into snakes. Ares is not the only god who had a grudge against the family of Cadmus. Hera was upset that Cadmus' sister had attracted Zeus' notice. Europa wound up in Crete where she mothered men who became Underworld judges and married a descendant of the deluge survivor and son of Prometheus , Deucalion . Another deity who may have had it in for the family of Cadmus was Artemis.

One of Cadmus' grandsons was Actaeon who violated the modesty taboos of the goddess. He was torn apart by his own hounds. Another grandson of Cadmus was torn apart by his own mother and aunt because of his family's affront to their cousin/nephew, the god Dionysus. This was Pentheus. Dionysus There are different stories of the birth of Dionysus , but the popular version is that his mother was Semele, a daughter of Cadmus, a young woman who must have had something of her paternal aunt about her since she caught the fancy of Zeus. Hera, perhaps keeping a watchful eye on this odd family, noticed her straying husband's wandering eye and tricked Semele into causing her own destruction. Zeus caught their unborn son before it had a chance to be destroyed and sewed him into the divine thigh, which served as a womb perhaps a little roomier than the head-womb from which Athena emerged. Not convinced she had done enough to punish Zeus' philandering, Hera planted the idea in the Thebans that Semele hadn't become pregnant through a god, but had conceived with a mortal man.

Then, when Dionysus came swaggering back to his mother's hometown, his family didn't accept him as god-born. He did what he could to convince them, but had limited patience, especially with his obnoxious, irreligious cousin, Pentheus . Tiresias Winding in and out of these myths is the seer Tiresias. He offers advice in the Oedipal cycle, in particular, and comes into the story of Pentheus and Dionysus. Tiresias' daughter appears in the story of Niobe , which ties the Thebans with the other major tragic house, the House of Atreus. Another related myth is the story of Narcissus and Echo , where it's his prophecy that sets the tone for the unequal contest between the will of man and god. "The Double Foundation of Boiotian Thebes" Daniel W. Berman Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 134, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 1-22 "Ovid's Narcissus (Met.

3.339-510): Echoes of Oedipus" Ingo Gildenhard and Andrew Zissos The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 121, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 129-147 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, Volume 1, edited by Michael Gagarin and Elaine Fantham (2009) "The Snake Sheds Its Skin: Pentheus (Re)Imagines Thebes" Micaela Janan

Question: Which son of King Agenor is the reputed founder of the city of Thebes in Ancient Greece?
Answer: Cadmus