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Mythographia

    Source Verification: Cadmus

    Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

    What the Sources Attest

    Who does Cadmus marry?

    Cadmus married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Hesiod's Theogony names her as Ares's daughter by Cytherea, an Aphrodite title, and as the wife of Cadmus. Apollodorus says Zeus gave her to Cadmus after his eight years of service to Ares. All the gods left the sky to feast at the wedding in the Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes. Cadmus gave her a robe and a necklace made by Hephaestus. Pausanias found the site of her bridal chamber still shown at Thebes. He also saw the place where the Muses were said to have sung at the wedding.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.4.2

    What was the curse of Cadmus?

    The ancient texts give no single named curse. They link the troubles of his house in two ways. Ovid makes the killing of the serpent sacred to Mars the root: an unseen voice warns Cadmus over the body that he too will become a serpent. Ovid also names Juno's anger against all of Europa's family. Whatever the cause, his daughters and grandsons suffered. Semele was burned by Zeus's fire, Actaeon was killed by his hounds, Ino leapt into the sea with her son, and Pentheus was torn apart by his mother Agave. Pausanias also follows Harmonia's necklace into the next generation's disaster, as the bribe paid to Eriphyle before the war of the Seven against Thebes.

    Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.95-137

    Why were Cadmus and Harmonia turned into serpents?

    The sources give different reasons. In Ovid, the old Cadmus in Illyria wonders whether the serpent he killed was sacred. He prays that if the gods are angry, he may become a serpent himself. The change follows at once, and Harmonia asks to share it. In Euripides's Bacchae, the change is announced by Dionysus after Thebes rejected him. He adds that Ares will later bring the pair to the land of the blessed. Apollodorus gives no motive. He says only that Zeus changed them after their rule over the Illyrians and sent them to the Elysian Fields.

    Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.563-603

    Where Accounts Differ

    • why Cadmus became a serpent
    • origin of Harmonia's necklace
    • how the sown men died
    • god of the first sacrifice
    • Phoenician alphabet and Egyptian origin
    • who succeeded Cadmus
    • The reason Cadmus and Harmonia became serpents differs by source. Ovid has Cadmus pray for the change, suspecting the gods' anger over the serpent of Mars. Euripides's Bacchae has Dionysus announce it as part of the punishment of Thebes. Apollodorus gives no motive and says only that Zeus sent them to the Elysian Fields.
    • The necklace given to Harmonia has three origins in Apollodorus. Cadmus gave it, or Hephaestus gave it to Cadmus, or, according to Pherecydes, Europa gave it after receiving it from Zeus.
    • The sown men die differently. Apollodorus says they fell in a chance brawl or by mistake, and cites Pherecydes for Cadmus throwing stones among them. Ovid has one warrior warn Cadmus off before the rest turn on each other. Both leave five survivors.
    • Cadmus meant to sacrifice the cow to Athena in Apollodorus and to Jupiter in Ovid.
    • Herodotus reports that the Phoenicians who came with Cadmus brought the alphabet to Greece, but marks the claim as his own opinion. Pausanias records a rival view that Cadmus was Egyptian, and rejects it on the evidence of a Phoenician cult title at Thebes.
    • The succession is told two ways. Apollodorus has Agave's son Pentheus succeed Cadmus, with Polydorus reigning later. Pausanias says Polydorus took the kingdom when Cadmus left for the Encheleans.

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.4.1
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.4.2
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.4.3
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.4.4
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.5.2
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.5.4
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.5.5
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.1-94
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.95-137
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.253-315
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.563-603
    • Hesiod, Theogony 933-937
    • Hesiod, Theogony 975-978
    • Euripides, Bacchae 1-10
    • Euripides, Bacchae 170-190
    • Euripides, Bacchae 1330-1339
    • Herodotus, Histories 2.49
    • Herodotus, Histories 4.147
    • Herodotus, Histories 5.58
    • Herodotus, Histories 5.59
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.5.2
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.5.3
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.12.1-9.12.3
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.41.2
    Further reading
    • Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)