Cadmus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Cadmus

82 passages from 15 ancient authors that tell of Cadmus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Cadmus was the founder and first king of Thebes in Greek mythology. He was the son of King Agenor and Queen Telephassa of the Phoenician city of Tyre,... For the story in one place, read our article on Cadmus.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Theogony 930–959Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and Heracles (930-959)Poseidon and Amphitrite have Triton, and Aphrodite bears Panic and Fear to Ares, and Harmonia, whom Cadmus marries. Maia bears Hermes, Semele bears Dionysus and Alcmene bears Heracles, who is finally wed to Hebe and lives among the gods. Hephaestus marries Aglaea, Dionysus marries Ariadne, and Perseis bears Circe and Aeetes to Helios, with Aeetes' daughter Medea at the end.
Hesiod, Theogony 960–1022Goddesses and mortal men; the end of the poem (960-1022)The Muses are asked to sing of the goddesses who lay with mortal men. Demeter bears Plutus to Iasion, Harmonia bears Ino, Semele, Agave, Autonoe and Polydorus to Cadmus, and Callirrhoe bears Geryon. The list continues with Eos and Tithonus, Aphrodite and Anchises, Thetis and Peleus, and ends with Circe and Calypso bearing sons to Odysseus before the poet turns to the company of women.

Apollodorus (3)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.4.1–4Cadmus and the founding of ThebesAfter the death of Telephassa, Cadmus is told at Delphi to follow a cow and found a city where it lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares, sows its teeth to raise the Spartoi, serves Ares for a year, and marries Harmonia. Their daughters Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave are named; Semele is destroyed when she asks to see Zeus in his glory, Dionysus is born from Zeus's thigh, and Ino and Athamas rear him and are driven mad. The section ends with Actaeon, torn apart by his own dogs after seeing Artemis bathing.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.5.1–9Dionysus, Pentheus, Niobe and OedipusDionysus roams Egypt, Syria and Thrace, where Lycurgus is punished, and returns to Thebes, where Agave tears her son Pentheus apart; he also turns the Tyrrhenian pirates into dolphins. Cadmus and Harmonia go to the Encheleans and become serpents, and the house of Labdacus continues through Laius, Antiope with Zethus and Amphion, and Niobe, whose children are shot by Apollo and Artemis. Laius, warned against fathering a son, exposes the infant Oedipus, who kills him unknowingly, answers the Sphinx's riddle, marries Jocasta and learns the truth.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.1.1–4Europa, Minos and the birth of the MinotaurZeus takes the form of a bull and carries Europa from Phoenicia to Crete, where she bears Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys, while her brothers Cadmus, Phoenix and Cilix, with Telephassa and Thasus, settle in distant lands. The three sons quarrel over Miletus, and Minos marries Pasiphae and has his children. Minos wins the kingdom by praying for a bull from Poseidon and then sacrificing another; Poseidon makes the bull savage and makes Pasiphae fall in love with it, so that with Daedalus's wooden cow she bears the Minotaur, shut up in the Labyrinth.

Pindar (3)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 2.1–100Olympian 2: for Theron — the house of Cadmus and the Isles of the BlestPindar praises Theron of Acragas, victor in the chariot race, and prays that time may heal the sorrows of his house. He recalls the house of Cadmus, with Laïus, Oedipus, the Fury that made his sons kill one another, and Polyneices' son Thersander. He then describes the afterlife, in which the wicked are punished and the good go to the Isles of the Blest, where Rhadamanthys judges and Peleus, Cadmus and Achilles dwell, and he ends by answering envy with the praise of Theron's generosity.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.1–115Pythian 3: for Hieron — Asclepius and CoronisPindar wishes that Cheiron were alive to heal Hieron as he once healed others through his pupil Asclepius. He tells how Coronis, carrying Apollo's child, took another lover and was killed, and how Apollo rescued the child from the pyre and gave him to Cheiron to learn healing. Asclepius, tempted by gold to raise a dead man, was struck down by Zeus; the ode ends with the sorrows of Peleus and Cadmus as proof that no man has unmixed happiness.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 11.1–64Pythian 11: for Thrasydaeus — Orestes and AgamemnonPindar invites the daughters of Cadmus to honour Thrasydaeus of Thebes, victor in the boys' foot-race, and then tells how Orestes was rescued by his nurse after Clytaemnestra killed Agamemnon and Cassandra, how he reached Strophius, and how he later killed his mother and Aegisthus. He asks whether a wind has blown him off course, like a traveller at a fork in the road, and returns to the glory of Thrasydaeus and his father. The ode ends with a prayer to Iolaüs and to Castor and Polydeuces, who live alternately at Therapne and on Olympus.

Aeschylus (2)

Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 1–77Prologue: Eteocles and the ScoutEteocles calls on the citizens of Thebes to defend the city, every man at his post, and says that the seer foretells a great Argive attack. A Scout comes back from the enemy camp and reports that seven champions have sworn an oath over a slaughtered bull, and are casting lots for the gates. Eteocles prays to Zeus, Earth and the gods of the city to save Thebes from capture.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 78–180Parodos: the Theban women in terrorThe Chorus of Theban women sing in terror of the sound of the approaching army, the clatter of the chariots and the dust, and call on the gods of the city for help. They pray to Athena, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis and Hera and beg them to save Thebes from capture and slavery.

Sophocles (2)

Sophocles, Antigone 1115–1182Fifth stasimon: the hymn to Dionysus; the Messenger's newsThe Chorus call on the god of many names, Dionysus, the son of the Cadmeian bride, to come with purifying feet to the city of Thebes, which is held in the grip of a plague. A Messenger then comes to announce that the fortunes of Cadmus' house have changed for the worse, and that Haemon is dead, by his own hand.
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 1–77Prologue: the Priest asks Oedipus to save ThebesOedipus finds a crowd of suppliants with olive branches before the palace and asks why they have come. The Priest of Zeus describes the plague that blights the crops, the herds and the women of Thebes, and begs the king, who freed the city from the Sphinx, to find a remedy. Oedipus answers that he shares their pain and has already sent Creon to Apollo's oracle at Delphi, and that he is troubled by his long absence.

Euripides (21)

Euripides, Bacchae 1233–1301Exodos: Agave recovers her sensesAgave boasts to Kadmos that she and her sisters have caught a lion, and he answers in grief that they have committed murder. He makes her look at the sky and answer questions about her husband and son, until her madness lifts. She recognizes the head in her hands as that of Pentheus and learns that she and her sisters killed him on Kithairon.
Euripides, Bacchae 170–214First episode: Teiresias and Kadmos prepare to join the revelsThe blind Teiresias calls Kadmos from the house, and the two old men agree to go to the mountain in Bacchic dress, with thyrsos and ivy. They feel young again, and Teiresias says that mortals' clever arguments cannot overturn ancestral tradition. Kadmos sees Pentheus hurrying toward them.
Euripides, Bacchae 1302–1351Exodos: Dionysus' judgment and Kadmos' fateKadmos says that Pentheus, like Agave, did not revere the god, who therefore joined them all in one ruin, and he mourns his grandson. Dionysus appears and foretells that Kadmos and Harmonia will become serpents and lead a barbarian army against many cities, until Ares settles them in the land of the blessed. Kadmos and Agave plead that they have sinned, but Dionysus says that they learned too late.
Euripides, Bacchae 1352–1392Exodos: Kadmos and Agave part into exileKadmos and Agave lament their disaster and bid each other farewell. Agave says that she will go into exile and take her sisters as companions, far from Kithairon and the thyrsos. The play ends with the Chorus' reflection that the gods bring many things to pass unexpectedly.
Euripides, Bacchae 1–63Prologue: Dionysus arrives in ThebesDionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, says that he has come to the land of the Thebans in mortal form, after travelling through Asia. He says that the sisters of Semele claimed that she had told a false tale about her marriage and that Zeus killed her for it, so that he has driven them out of their wits to the mountains, and that he will show Pentheus and all the Thebans that he was born a god.
Euripides, Heracles 1–59Prologue: Amphitryon explains the plight of Heracles' familyAmphitryon, who shared a wife with Zeus and is the father of Heracles, tells how he came to Thebes, where Creon gave his daughter Megara to Heracles. He says that Heracles has gone to Hades to bring back the hound of hell, and that in his absence Lycus has killed Creon and seized power, and that he now threatens to kill Megara, her sons and Amphitryon, who sit as suppliants at the altar of Zeus the Saviour.
Euripides, Phoenician Women 638–689First choral song: Cadmus, the dragon and the Sown MenThe Chorus sings of Cadmus' arrival in Thebes, following the heifer, and of the birth of Bromius beside Dirce. They tell how he killed Ares' dragon and sowed its teeth, from which armed men sprang. They call on Epaphus, Persephone and Demeter to help the land.
Euripides, Phoenician Women 1019–1066Third choral song: the Sphinx, Oedipus, and praise for MenoeceusThe Chorus sings of the Sphinx and her seizing of Theban youths, and of Oedipus, who solved her riddle and then married his mother. They admire the youth who has died for his country, and pray that they may bear such sons. They call on Pallas, who helped Cadmus against the serpent.
Euripides, Bacchae 266–342First episode: Teiresias and Kadmos defend DionysusTeiresias argues that Dionysus is a great god who gave men the drink of the grape as Demeter gave them bread, and that he also gives prophecy and war-panic. He urges Pentheus to receive the god. Kadmos begs his grandson to honor Dionysus, even if only so that Semele may seem to have borne a god, and recalls the fate of Actaeon.
Euripides, Bacchae 343–432First episode: Pentheus orders the stranger seized; first choral odePentheus tells Teiresias to hold his revels but not infect him, and orders his men to overturn the old man's seat of augury and to hunt down the stranger, bound, for stoning. Teiresias warns him and goes off with Kadmos to entreat the god. The Chorus sings to Holiness about Pentheus' insolence, longs for Cyprus and Pieria, and praises the quiet life of the man who honors Dionysus.
Euripides, Bacchae 1202–1232Exodos: Agave displays the head; Kadmos brings back the bodyAgave calls on the Thebans to come and see the prey that she and her sisters took with their bare hands, and asks for Pentheus to nail the head to the palace. Kadmos arrives with his slaves, carrying the body of Pentheus, which he found torn apart on Kithairon. He sees Agave approaching.
Euripides, Suppliants 253–285First episode: Adrastus and the Chorus appeal to TheseusAdrastus says that he did not come to make Theseus the judge of his misfortune, but to cure it, and that, if his fortunes prove him wrong, he does not come to be punished. The Chorus adds its plea, saying that the Argives and Athenians share ancestors, and begs Theseus not to betray the suppliants.

9 more passages of Euripides that name Cadmus

Apollonius Rhodius (1)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1163–1277Hecate's rites and the arming of Jason and AeetesJason tells the heroes Medea's counsel, and Telamon fetches the dragon's teeth from Aeetes. By night Jason sacrifices to Hecate, and in the morning Aeetes arms himself and goes to the field of the contest. Jason steeps his weapons in the charm, and Idas cannot break his spear.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 5.1–142Hymn to Athena: the Bath of Pallas and TeiresiasThe women of Argos are summoned to the Bath of Pallas and told to bring no perfume or mirror, only plain olive oil, as Athena herself used. The poet tells how Teiresias, son of Everes, unwittingly saw Athena bathing with his mother Chariclo at the Fountain of the Horse on Helicon and was blinded. Athena tells Chariclo that this is the law of Cronus, foretells the fate of Actaeon, and promises to make Teiresias a seer who knows the birds, has a staff to guide him and keeps his understanding among the dead. The hymn closes with greetings as the goddess arrives and a prayer for Argos.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.47.1–5.49.6Samothrace and its mysteriesThe historian tells of the early history of Samothrace, a flood that drove the people to the heights, and the lawgiver Saon. He tells of the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia and the gifts brought to it, and of the mysteries, in which the gods are said to help initiates in danger.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.55.1–5.59.6Rhodes: the Telchines, the Heliadae and later settlersThe Telchines first lived on Rhodes, followed by the children of Helius and Rhodos, the Heliadae, who are famed for their learning and for their sacrifice without fire. The historian tells of the killing of Tenages and Danaüs's visit to Lindus, and of the later settlers Phorbas, Althaemenes and Tlepolemus.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.2.1–4.5.4DionysusIn the Greek account Semele, daughter of Cadmus, dies when Zeus appears to her in his glory, and Hermes takes the child to the nymphs at Nysa. Dionysus teaches mankind the vine and a barley drink, leads an army that includes women, and returns from India to be honoured by festivals every other year. Some writers speak of an earlier Dionysus, son of Zeus and Persephone, and the chapters list the god's epithets and his Satyr and Muse companions.

Ovid (6)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.1–137Cadmus and the DragonZeus (Jupiter) reveals himself to Europa in Crete, and her father Agenor sends his son Cadmus to look for her and not to return without her. Cadmus consults the oracle of Apollo, which tells him to follow a heifer and to found a city where she lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares (Mars), which guards a spring, and sows its teeth on Athena's (Minerva's) advice, and armed men spring up from the furrows and fight until only five are left. These help him to build Thebes, and Cadmus prospers, though his story shows that no man can be called happy before his death.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.563–662Cadmus and Harmonia; Perseus and AtlasCadmus and Harmonia, grieving at their misfortunes, go away from Thebes, and Cadmus, remembering the serpent he killed, is turned into a serpent, and Harmonia follows him. Perseus, flying over Libya with the head of Medusa, comes at nightfall to the kingdom of Atlas, who has been told that a son of Zeus (Jupiter) would steal his golden apples, and who refuses him shelter. Perseus holds up the head of Medusa, and Atlas is turned into the mountain that holds up the sky.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.396–562The Minyades become bats; Athamas and InoThe daughters of Minyas, who have scorned Dionysus (Bacchus), find their looms turning to vines and ivy, and they are changed into bats. Hera (Juno), angry at the honour done to Semele's sister Ino, goes down to the Underworld and sends the Fury Tisiphone to the house of Athamas, who goes mad and kills his son Learchus. Ino leaps from a cliff with her other son Melicertes, and Aphrodite (Venus) asks Poseidon (Neptune) to make them sea-gods, and Ino's Theban companions are changed into rocks and birds.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138–250ActaeonCadmus' grandson Actaeon is out hunting with his hounds when he comes by chance on Artemis (Diana) bathing with her nymphs in a valley. The goddess, angry, splashes him with water, and he grows antlers and is turned into a stag. His own hounds do not know him and tear him to pieces, and people disagree whether the goddess was just.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.253–315Semele and ZeusHera (Juno), angry at the love of Zeus (Jupiter) for Semele, disguises herself as Semele's old nurse and persuades her to ask her lover to appear to her as he does to Hera. Zeus has sworn to grant her wish, and appears with his thunderbolts, and Semele is burned to ashes. The unborn child is taken from her and sewn into Zeus' thigh, and is born as Dionysus (Bacchus), and nymphs bring him up.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.146–312NiobeThe fate of Arachne spreads through Lydia, but Niobe, queen of Thebes, takes no warning, and rebukes the women who are honouring Leto (Latona), boasting of her own noble birth, her husband's power and her fourteen children. Leto, angered, calls on Apollo and Artemis (Diana), and Apollo kills Niobe's seven sons as they ride and wrestle, and Artemis her seven daughters in their mother's presence. Niobe, bereft of all, turns to stone, and is carried by a whirlwind to Mount Sipylus, where she weeps.

Pausanias (6)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.5.1–16Thebes: Cadmus, Amphion and Zethus, Oedipus and the early kingsPausanias gives the early history of Thebes: the Ectenians under Ogygus, then Hyantians and Aonians, then Cadmus, who founded the Cadmea, and the Sparti. He traces the line of Polydorus, Labdacus and Laius, and Amphion and Zethus, who added the lower city. He argues from Homer that Oedipus' children were by Euryganea and not Jocasta, and ends with Polynices and Eteocles, the second expedition of the Argives and the later kings.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.12.1–6Thebes: the house of Cadmus, Harmonia and Semele, and the flute-player PronomusPausanias tells how the Thebans began to sacrifice working oxen to Apollo of the Ashes, and how Cadmus was led by a cow with moon-like marks to the spot where Thebes was founded, where an altar and image of Athena Onga stand. He describes the site of the house of Cadmus, the ruined bridal-chambers of Harmonia and Semele, and the log from heaven adorned by Polydorus as Dionysus Cadmus. He ends with the statue of the flute-player Pronomus, who invented flutes suited to every kind of melody, and the statue of Epaminondas.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.1.1–9Laconia: the early kings from Lelex to the sons of AristodemusPausanias opens the Laconian book with the early kings, Lelex, Myles, Eurotas and Lacedaemon, who named Sparta after his wife, then Amyclas, whose son Hyacinth is buried at Amyclae, and Oebalus, Tyndareus and the Tyndarid line to Orestes. He recounts the Heraclid return and the death of Aristodemus, whose twin sons Procles and Eurysthenes founded the two royal houses, and Theras’ colony on Thera.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.10.1–6Thebes: the Ismenian Apollo and the fountain of AresPausanias describes the great sepulchre near the gate for those who fell against Alexander, and the place where Cadmus is said to have sown the dragon's teeth. He then describes the hill of Apollo Ismenius, with the Pronai statues of Athena and Hermes and a cedar image like that at Branchidae, which he attributes to Canachus. He mentions Manto's seat, the statues of Creon's daughters, the annual boy priest called Laurel-bearer and the tripod of Amphitryo. He ends with the fountain of Ares, the grave of Caanthus, who tried to rescue Melia from Apollo, and Apollo's sons Tenerus and Ismenius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.16.1–7Thebes: temples of Ammon, Fortune, Aphrodite and Dionysus, and the tombs of Amphion's childrenPausanias describes the temple of Ammon at Thebes with its image dedicated by Pindar, the observatory of Tiresias and the sanctuary of Fortune carrying the child Wealth. He lists the ancient wooden images of Aphrodite, with the three surnames Harmonia gave her, the sanctuary of Lawgiver Demeter and the theatre with the temple of Dionysus the Deliverer. He mentions the house of Lycus, Semele's tomb and the tombs of the children of Amphion.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.26.1–8The Cabirian plain, the Sphinx's mountain, Onchestus and Thespiae: Saviour ZeusPausanias describes the plain of Tenerus and the sanctuary of Hercules the Horse-binder near the Cabirian sanctuary, and the mountain of the Sphinx with three different accounts of who she was. He passes the ruins of Onchestus with its temple of Poseidon and comes to Thespiae, telling how Menestratus saved the city from a dragon by wearing a breast-plate studded with fish-hooks, which gave Zeus the surname Saviour.

Nonnus of Panopolis (28)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 3.0–130Book 3: Cadmos sails to Samothrace; Peitho leads himWith spring Cadmos puts to sea with his men and lands at a harbour, where the Corybants' dancing wakes the camp at dawn. As he goes toward Harmonia's house Peitho meets him in the form of a woman and wraps him in mist. A crow reproaches him for dawdling and predicts his wedding.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.382–463Book 4: Athena aids Cadmos; the sown men destroy one anotherAthena appears and tells Cadmos to kill the serpent and sow its teeth. Cadmos kills the dragon with a stone and a knife and sows the teeth, and armed men spring up out of the furrow. At Athena's counsel he throws a stone among them, and they destroy one another.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.0–121Book 5: Cadmos founds Thebes and its seven gatesCadmos sacrifices the cow to Athena, fights the neighbouring peoples and lays out the city of Thebes with seven gates named for the seven planets. Harmonia's wedding is celebrated with dances, music and the gods' attendance, and Zeus sits at the same table as Cadmos.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 46.210–264Book 46: Agaue kills Pentheus and shows his head to CadmosThe women tear Pentheus apart, and Agaue, believing him a lion, cuts off his head and carries it in triumph to Cadmos, boasting of her kill. Cadmos laments over her words, tells her that she holds her own son, and curses Cithaeron and Dionysos for the ruin of his family.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 3.319–444Book 3: Electra consoles Cadmos; Hermes asks for HarmoniaElectra consoles Cadmos, speaking of her own sisters and her son's absence, and advises him to settle abroad as Dardanos and Byzas did. The poet tells how Harmonia, Aphrodite's child by Ares, was brought up beside Emathion. Hermes enters unseen in the form of a youth and asks Electra on Zeus's behalf to give Harmonia to Cadmos.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.249–381Book 4: Cadmos at Delphi; the dragon of AresCadmos, who gave the Hellenes their letters, travels to Greece with Harmonia and consults the oracle at Delphi. The god tells him to give up the search for the bull and to found a city where a cow he follows lies down. At the spring of Dirce the serpent of Ares devours his companions.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.409–534Book 1: Cadmos pipes to Typhon and wins back the sinewsDisguised as a herdsman, Cadmos plays on his reeds, and Typhoeus comes laughing and boasts of what he will do to heaven. Cadmos says he could do better on the harp if only he had the sinews, and Typhoeus fetches them and gives them to him. Cadmos hides them and goes on playing to the entranced Giant.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.0–105Book 4: Harmonia refuses; Aphrodite comes as PeisinoeElectra tells Harmonia of Zeus's wish, and Harmonia protests against marrying a wandering stranger. Aphrodite, disguised as a neighbour girl called Peisinoe, then flatters her, praises Cadmos's beauty and suggests he may be a god.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.106–205Book 4: Peisinoe's persuasion; Harmonia leaves her homePeisinoe goes on praising Cadmos and pretends to be in love with him herself, offering to serve them both as a maid. Harmonia, stung with desire, changes her mind, and takes tearful leave of her mother, her brother and the rooms of her home.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.178–332Book 8: Hera as Semele's nurseHera takes the shape of an old nurse and comes to Semele's chamber. She asks which god has been her lover and says that if it is Zeus she should ask him to come with thunder, as he does to Hera. Semele, stung, prays to Zeus for a bridal of lightning and complains that she has never seen his true form.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 46.265–369Book 46: Agaue's lament; Dionysos leaves Thebes for AthensDionysos restores Agaue's senses, and she mourns over Pentheus's head, cursing her sanity and calling herself a child-murderer. Pentheus is buried, and Dionysos gives the mourners a drink of forgetfulness and sends Cadmos and Harmonia wandering west towards their fate as stone snakes. He then goes in procession to Athens.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.344–408Book 1: Zeus takes Europa and enlists CadmosZeus takes his human shape and lies with Europa, and the Bull is set among the stars. He then meets Cadmos with Eros and Pan and devises a plan: Cadmos is to pipe as a herdsman and charm Typhoeus so that the weapons can be recovered. Zeus promises him Harmonia as his wife.

16 more passages of Nonnus of Panopolis that name Cadmus

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 19.1–20.11Dithyrambs 19–20: Io and Argus; Idas and MarpessaDithyramb 19 tells of Io, driven by the gadfly, and asks whether Hermes slew the watcher Argus or lulled him to sleep. She came to the banks of the Nile and bore Epaphus, and from that race sprang Cadmus and Dionysus. Dithyramb 20, a fragment, tells how the maidens of Lacedaemon sang of Idas bringing home Marpessa in a chariot given by Poseidon.

Epic Cycle (1)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 3.1–4.4Thebaid and EpigoniThe Thebaid fragments tell how Polyneices set a silver table before Oedipus and how Oedipus called down a curse on his sons when he saw the haunch, and how Adrastus fled Thebes with Areion. The Epigoni is quoted for the Teumesian fox and for Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, who was sent to Delphi.

Orpheus (attributed) (2)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 47–51Hymns 47-51: Bacchus Pericionius, Sabasius, Ippa, Lysius Lenaeus, the NymphsFour Dionysiac hymns come first: to Bacchus Pericionius, who once took the house of Cadmus into his care, to Sabasius, here called the offspring of Saturn, to Ippa, the nurse of Bacchus, whose rites are those of Sabus, and to Lysius Lenaeus, the god of wine born of two mothers. The last hymn of the group calls on the Nymphs, who dwell in watery caves and derive their birth from Ocean.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 72–76Hymns 72-76: Fortune, the Daemon, Leucothea, Palaemon, the MusesFortune is asked to come with rich abundance, and the Daemon, or guardian genius, is invoked as a mighty, life-giving power called mild Jove. Leucothea, born of Cadmus and nurse of Bacchus, and Palaemon, who was nursed with Dionysius and dwells in the deep sea, are invoked as protectors of the initiated at sea. The group ends with the nine Muses, daughters of Jove, who are named one by one.