Cadmus, the Prototypical Greek Hero

Cadmus is a Greek mythology hero, and he is a very good example of the many themes in

mythology and how myths are still relevant in this day and age.

Cadmus was the son of Agenor, a Phoenician king. At first, he probably did not suspect that he

would become a great hero at all but that suddenly changed when his sister, princess Europa, was

carried off on the back of a bull on the coats of Phoenicia. His father was unhappy and so sent all his

sons to search for her and not return until she had been found. Unfortunately, she was never found, but

Cadmus did have many interesting adventures, and he even married a woman named Harmonia. One

story is that Cadmus went to Delphi to ask the oracle about Europa but the oracle told him not to worry

about her and let himself be led by a cow until it was too tired to continue. He followed the oracle's

advice and followed the first cow he saw until it stopped at a spot where Cadmus later founded the city

of Cadmea, later Thebes.

If you take a look at the basis of his story above, you will see that Cadmus started his journey in

search of his lost sister. Many movies, books and other forms of entertainment involve the main

character attempting to find someone or something which was lost. An example is the Pixar movie

Finding Nemo. It bears many similarities to the above story as Nemo was caught by a diver, as opposed

to a bull, and his father, Marlin, went on a long journey to bring him back, facing many obstacles and

meeting new friends. This brings attention to the relevance of Greek mythology in the modern world.

Many stories and movies have been patterned and based on Greek myths, whether it was intentional or

not. I'm not saying that Finding Nemo copied from Cadmus, in fact, he's not a very “household name”

per se, but Greek myths have this sense of timelessness to them. They encompass several themes,
ranging from jealousy to love, and in this case, losing someone (although Cadmus's entire story is not

based completely on this). No matter how old we and the myths get, they will still live on, even if they

are not read anymore, their influence will still be clearly seen in the new literature. The Greeks fit so

many themes in their work that if you write a story, it will be impossible to state that you were not

influenced at all by Greek mythology because of course, you will have influences, and even if you did

not read Greek myths at all in your life, they probably did and so the Greeks' influence lives on.

In the myth of Cadmus, it is stated that Cadmus and the Phoenicians that came with him on his

quest introduced the Phoenician alphabet to the Greeks. He is also credited in the story with the proper

way of speaking, as he combined consonants with vowels. As you may already know, the Phoenician

alphabet was one of the predecessors to the English alphabet, so if he was real, then it's thanks to

Cadmus that this paper is being written! He also lends his name to the element cadmium.

Like almost all stories, the myth of Cadmus follows the monomyth cycle. At first, he was in the

“Innocent World of Childhood,” which was from when he was born until his “Call to Adventure.” His

call was his sister being whisked away by a bull and his father ordering that he and his brothers look for

her. From the source I read, he did not refuse the call, and he entered the “Bell of the Whale.” He had

many trials and adventures along the way, including his adventure with the cow. He was able to get his

“Ultimate Boon” when he founded the city of Thebes and he had the “Freedom to Live.” Of course, his

story does not end there, but that was a quick sampling of the monomyth, which applies here also.

Cadmus is also considered an epic hero by the Greeks and scholars. He was a warrior and he led his

men throughout his long and perilous journey to find his sister. He also killed the Dragon of Ares, a

task which no one else had either attempted or lived trying to do so. He was also in good terms with

most of the gods, and they even gave him and his wife, Harmonia, many gifts for their wedding. He

was also almost invulnerable, as throughout the myth, he never really got himself seriously injured or
hurt. He was a great and intelligent ruler too, founding the city of Thebes, spreading the Phoenician

alphabet and thinking of new radical ideas, like the sun being in the center of the universe.

In short, Cadmus was a typical Greek hero, but he was also unique and is a very good example on

how the Greek myths from long ago are still relevant in this modern day and age.

SOURCES

http://xsibenglish2012.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/the-epic-and-epic-heroes/
http://phoenicia.org/cadmus.html
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Cadmus.html
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%2Fchangingminds.org%2Fdisciplines%2Fstorytelling%2Fplots%2Fhero_journey
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