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The Ballad of Cadmus
The Ballad of Cadmus
REL360
12pm-1:15pm
Final Project
The Ballad of Cadmus
Suzanne Laurita
REL360
12pm-1:15pm
Final Project
his death, flung him into penance, for it
was revered of Ares. This atonement,
he paid for eight years. At the close of the
eighth year, Cadmus was given Harmonia
as wife by the gods. From them, came a son,
Polydorus and four daughters Agave, Autono, Ino, and Semele, mother of Dionysus. At the
wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia,
with all the gods, bridals gifts were given;
a peplos by which Athena crafted
and a necklace, bringer of misfortune,
the Necklace of Harmonia. Due to
that, misfortune stood at the back of Cadmus as his city fell into turmoil.
Cadmus, with the touch of distress, relented the kingship to his grandson, Pentheus, who would found the polis Lychnidos
and the polis Bouthoe.
Affected, still, by the death of Ares
dragon, he lamented, If the gods loved
that ophidian so much, I might too
be one. and with that, scales grew upon
his skin, transforming into a serpent.
His wife, Harmonia, having witnessed
this alteration pleaded with the
gods to change her as well, so that she could
experience that fate together, with
Cadmus. Here, I shall end my song inspired by the wondrous muse and tell of the
due credit, given by Herodotus
to Cadmus. He speaks of how Cadmus brought
the Alphabet, Phoenician to the Greeks
with which they fit to their own alphabet.
The gods ceased the long line of Cadmus in
Sparta, of whom, the families, royal
Descend. The legacy of Cadmus breathes
In the celebration by Boeotia.