cadmus

English - English

Definition of cadmus in English English dictionary

A Phoenician prince, son of king Agenor of Tyre. Was sent by his royal parents to seek and return his sister Europa after being abducted from Phoenicia by Zeus. Credited with founding Greek city of Thebes and inventing Greek alphabet

{i} son of Agenor, Greek legendary hero, founder of the city of Thebes and creator of the Sparti (Greek Mythology); family name; Paul Cadmus (1904-1999), US etcher and painter; male first name

In Greek mythology, the son of the king of Phoenicia, brother of Europa, and founder of Thebes. When Zeus carried off Europa, Cadmus was sent to find her. The Delphic oracle ordered him to end his search, follow a cow, and build a town where it lay down. That town became Thebes. He built the citadel of Thebes with the help of fierce armed men who sprang up where he sowed the teeth of a dragon he had slain. He married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, and their five children included Semele. Cadmus was said to have brought the alphabet to Greece

Related Terms

Paul Cadmus

{i} (1904-1999) United States etcher and painter

Hyphenation

Cad·mus

Turkish pronunciation

kädmıs

Pronunciation

/ˈkadməs/ /ˈkædməs/

Etymology

() Via Latin Cadmūs, from Ancient Greek Κάδμος (Kadmos).