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in his thigh and sewed it up so that he could be protected till the appropriate time of
his birth . The name Dionysos etymologically could be a combination of me genitive
form of the noun Zeus. "Dies ," and "Nysa" the lofty mountain overgrown with trees
where be was hidden as an infant. 16 Dionysos' double birth characterizes his dual
nature of mortal and immortal . good and evil. and his origins in Asia Minor and
Thebes.
Dion ysos ' association with Thebes comes through bis maternal relations.
Cadmus, the legendary founder of the city. was the son of Agenor , king of Tyre and
brother of Europa. Agenor demanded that his sons find Europa. whom Zeus ,
disguised as 3 bull . had carried away . Cadmus consul ted the Delphic Oracle and was
told to follow a cow and found a new city wherever the cow laid down in weariness.
Cadm us obeyed and founded Cadmeia which was later called Thebes . In his attem pt to
get water to sacrifi ce the cow. he killed the serpent guard ing the nearb y spring of
Ares and a vo ice prophesied tha t before the end of his life Cadm us woul d become a
serpent. Athena told Cadmus to sow the serpent's teeth from which sprung , the
Spanoi (Sown Men) , the presumed initial inhabitants of Thebes. Euripides retells this
story in The Ph«nidtJn Womtn written in 41G-409 BC. (638-67S) and ends the
Baccnae with Dion ysos ' pronouncement that Cadmus and his wife will become
serpents (1330-1 331). 17 According to the myth . Cadmus appeased Arcs for the
death of the serpent by becoming his slave . Cadmus married Harmonia. daugh ter of
Ares and Aphrodite. They bad a son and four daughters: Polydorus , father of
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