A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology....

Although I have said so much about Dionusus, Sesostris, and other great travellers, I cannot quit the subject till I have taken notice of Cadmus: for his expeditions, though not so extensive as some, which I have been mentioning, are yet esteemed of great consequence in the histories of antient nations. The time of his arrival in Greece is looked up to as a fixed æra: and many circumstances in chronology are thereby determined. He is commonly reputed to have been a Phenician by birth; the son of Agenor, who was the king of that country. He was sent by his father's order in quest of his sister Europa; and after wandering about a long time to little purpose, he at last settled in Greece. In this country were many traditions concerning him; especially in Attica, and Bœotia. The particular spot, where he is supposed to have taken up his residence, was in the latter province at Tanagra upon the river Ismenus. He afterwards built Thebes: and wherever he came, he introduced the religion of his country. This consisted in the worship of [1060]Dionusus; and in the rites, which by the later Greeks were termed the Dionusiaca. They seem to have been much the same as the Cabyritic mysteries, which he is said to have established in Samothracia. He fought with a mighty dragon; whose teeth he afterwards sowed, and produced an army of men. To him Greece is supposed to have been indebted for the first introduction of [1061]letters; which are said to have been the letters of his country Phenicia, and in number sixteen.

He married Harmonia, the daughter of Mars and Venus: and his nuptials were graced with the presence of all the Gods, and Goddesses; each of whom conferred some gift upon the bride. He had several children; among whom was a daughter Semele, esteemed the mother of Bacchus. After having experienced great vicissitudes in life, he is said to have retired with his wife Harmonia to the coast of Illyria, where they were both changed to serpents. He was succeeded at Thebes by his son Polydorus, the father of Labdacus, the father of Laius. This last was the husband of Jocasta, by whom he had Œdipus.

Bochart with wonderful ingenuity, and equal learning, tries to solve the ænigmas, under which this history is represented. He supposes Cadmus to have been a fugitive Canaanite, who fled from the face of Joshua: and that he was called Cadmus from being a Cadmonite, which is a family mentioned by Moses. In like manner he imagines, that Harmonia had her name from mount Hermon, which was probably in the district of the Cadmonites. The story of the dragon he deduces from the Hevæi, or Hivites; the same people as the Cadmonites. He proceeds afterwards with great address to explain the rest of the fable, concerning the teeth of the dragon, which were sown; and the armed men, which from thence arose: and what he says is in many particulars attended with a great shew of probability. Yet after all his ingenious conjectures, I am obliged to dissent from him in some points; and particularly in one, which is of the greatest moment. I cannot be induced to think, that Cadmus was, as Bochart represents him, a Phenician. Indeed I am persuaded, that no such person existed. If Cadmus brought letters from Phenicia, how came he to bring but sixteen; when the people, from whom he imported them, had undoubtedly more, as we may infer from their neighbours? And if they were the current letters of Greece, as Herodotus intimates; how came it to pass, that the tablet of Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, the third in descent from Cadmus, could not be understood, as we are assured by [1062]Plutarch?

He says, that in the reign of Agesilaus of Sparta, a written tablet was found in the tomb of Alcmena, to whom it was inscribed: that the characters were obsolete, and unintelligible; on which account they sent it to Conuphis of Memphis in Egypt, to be decyphered. If these characters were Phenician, why were they sent to a priest of a different country for interpretation? and why is their date and antiquity defined by the reign of a king in Egypt? [1063]Τους τυπους ειναι της επι Πρωτει βασιλευοντι γραμματικης. The form of the letters was the same as was in use when Proteus reigned in that country. Herodotus, indeed, to prove that the Cadmians brought letters into Greece, assures us, that he saw specimens of their writing at Thebes, in the temple of Apollo [1064]Ismenius: that there was a tripod as antient as the reign of Laius, the son of Labdacus; with an inscription, which imported, that it had been there dedicated by Amphitryon upon his victory over the Teleboæ. I make no doubt, but that Herodotus saw tripods with antient inscriptions: and there might be one with the name of Amphitryon: but how could he be sure that it was the writing of that person, and of those times? We know what a pleasure there is in enhancing the antiquity of things; and how often inscriptions are forged for that purpose. Is it credible that the characters of Amphitryon should be so easy to be apprehended, when those of his wife Alcmena could not be understood? and which of the two are we in this case to believe, Herodotus or Plutarch?

I do not mean that I give any credence to the story of Alcmena and her tablet: nor do I believe that there was a tripod with characters as antient as Amphitryon. I only argue from the principles of the Greeks to prove their inconsistency. The Pheneatæ in Arcadia shewed to Pausanias an inscription upon the basis of a brazen statue, which was dedicated to [1065]Poseidon Hippius. It was said to have been written by Ulysses, and contained a treaty made between him and some shepherds. But Pausanias acknowledges that it was an imposition; for neither statues of brass, nor statues of any sort, were in use at the time alluded to.

It is said of Cadmus, that he introduced the rites of [1066]Bacchus into Greece. But how is this possible, if Bacchus was his descendant, the son of his daughter Semele? To remedy this, the latter mythologists suppose, that there was a prior Bacchus, who was worshipped by Cadmus. This is their usual recourse, when they are hard pressed with inconsistencies. They then create other personages, to help them out of their difficulties. They form, with great facility, a new Semiramis, or Ninus; another Belus, Perseus, Minos, Hermes, Phoroneus, Apis, though to little purpose: for the mistake being fundamental, the inconveniencies cannot be remedied by such substitutes. We are told that Cadmus was a Phenician: but Diodorus Siculus speaks of him as assuredly of Egypt; and mentions moreover, that he was a native of the Thebaïs: [1067]Καδμον εκ Θηβων οντα των Αιγυπτιων. Pherecydes Syrus also, from whom most of the mythology of Greece was borrowed, makes Cadmus an [1068]Egyptian, the son of Agenor and Argiope, who was the daughter of Nilus. By others he is said to have been the son of Antiope, the daughter of Belus: consequently he must originally have been of Babylonish extraction. His father Agenor, from whom he is supposed to have been instructed in the sciences, is represented by Nonnus as residing at Thebes.

We learn the same from the Scholiast upon Lycophron, who styles the king Ogugus. [1070]Και ὁ Ωγυγος Θηβων Αιγυπτιων ην Βασιλευς, ὁθεν ὁ Καδμος ὑπαρχων, ελθων εν Ἑλλαδι τας Ἑπταπυλους εκτισε. Moreover Ogugus was king of Thebes in Egypt: of which country was Cadmus, who came into Greece, and built the city styled Heptapulæ. It was from the same part of the world, that the mysteries were imported, in which Cadmus is represented as so knowing: and here it was, that he was taught hieroglyphics, and the other characters, which are attributed to him. For he is said to have been expert [1071]Χειρος οπισθοποροιο χαραγματα λοξα χαρασσων. These arts he carried first to the coast of Sidon, and Syria; and from thence he is supposed to have brought them to Greece: for, before he came to Hellas, he is said to have reigned in conjunction with Phœnix, both at Sidon and Tyre. [1072]Φοινιξ και Καδμος, απο Θηβων των Αιγυπτιων εξελθοντες εις την Συριαν Τυρου και Σιδωνος εβασιλευσαν. Phœnix and Cadmus came from Thebes in Egypt, and reigned at Tyre and Sidon.

Thus I have taken pains to shew, that Cadmus was not, as has been generally thought, a Phenician. My next endeavour will be to prove that no such person existed. If we consider the whole history of this celebrated hero, we shall find, that it was impossible for one person to have effected what he is supposed to have performed. His expeditions were various and wonderful; and such as in those early times would not have been attempted, nor could ever have been completed. The Helladians say little more, than that he built Thebes, and brought letters into Greece: that he slew a dragon, from the teeth of which being sowed in the ground there arose an army of earthborn men. The writers of other countries afford us a more extensive account: among the principal of which are to be esteemed Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, and Pausanias. Some of them had their [1073]doubts about the reality of this adventurer: and from the history which they have transmitted, we may safely infer, that no such person existed, as has been described under the character of Cadmus.

He is said to have sailed first to [1074]Phenicia and Cyprus; and afterwards to [1075]Rhodes. Here he instructed the people in the religion which he professed; and founded a temple at Lindus, where he appointed an order of priests. He did the same [1076]at Thera, and afterwards was at [1077]Thasus: and proceeding in his travels partook of the Cabiritic mysteries in [1078]Samothracia. He visited [1079]Ionia, and all the coast upwards to the Hellespont and Propontis. He was at Lesbos, which he named [1080]Issa: where some of his posterity were to be found long after. He was also at Anaphe, one of the Sporades; which island was denominated Membliaros from one of his [1081]followers. Mention is made of his being upon the [1082]Hellespont, and in Thrace. Here he resided, and found out a mine of [1083]gold, having before found one of copper in [1084]Cyprus. Hence he is said to have procured great wealth. [1085]Ὁδε Καδμου πλουτος περι Θρακην, και το Παγγαιον ορος. We hear of him afterwards in [1086]Eubœa; where there are to be found innumerable traces of him, and his followers. He was likewise at [1087]Sparta, as we may infer from the Heroüm erected to him by Eurotas, and his brethren, the sons of Huræus. He must have resided a great while in [1088]Attica; for there were many edifices about Athens attributed to him. He settled at Tanagra in Bœotia; where he lost all his companions, who were slain by a dragon. He afterwards built Thebes. Here he was king; and is said to have reigned sixty-two [1089]years.

But as if his wanderings were never to be terminated, he leaves his newly founded city, and goes to Illyria. Here we find him again in regal state. [1090]Βασιλευει Καδμος των Ιλλυριων. He reigns over the country which receives its name from his son. [1091]Ιλλυρια—απο Ιλλυριου του Καδμονος παιδος. Now whoever is truly acquainted with antiquity, must know, that, in the times here spoken of, little correspondence was maintained between nation and nation. Depredations were very frequent; and every little maritime power was in a state of [1092]piracy: so that navigation was attended with great peril. It is not therefore to be believed, that a person should so often rove upon the seas amid such variety of nations, and reside among them at his pleasure: much less that he should build temples, found cities, and introduce his religion, wherever he listed; and this too in such transient visits. Besides, according to the Egyptian accounts, the chief of his adventures were in Libya. He married Harmonia at the lake [1093]Tritonis; and is said to have founded in that part of the world no less. than an hundred cities:

Carthage itself was of old called [1096]Cadmeia: so that he may be ranked among the founders of that city. Καρχηδων, Μητροπολις Λιβυης—εκαλειτο δε Καινη πολις, και Καδμεια. He is mentioned by Moses Chorenensis to have settled in [1097]Armenia, where there was a regio Cadmeia not far from Colchis. He reigned here; and is said to have been of the giant race, and to have come from [1098]Babylonia. And as the city Carthage in Libya was called Cadmeia, so in this region Cadmeia, there was a city Carthage: [1099]Καρχηδων πολις Αρμενιας.

Such are the expeditions of Cadmus. But is it credible that any person could have penetrated into the various regions, whither he is supposed to have gone? to have founded colonies in Phenicia, Cyprus, Rhodes, Thera, Thasus, Anaphe, Samothracia? to have twice visited the Hellespont? to have worked the mines in the Pangean mountains, and in other places? to have made settlements in Eubœa, Attica, Bœotia, and Illyria? and, above all, to have had such territories in Afric? He is represented as heir to the kingdom of Egypt: this he quitted, and obtained a kingdom in Phenicia. He leaves this too; and after much wandering arrives in Greece; where he founds several cities, and reigns sixty-two years. After this, hard to conceive! he is made king in Illyria. He must also have reigned in Afric: and his dominions seem to have been considerable, as he founded an hundred cities. He is represented as a king in Armenia; and had there too no small territory. Sure kingdoms in those times must have been very cheap, if they were so easily attainable. But the whole is certainly a mistake; at least in respect to [1100]Cadmus. No person could possibly have effected what is attributed to him. They were not the achievements of one person, nor of one age. And place Cadmus at any given æra, and arrange his history, as may appear most plausible; yet there will arise numberless inconsistencies from the connexions he must have in respect to time, place, and people; such as no art nor disposition can remedy.

It may be asked, if there were no such man as Cadmus, what did the antients allude to under this character? and what is the true purport of these histories? The travels of Cadmus, like the expeditions of Perseus, Sesostris, and Osiris, relate to colonies, which at different times went abroad, and were distinguished by this title. But what was the work of many, and performed at various seasons, has been attributed to one person. Cadmus was one of the names of Osiris, the chief Deity of Egypt. Both Europa, and Harmonia are of the like nature. They were titles of the Deity: but assumed by colonies, who went out, and settled under these denominations. The native Egyptians seldom left their country, but by force. This necessity however did occur: for Egypt at times underwent great [1101]revolutions. It was likewise in some parts inhabited by people of a different cast; particularly by the sons of Chus. These were obliged to retire: in consequence of which they spread themselves over various parts of the earth. All, who embarked under the same name, or title, were in aftertimes supposed to have been under the same leader: and to him was attributed the honour of every thing performed. And as colonies of the same denomination went to parts of the world widely distant; their ideal chieftain, whether Cadmus, or Bacchus, or Hercules, was supposed to have traversed the same ground: and the achievements of different ages were conferred upon a fancied hero of a day. This has been the cause of great inconsistency throughout the mythology of the antients.

To this they added largely, by being so lavish of titles, out of reverence to their gods. Wherever they came they built temples to them, and cities, under various denominations; all which were taken from some supposed attribute. These titles and attributes, though they belonged originally to one God, the Sun; yet being [1102]manifold, and misapplied, gave rise to a multitude of Deities, whose æra never could be settled, nor their history rendered consistent. Cadmus was one of these. He was the same as Hermes of Egypt, called also Thoth, Athoth, and Canathoth: and was supposed to have been the inventor of letters. He was sometimes styled Cadmilus, another name for Hermes; under which he was worshipped in Samothracia, and Hetruria. Lycophron speaking of the prophet Prulis, in Lesbos, tells us, that he was the son of Cadmus, and of the race of Atlas. And he was the person, who was supposed to give information to the Greeks, when they were upon their expedition towards Troy.

These are the words of Cassandra: upon which the Scholiast observes; Πρυλις, ὑιος του Καδμιλου, και Καδμου, ητοι Ἑρμου: Prulis of Lesbos was the son of Cadmilus, or Cadmus, the same as Hermes. And afterwards he mentions, [1104]ὁ Καδμος, ητοι Ἑρμης, Cadmus, who is the same as Hermes. In another place he takes notice, that the name of Hermes among the Hetrurians was [1105]Cadmilus: and it has been shewn, that Cadmilus, and Cadmus, are the same. To close the whole, we have this further evidence from Phavorinus, that Cadmus was certainly an epithet or title of Hermes. [1106]Καδμος, ου κυριον μονον, αλλα και Ἑρμου επιθετον.

Harmonia, the wife of Cadmus, who has been esteemed a mere woman, seems to have been an emblem of nature, and the fostering nurse of all things. She is from hence styled [1107]παντροφος Ἁρμονια. And when Venus is represented in the allegory as making her a visit, she is said to go [1108]εις δομον Ἁρμονιας παμμητορος, to the house of the all-productive parent. In some of the Orphic verses she is represented not only as a Deity, but as the light of the world.

Harmonia was supposed to have been a personage, from whom all knowledge was derived. On this account the books of science were styled [1110]κυρβιας Ἁρμονιας, the books of Harmonia, as well as the books of Hermes. These were four in number, of which Nonnus gives a curious account, and says, that they contained matter of wonderful antiquity.

From hence we find, that Hermon, or Harmonia, was a Deity, to whom the first writing is ascribed. The same is said of Hermes. [1113]Ἑρμης λεγεται Θεων εν Αιγυπτῳ γραμματα πρωτος ἑυρειν. The invention is also attributed to Taut, or Thoth. [1114]Πρωτος εστι Τααυτος, ὁ των γραμματων την ἑυρεσιν επινοησας,—ὁν Αιγυπτιοι μεν εκαλεσαν Θωυθ, Αλεξανδρεις δε Θωθ, Ἑρμην δε Ἑλληνες μετεφρασαν. Cadmus is said not only to have brought letters into Greece, but to have been the inventor of them: from whence we may fairly conclude, that under the characters of Hermon, Hermes, Taut, Thoth, and Cadmus, one person is alluded to. The Deity called by the Greeks Harmonia, was introduced among the Canaanites very early by people from Egypt: and was worshipped in Sidon, and the adjacent country, by the name of [1115]Baal Hermon.

Europa likewise was a Deity; according to Lucian the same as Astarte, who was worshipped at Hierapolis in Syria. He visited the temple, and had this information from the priests: [1116]ὡς δε μοι τις των Ἱρεων απηγετο, Ευρωπης εστι (το αγαλμα) της Καδμου αδελφεης. He is speaking of the statue in the temple, which the priests told him belonged to a Goddess, the same as Europa, the sister of Cadmus. She was also esteemed the same as Rhea; which Rhea we know was the reputed mother of the gods, and particularly the mother of Jupiter.

I have mentioned, that Cadmus was the same as the Egyptian Thoth; and it is manifest from his being Hermes, and from the invention of letters being attributed to him. Similar to the account given of Cadmus is the history of a personage called by the Greeks Caanthus; this history contains an epitome of the voyage undertaken by Cadmus, though with some small variation. Caanthus is said to have been the son of Oceanus; which in the language of Egypt is the same as the son of Ogus, and Oguges; a different name for the same [1120]person. Ogus, and with the reduplication Ogugus, was the same as Ogyges, in whose time the flood was supposed to have happened. Ogyges is represented both as a king of Thebes in Egypt, and of Thebes in Bœotia: and in his time Cadmus is said to have left the former country, and to have come to the latter, being sent in quest of his sister Europa by his father. Caanthus was sent by his father with a like commission. His sister Melia had been stolen away; and he was ordered to search every country, till he found her. He accordingly traversed many seas, and at last lauded in Greece, and passed into Bœotia. Here he found, that his sister was detained by Apollo in the grove of Ismenus. There was a fountain [1121]of the same name near the grove, which was guarded by a dragon. Caanthus is said to have cast fire into this sacred recess; on which account he was slain by Apollo. His ταφος, or tomb, was in aftertimes shewn by the Thebans. We may perceive, that the main part of this relation agrees with that of Cadmus.

Melie, the sister of Caanthus, is by some spoken of as the mother of [1122]Europa: which shews, that there is a correspondence between the two histories. The person also, who sent these two adventurers, the sister, of whom they went in quest, and the precise place, to which they both came, exhibit a series of circumstances so similar, that we need not doubt, but that it is one and the same history. It is said, that Caanthus threw fire into the sacred [1123]grove: which legend, however misconstrued, relates to the first establishment of fire-worship at Thebes in the grove of Apollo Ismenius. The term Ismenius is compounded of Is-Men, ignis Menis. Meen, Menes, Manes, was one of the most antient titles of the Egyptian God Osiris, the same as Apollo, and Caanthus. What has been mentioned about Cadmus and Caanthus, is repeated under the character of a person named Curnus; who is said to have been sent by his father Inachus in search of his sister [1124]Io. Inachus, Oceanus, Ogugus, and Agenor, are all the same personages under different names; and the histories are all the same.