Famous Men of Greece · Ch. II · Unit 1: The gods and the first heroes
4. Cadmus and the Dragon's Teeth
Goal: Your child can retell how Cadmus founded Thebes, and say what the Greeks believed he taught them.
You'll need
- A map or globe (a free online map works well)
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
What's in the book
Europa is carried off by a white bull to the land later called Europe. Her brother Cadmus follows a cow, kills a dragon, sows its teeth, and with the five warriors left builds Thebes. He teaches his people to read and write.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Phoenicia (the coast of today's Lebanon, at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea), then Thebes in Greece, north of Athens. Trace Europa's ride west over the sea to Europe.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 26–30 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. Watch for two things the voice in the air tells Cadmus to do.
Narration
Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:
- What happened to Europa?
- What did the oracle tell Cadmus?
- How did the dragon's teeth turn into men?
- What did Cadmus teach the people of Thebes?
Talk it over
Ask:
1. Why do you think Cadmus shouted "Building is better than killing"?
2. How was the wall of Thebes built?
3. Why did Cadmus want to teach his people to read?
A true thread in the story
SayThe Greeks said Cadmus brought letters from Phoenicia. That part has some truth in it: the Greek alphabet really did grow out of the letters the Phoenicians used. Our own A-B-C came, much later, from the Greek letters.
If you like, look up the Greek letters alpha and beta together and notice how the word "alphabet" is made.
Remember it
"Follow the cow; and build a city where she lies down."
"Building is better than killing."
Afterwards
Your child copies "Building is better than killing" in their best handwriting and draws Cadmus's city.
Answers to the book's problems
1. He wanted the fighting to stop so they could make something together. 2. Amphion played such sweet music on his lyre that the stones danced into their places. 3. He had been taught as a boy in Phoenicia, and now that there was peace he wanted his people to learn too; the book calls his school the first in Europe where people were taught to read.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.