Cadmean victory
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A Cadmean victory (Greek: Kadmeia nike) is a reference to a victory involving one's own ruin,[1] from Cadmus (Greek: Kadmos), the legendary founder of Thebes in Boeotia and the mythic bringer of the alphabet to Greece.[2] On seeking to establish the city, Cadmus required water from a spring guarded by a monster snake. He sent his companions to slay the snake, but they all perished. Although Cadmus eventually proved victorious, the victory was at the cost of lives of those who were to benefit from the new settlement.[3]
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[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Liddell, Henry George (Compiler), Scott, Robert (Compiler), Jones, Henry Stuart (Editor), McKenzie, Roderick. A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Morford, Mark P. O. & Lenardon, Robert J., Classical Mythology, 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Howatson, M.C. (Ed.) The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
