The Dragon of Boeotia

The Dragon of Boeotia was once an ambitious and cruel prince named Abas (not Abas, son of Lynceus of the royal family of Argos), crown prince of Eleusis. When Persephone was “abducted” by Hades, Lord of the Underworld, Demeter, Goddess of Fertility searched the earth for her. During her search, one of the few times was when she stopped on her travels to quench her thirst by drinking from a spring. Abas was laughing at the sound of her gulping the fresh water. Embarrassed, and angry at Abas for being so rude, Demeter threw her drink the prince, turning him into a helpless lizard.
As a lizard, Abas wander around Greece through caves and deep forest. He came across sanctuary of the Three Fates. These Goddesses of Destiny foresaw the Greece becoming a great society. To get the prophecy on track, they decide to have Phoenician (Canaanites) educating the Greeks with the alphabet, shipbuilding and other thing. To do this, Three Fates dictated that Zeus will take Europa to Crete creating for her brothers the search for Europa. The Goddesses saw Abas came up with a great idea. The Three Fates recommended him to be the destruction of mankind to get his revenge on Demeter; he was turned into the fierce king of dragons by feasting on the shoulder bone of the buried Uranus. This flesh fed and nourished Abas who became the king of all dragons.
When Zeus kidnapped Europa; Cadmus, prince of Phoenicia, was sent out by his father to find her, and commanded not to return without her. Unsuccessful in his search, he came to Samothrace, the island sacred to the "Great Gods” Cadmus received instructions from the oracle to follow a cow that he would find near the oracle; where the cow lay down to rest, he should found a city. He followed the cow to the future site of Thebes. There he instructed his men to bring water so that he could offer a sacrifice to Athena. Abas, the Dragon of the Boeotia guard the area and kill Cadmus’s men. He received help from Prometheus and the Smith God Hephaestus, on the quest to slay this dragon. The weak and peaceful prince used the reflection from the shield of Abas for a surprise attack and the dragon was so taken aback that he gasped – which means he swallowed his own firing breath. Abas then spoke to him, prophesying that Cadmus himself would eventually become a serpent. That's the end of the dragon.
By the instructions of Athena, the teeth of the dragon were planted by Cadmus from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called the Spartoí. By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, became the founders of the noblest families of that city. With his soldiers, Cadmus founded Thebes (not the Egyptian Thebes). Before Cadmus died by the attack of these dragon-men, he realized his real mission of life: to capture sounds and make a written language, the Cadmean alphabet.

Comments

  1. Ray's CowboyMarch 10, 2012 at 11:01 AM

    Loved it . thanks for this story. CAn I have those soilders in the last picture?? I can help them train in something fun.

    WOOF
    Ray

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History of Homosexual: Ancient Greece

Image
How we from being happily accept in society to being hate and have to fight for equality? Let start begin in the ancient world work our way to the source of the problem. The Ancient Greece "The noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail." - Plutarch The ancient Greeks are widely known for their gay exploits. Many people are aware of Greek homosexual love poetry, the same-sex relations of Greek gods and heroes, and the gay relationship between Alexander the Great and Hephaestion. It is important in the beginning to define our vocabulary. The term ’homosexuality’ as it is used and understood today is not mainly applicable to Greek of ancient times for three reasons: First of all, most Greeks were bisexual. Second, homosexuality and 'gay' as sexual identities are recent developments. They were emerged only in the 2Oth Century (our idea of what i
Please read more »

Seven Wonders of the World: Colossus of Rhodes

Image
Travelers to the New York City harbor see a marvelous sight. Standing on a small island in the harbor is an immense statue of a robed woman, holding a book and lifting a torch to the sky. It is sometimes referred to as the "Modern Colossus," but more often called the Statue of Liberty. This awe-inspiring statue was a gift from France to America and is easily recognized by people around the world. What many visitors to this shrine to freedom don't know is that the statue, the "Modern Colossus," is the echo of another statue, the original colossus, which stood over two thousand years ago at the entrance to another busy harbor on the Island of Rhodes. In the late 4th century BC, Rhodes, allied with Ptolemy I of Egypt, prevented a massive invasion staged by their common enemy, Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius. In 304 BC a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Antigonus's army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equi
Please read more »

Daily life of Roman life: Slavery

Image
Slavery had a long history in the ancient world and was practiced in Ancient Egypt and Greece, as well as Rome. Most slaves during the Roman Empire were foreigners and, unlike in modern times, Roman slavery was not based on race. Slaves were considered property under Roman law and had no legal personhood. Unlike Roman citizens, they could be subjected to corporal punishment, sexual exploitation (prostitutes were often slaves), torture, and summary execution. The testimony of a slave could not be accepted in a court of law unless the slave was tortured—a practice based on the belief that slaves in a position to be privy to their masters' affairs would be too virtuously loyal to reveal damaging evidence unless coerced (yeah right). Over time, however, slaves gained increased legal protection, including the right to file complaints against their masters. How did people become Roman Slaves? People became slaves among the Romans by the following ways: Prisoners of war Sailors
Please read more »