The Final Pages

I chose to look deeper into the last pages of The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony. I was feeling very indecisive with what page to pick, and then it occurred to me that perhaps it is worth looking into what Calasso would like to leave with us. And it turns out Calasso leaves us with a circle. Though there is much more to look into in the passage, Calasso starts and ends the book with the bull Zeus carrying off Europa over the sea. I am left with the impression that Calasso's problem of "how did it all begin?" is a problem as there is no beginning or end to mythology, but an ever present ring of truths.

The last section in the book is about Cadmus and Harmony, old snakes together leaving the city of Thebes. After reading this section (390-391), to be honest, I had more questions than answers. I learned that Thebes was destroyed by an earthquake caused by Dionysus, and that Cadmus had brought with him the alphabet when he came to Greece in search of his sister Europa. Although I previously knew none of this, I needed to know more. So I started doing my own research. I learned that Cadmus built the city of Thebes, after the oracle at Delphi told him to quit his search for his sister, and follow a special cow and build a city where the cow lay down. Cadmus was of direct godly lineage and a Phoenician. He killed a sacred water dragon when he first arrived where he would build Thebes, which plagued his life with misfortune for many years.

In spite of the fact that all of the gods were present and in support at the marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, their lives were incredibly troubled by the gods. Looking at the genealogy of Cadmus, I could not help but notice how much Zeus is in and out of the family's lives! His name is dotted all over the family tree, bringing with it rape and tragedy. And Dionysus is Cadmus' grandson! So the divine grandson of a mortal destroyed the city which his grandfather built from nothing. And there's more snakes. Dionysus was conceived from Zeus and Semele as Zeus in the form of an intoxicating snake, bringing into the world with him the god's gift of wine.

Inachus Melia Zeus Io Phoroneus Epaphus Memphis Libya Poseidon Belus Achiroe Agenor Telephassa Danaus Pieria Aegyptus Cadmus Cilix Europa Phoenix Mantineus Hypermnestra Lynceus Harmonia Zeus Polydorus Sparta Lacedaemon Ocalea Abas Agave Sarpedon Rhadamanthus Autonoë Eurydice Acrisius Ino Minos Zeus Danaë Semele Zeus Perseus Dionysus

It seems unsurprising to me that humans would eventually turn to indifference towards the gods after their behavior. I feel like if I were Cadmus, I would be pretty unhappy with the gods, raping my sister and my daughter; and that's only what I found out with some light research.

Calasso ends the book by telling us the tale of the final misfortune of Cadmus, but also reminding us that he made a permanent mark on Greece with his introduction of the alphabet. "No one could erase those small letters, those fly's feet that Cadmus the Phoenician had scattered across Greece, where the winds had brought him in his quest for Europa carried off by a bull that rose from the sea".