Cadmus

in Greek mythology, the grandson of Poseidon. He was the son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and sailed for Greece to seek his sister Europa whom Zeus had carried away. In Greece he met with many adventures. The most noted is that of killing a dragon that guarded the fountain of Ares. At the command of Athene he sowed its teeth in the earth; armed men immediately sprang up and surrounded him, as if to kill him. Athene gave him a jewel to throw among them, whereupon they fell to fighting with each other for its possession. In this way all but five perished. With the survivors, called Spartans, or the sowed, he founded the city of Thebes. To improve the inhabitants of this city, he taught them the Phoenician alphabet.

Cadmus means in Semitic speech "the man of the East," while Europa is the damsel who personifies "the West."--Taylor.

The foundation of the fable of Cadmus is this: Cadmus having slain a famous free-booter that infested Boeotia, his banditti set upon him to revenge their captain's death; but Cadmus sent a bribe, for which they quarrelled and slew each other.--Brewer.