Echion
One of the Spartoi who survived to help found Thebes, and father of the doomed seer Pentheus.
The Legend of Echion
Echion was one of the five Spartoi — the "sown men" who sprang from the dragon's teeth that Cadmus sowed in the ground at Thebes. Of the many Spartoi who arose from the earth fully armed, only five survived the ensuing battle among themselves: Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus. These five became the founding noble families of Thebes. Echion, whose name means "viper" or "of the serpent," became the most prominent of the five: Cadmus gave him his daughter Agave in marriage, and from this union was born Pentheus, who became king of Thebes only to be torn apart by his own mother and the Maenads in Euripides' Bacchae when he refused to honor Dionysus. Echion thus represents the autochthonous, earth-born nobility of Thebes — its indigenous aristocracy as opposed to its Phoenician founder.
Parents
Earth (born from dragon's teeth)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Echion's name means "viper" — he was literally born from a serpent's teeth sown in the earth, making him among the most autochthonous heroes in all Greek myth.
Explore Further
Cadmus
🗡 heroFounder of Thebes
Cadmus was the Phoenician prince who founded Thebes, sowed dragon's teeth, and brought the alphabet from Phoenicia to Greece.
Oebalus
🗡 heroLaconian Kingship, Foundation
Early king of Sparta whose descendants included Castor, Pollux, and Helen.
Bucolion
🗡 heroHerding, nobility
Eldest but illegitimate son of the Trojan king Laomedon who was raised among herdsmen
Cadmus and the Spartoi
🗡 herofoundation, writing
The Phoenician prince who founded Thebes and introduced the Greek alphabet, whose sowing of dragon teeth produced the first Theban warriors.
Alector
🗡 heroKingship, Argos
Argive nobleman and father of several notable figures in the Trojan War tradition
Amphitryon
🗡 heroMortal father of Heracles
Amphitryon was the mortal husband of Alcmene whose identity Zeus stole for one night — making Amphitryon the cuckolded but loving father of Heracles.
Aeneas
🗡 heroTrojan survivor who founded Rome
Aeneas was a Trojan prince, son of Aphrodite, who survived Troy's fall and became the ancestor of Rome.
Erichthonius
🗡 heroAthens, earth-born
Earth-born king of Athens raised by Athena in secret.
Hellen
🗡 heroancestry
Son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, ancestor of all Greek peoples, whose name gave the Greeks their own name for themselves: Hellenes.
Amythaon
🗡 heroProphecy, lineage
Thessalian prince and father of the great seer Melampus, founder of a celebrated prophetic dynasty
Lelex
🗡 heroAutochthony, Civilization, Laconia
Earth-born first king of Lacedaemon and ancestor of the pre-Spartan Leleges people.
Cadmus
🗡 heroFounder of Thebes who brought the alphabet to Greece
The Phoenician prince who founded Thebes, sowed dragon's teeth to raise an army, and gave Greece the gift of writing.