The incredible and entangled story of two interesting objects: follow its episodes of betrayal and other nonsensical behaviour while you get acquainted with the origin of the city of Thebes, its unwise rulers and the scandals and destruction that their actions caused.

All things start in Heaven.

These things happened because Zeus fell in love with a Phoenician princess called Europa and, having
taken the form of a bull, he carried her off and took her across the sea to the island of Crete.
 
 
 

Emigrant becomes Queen.

Nobody has ever reported whether Europa ever complained about her fate. In Crete Zeus made love
to her and she bore sons who became famous both in this world and in the next. Afterwards she
married Asterius , who must have been a very gentle man as nothing is told about him except that he
brought up her children with Zeus and reigned in Crete until Minos , son of Europa and Zeus,
succeeded him in the throne.
 

Family distress leads to foundation of famous city.

But Europa's father, King Agenor , was disturbed by her disappearance and told his sons to leave the
country and look for her and never return until they had found her. And that is how Cadmus, one of her
brothers, became an emigrant and came to Thrace, while the other brothers, after looking in vain for
Europa, settled in different countries.

After having expended some time in fruitless search Cadmus travelled to Delphi to inquire about
Europa, but the oracle told him not to trouble about her and to let himself be guided by a cow, and to
found a city wherever the animal should fall down for weariness. And after journeying through several
landscapes the cow decided to rest in the place where the city of Thebes was to be built.
 

Boeotia in mainland Greece.

Some say, however, that Cadmus was not just a loving emigrant striving to reunite with his sister, but
that he led a Phoenician army that invaded Boeotia. Either emigrant or conqueror Cadmus was a clever
man: he managed to combine consonants with vowels, thus teaching the secrets of a correct speech.
He was bold too, because when he needed water in order to sacrifice the gentle cow who had shown
him the way, seeing that the spring was guarded by a Dragon, he did not hesitate in destroying the
beast, which used to kill all those who came to the spring for water.
 
 
 

 

More wonderful things: teeth turned into armed men.
 

Having killed the Dragon, Cadmus received advice from Athena, who told him to sow the Dragon's
teeth. When the teeth were sown there rose from the ground armed men, called SPARTI, who cared
for nothing except killing each other. Some say that they did this because Cadmus flung stones at them
and they supposed that they were being pelted by each other. Not all of the SPARTI died, at least five
survived, and Cadmus had to serve Ares for a whole year for having killed his darling Dragon, who,
some say, was this god's offspring. That was not little time because the year was then equivalent to
eight years of our reckoning.

Cadmus did not sow all the Dragon's teeth, for we know that King Aeetes of Colchis received half of
the teeth from Athena, since some time after he ordered the Argonaut Jason to yoke two wild bulls and
to sow the teeth as Cadmus had done in Thebes. And when Jason had sown the teeth there rose
armed men from the ground, and he pelted them unseen with stones so that they fought each other and
then, drawing near, he slew them.
 
 

Kingdom and wife.

After serving Ares during that eternal year, Athena granted Cadmus the kingdom and Zeus gave him to
wife Harmonia , daughter of the same Ares and Aphrodite. Some say however, that Harmonia 1 was
instead the daughter of Zeus and Electra . But others argue that Electra  was only her nurse.

This Electra 3 is the one of the PLEIADES who does not appear because of the death of Dardanus ,
her son, and the loss of Troy. But sometimes it is said that the one Pleiad who does not appear is
Merope , who married a mortal man (Sisyphus), and that she repents of it, and from shame at the
deed she alone of the sisters hides herself

The kingdom was Cadmea, which was to become Thebes. And so came to an end the rule of Ogygus,
king of the Ectenes, who was the first to occupy the land of Thebes, and from whom is derived the
epithet Ogygian, often applied to Thebes.
 

The Wedding present: a Robe and a Necklace made of gold.

Harmonia  received from Cadmus as wedding present a Robe and a Necklace. The only certain
about the origin of these items is that they came from the gods. It is said that Hephaestus wrought the
Necklace and that he himself gave it to Cadmus. Others say that it came from Europa (perhaps they
knew of each other after all) and that Europa had received it from Zeus. Still others say that Athena
provided the renowned Necklace and a Robe and even a flute. But there are even those who say that
the golden Necklace was given by Aphrodite as a present to Harmonia .

The golden Necklace has been described thoroughly, but briefly stated it represented an amphisbaina,
which is a two headed serpent, with open mouths as if hissing. The two mouths on each side enclosed
with their jaws a golden eagle upright, its wings covered with yellow jasper and moonstone. And the
whole clever work was set with sparkling gems in masterly refinement.
 

Cadmus and Harmonia  pass away but the Robe and the Necklace remain.

Cadmus and Harmonia  ended their days in an amazing way: they turned into serpents and were sent
by Zeus to dwell among the happy immortals either in the Elysian Fields or in the Islands of the Blest.
 

Incessant political conflicts in Thebes.

After Cadmus came King Pentheus , an usurper who profoundly disliked the god of the vine Dionysus,
who made the Theban women to abandon their houses and rave in Bacchic frenzy. Pentheus  tried
to stop what he believed to be civil disorder, but the women, as some say, torn him limb from limb.
After his death, Polydorus , son of Cadmus, became king. When he died the care of Labdacus 1, the
little child of the dead king, along with the government of Thebes was entrusted to Nycteus . But a
daughter of Nycteus . Antiope , married a man, Epopeus , whom Nycteus  disliked. So, when
Antiope  fled to Sicyon, where Epopeus  ruled, a war broke up between Thebes and Sicyon and
Nycteus  died, probably in battle, but some say he killed himself.

Labdacus , son of Polydorus , then became king, and during his reign he was at war with Athens for
a matter of boundaries. Some say he had the same ideas about civil disorder as Pentheus 1 and that,
for this reason, he was also killed by the MAENADS.

Lycus , the brother of Nycteus  usurped the government in Thebes and reigned for 20 years. He and
his brother had fled from Euboea because they had killed Phlegyas , and they took up their abode at
Hyria, and thence having come to Thebes, they were enrolled as citizens through their friendship with
Pentheus . When Nycteus  died, he asked him to punish Epopeus  and Antiope  (the daughter of
Nycteus ). So Lycus  marched with an army against Sicyon, subdued it, slew Epopeus , and led
Antiope  away captive. She gave birth to twins: Amphion  and Zethus. But Lycus  and Dirce, his
wife, imprisoned her and treated her spitefully. But one day she escaped and reunited with her sons,
who coming to Thebes slew both Lycus  and Dirce.

Having expelled Laius , son of Labdacus , Amphion  and Zethus succeeded to the sovereignty of
Thebes and fortified the city, the stones following Amphion's lyre in a miraculous way. Thebes was
named after Zethus' wife Thebe, who, some say, was also his aunt. The government of Amphion
ended in tragedy because of what happened with his offspring, the NIOBIDS, who were so severely
punished by Apollo and Artemis. He himself is still being punished in the Underworld, for being among
those who made a mockery of Leto and her children.
 
 

Scandals in the Royal family.

Laius  became king of Thebes after the death of Amphion . During the reign of Amphion , and
while Laius  was still a young man, he resided in Peloponnesus, being hospitably received by Pelops
1; and while he was there he conceived a passion for Chrysippus , an illegitimate son of Pelops , and
carried him off. This episode, which at that time was a huge scandal, ended with the dead of
Chrysippus , and Hippodamia , wife of Pelops , was blamed for that death. Now, an oracle told
Laius  not to beget a son, for he would kill his father. But, though he feared the oracle, he did not
 follow it, because by his wife Jocasta he had a son: Oedipus.

Oedipus was exposed by his parents when he was born (because they feared the oracle), and having
been found was adopted by Periboea , Queen of Corinth. Later, fulfilling the oracle, Oedipus
accidentally killed his father, and having found the solution to the riddle of the Sphinx, he became king
of Thebes. Oedipus married unknowingly Queen Jocasta, his own mother, but when the truth came out
he was driven into exile after he had put out his eyes and cursed his sons who saw him cast out of the
city without lifting a hand to help him. Jocasta hanged herself and Oedipus died in exile.

Inheritance deal fails.

The accursed twin sons of Oedipus, Polynices and Eteocles 1, made a deal with each other concerning
the kingdom of Thebes and resolved that each should rule alternately for a year at a time. Some say
that Eteocles  was the first to rule, and would not hand over the kingdom. So being banished from
Thebes Polynices came to Argos.
 
 

The Robe and Necklace of Harmonia  leave Thebes.

The exile Polynices found appropriate, as he left Argos, to take with him at least a part of the state's
treasure, as it could be used to seize power again. And that is how the Robe and Necklace of
Harmonia  left Thebes.

War made possible by using the Necklace as a bribe.

When Polynices came to Argos he married a daughter of Adrastus . At that time the kingdom of
Argos was divided in three kingdoms and the kings were Adrastus , Amphiaraus and Iphis .
Adrastus  promised his new son in law Polynices that he would restore him to his native land, and so
he started preparing a war against Thebes .
As they were consulting their allies they discovered that Amphiaraus refused to join the coalition.
This was so because Amphiaraus, being a seer, knew that all who joined Adrastus  against Thebes would perish.
But Iphis  knew how to convince Amphiaraus to go to war. So Polynices went to see him and Iphis
told him that Amphiaraus could be convinced if Eriphyle (Amphiaraus' wife) got the Necklace of
Harmonia . Amphiaraus had forbidden Eriphyle to accept gifts from Polynices, but Polynices gave her
the Necklace and begged her to persuade Amphiaraus to join the coalition against Thebes. In fact it
was up to Eriphyle to decide, because once, when a difference arose between Amphiaraus and
Adrastus , Amphiaraus had sworn to let Eriphyle decide any future dispute he might have with
Adrastus . Accordingly, when war was to be made against Thebes, and the measure was advocated
by Adrastus  and opposed by Amphiaraus, Eriphyle accepted the Necklace and persuaded him to
march with Adrastus .

The brothers divide their inheritance by the sword and destroy each other.
 
 

The SEVEN AGAINST THEBES,

perished, as Amphiaraus knew they would, and now both Polynices and Eteocles 1 were dead (they killed each other in single combat). But Thebes remained untaken and a regent, Creon , seized power after Eteocles . Creon  forbade the burial of the
Argives after the war, which caused a conflict with King Theseus of Athens and further civil disorder in
the city, as a daughter of Oedipus, Antigone , opposed his dictates, and stole the body of Polynices
and secretly buried him against the prohibitions of the regent.
 

War made possible by using the Robe as a bribe.
 

Ten years afterwards the sons of the SEVEN AGAINST THEBES, called the EPIGONI, purposed to
march against Thebes to avenge the death of their fathers, and when they consulted the oracle, the god
predicted victory under the leadership of Alcmaeon , son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. Alcmaeon
joined the expedition, though he was loath to lead the army until he had punished his mother, for
Eriphyle had received the Necklace of Harmonia , from Polynices, thus causing the death of
Amphiaraus. Now Eriphyle persuaded also her sons to go to the war. So, having chosen Alcmaeon
as their leader, the EPIGONI made war on Thebes and they took the city. After the capture of
Thebes, Alcmaeon  learned that his mother Eriphyle had been bribed by the son of Polynices,
Thersander , who gave her the Robe of Harmonia . Having received this second bribe, she had
persuaded her sons to go to war, and when Alcmaeon  learned this he was more enraged than ever,
and killed his mother upon his return after the war.
 

Robe & Necklace given as wedding  present again.

It is said that Alcmaeon 1 killed his mother following an oracle of Apollo, and that he either killed her
alone or in conjunction with his brother Amphilochus . But Alcmaeon  was pursued by the
ERINYES of his mother's murder, and afflicted with madness he left his country. After having been in
Arcadia he came to Psophis, where Phegeus  purified him and gave him his daughter, Arsinoe , who
received from Alcmaeon , as a wedding present, the Robe and the Necklace.
 
 

New purification and new marriage.

However, because of his crime, the ground became barren in Psophis and an oracle told him to depart
to Achelous and to stand another trial on the river bank. So he went to the springs of Achelous, and
was purified by him, and received Achelous' daughter, Callirrhoe , to wife. Alcmaeon  settled in the
region about that river and colonised it.
 

Robe & Necklace coveted again, cause the death of Alcmaeon .

But after some time, Callirrhoe  told Alcmaeon  that she would not live with him if she did not get the
Robe and Necklace of Harmonia , which now were owned by Arsinoe , his first wife. Alcmaeon
repaired to Psophis and told Phegeus  that it had been predicted that he should be rid of his madness
when he had brought the Robe and Necklace to Delphi and dedicated them. Phegeus  believed him
and gave them to him, but a servant disclosed that Alcmaeon  was taking the Robe and Necklace to
Callirrhoe . So the sons of Phegeus , Pronous  and Agenor , following their father's orders, waited
 for him in an ambush and killed him.

But their sister, and Alcmaeon 's first wife, Arsinoe  found this solution too drastic, and her brothers,
not being happy with her reproaches, put her into a chest, carried her to Tegea and gave her as a slave
to Agapenor, at the same time falsely accusing her of Alcmaeon 's murder.
 

Robe & Necklace dedicated at Delphi. (I)

When Callirrhoe  learned that she was a widow she requested of Zeus that the sons she had by
Alcmaeon  might be full-grown in order to avenge their father's murder. And Zeus, who at the time
courted her, granted her wish.

So when Pronous  and Agenor , carrying their sister in a chest, along with the Robe & Necklace
(which they intended to dedicate at Delphi) arrived at the house of Agapenor they met the suddenly
grown-up children of Alcmaeon  and Callirrhoe , Amphoterus  and Acarnan , who happened to
arrive at the same time. The sons of Alcmaeon  killed on the spot their father's murderers, and
afterwards going to Psophis and entering the palace they slew both Phegeus  and his wife.

At their return Amphoterus  and Acarnan  told their mother what had happened and they went to
 Delphi and dedicated the Robe and Necklace. After Delphi they went to Epirus, and having collected
settlers, they colonised Acarnania.
 

Robe & Necklace dedicated at Delphi. (II)
 

But it is also said that the Robe & Necklace were dedicated at Delphi by the sons of Phegeus  and
that they were kings at the time of the Trojan War but they did not participate in that war. It is said that the reason why they took no part in the expedition was that they were in bad terms with the other
Argive leaders, who often were related by blood to Alcmaeon , and had joined him in the war of the
EPIGONI against Thebes.
 
 

Epilogue.

About 700 or 800 years after these last events, during one of the wars that are known in history under
the name of Sacred Wars, the tyrant Phayllus of Phocis fell in love with the wife of an Oetan leader,
and in order to get her he promised her much gold and silver, and told her to ask whatever else she
wished. This woman, then, asked for the Necklace of Harmonia , that having been dedicated, either
by the sons of Phegeus  or by the sons of Alcmaeon , was now hanging at Delphi in the sanctuary of
Forethought Athena. So when Phayllus seized Delphi he took a great booty of the offerings that had
been made over the years, and among them the Necklace, which he gave to this woman. But after
some time her youngest son went mad and set fire to the house. His mother died in the course of the
conflagration and most of the family's possessions were lost. After this incident there has been no trace
of the Necklace or the Robe.