Cadmean victory explained

A Cadmean victory (Greek, Modern (1453-);: καδμεία νίκη|translit=kadmeía níkē) is a reference to a victory involving one's own ruin,^[1] from Cadmus (Greek: Καδμός), the legendary founder of Thebes in Boeotia and the mythic bringer of script to Greece.^[2]

Synopsis

On seeking to establish the city, Cadmus required water from a spring guarded by a water-dragon similar to the Lernaean Hydra. He sent his companions to slay the dragon, but they all perished. Although Cadmus eventually proved victorious, the victory cost the lives of those who were to benefit from the new settlement.^[3]

In Classic Literature

In Histories, Herodotus refers to a Cadmean victory: "In the engagement that followed, the Phocaeans were victorious, but their success was only a sort of Cadmeian victory."^[4]

See also

• Pyrrhic victory

Notes and References

1. Liddell, Henry George (Compiler), Scott, Robert (Compiler), Jones, Henry Stuart (Editor), McKenzie, Roderick. A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
2. Howatson, M. C. (Ed.) The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. p. 105.
3. Morford, Mark P. O. & Lenardon, Robert J., Classical Mythology, 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 4.
4. Rawlinson, George (Translator), Herodotus. The Histories, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. p. 91