Spartoi

The Spartoi, the “sown men”, were armed warriors who sprang from the earth when the teeth of a dragon were sown in the ground. They appear in two myths: at Thebes, where Cadmus sowed the teeth of the dragon he had killed, and in Colchis, where Jason had to sow the other teeth of the same dragon as the task set by King Aeetes. In Thebes the five survivors became the ancestors of the city’s noble families.

The Spartoi of Thebes

An oracle at Delphi told Cadmus to stop looking for Europa, to follow a cow and to found a city where it fell down from weariness. The cow lay down on the site of Thebes. Cadmus wanted to sacrifice it to Athena and sent some of his companions to fetch water from the spring of Ares, but a dragon, which some called the offspring of Ares, guarded the spring and killed most of them. In his anger Cadmus killed the dragon, and on Athena’s advice he sowed its teeth. Armed men rose from the ground, and they were called Sparti (Apollodorus, Library 3.4.1; Pausanias 9.10.1). Pausanias adds that the name came from the way they came into being (Pausanias 9.5.3).

Ovid tells the same story with a few more details. A voice told the stunned Cadmus that he, too, would be seen as a serpent, and then Pallas Athena appeared and told him to plough the earth and plant the teeth, the seed of a future people. First spear-points showed in the furrows, then crested helmets, shoulders, chests and arms, until a crop of shielded men stood there. As Cadmus reached for his weapons, one of the earthborn warned him not to join in the civil war, and then struck down one of his brothers hand to hand, only to be brought down himself by a javelin. The rest fell on each other until only five were left, among them Echion, who at Athena’s bidding threw down his arms and made peace (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.95–130).

Apollodorus gives the fight a different cause. Some of the armed men killed one another in a chance brawl and some without knowing why. He adds that Pherecydes said Cadmus threw stones at them, so that each thought the others had hit him and they came to blows (Apollodorus, Library 3.4.1). The five who survived were Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor and Pelorus (Library 3.4.1); Pausanias names the same five (Pausanias 9.5.3).

Cadmus and the Sparti

The five joined Cadmus in founding the city. Ovid says they were his companions in the work when he built the city the oracle had ordered (Metamorphoses 3.129–130). Pausanias says that in Cadmus’ time the greatest power next to his lay with the Sparti, and that Cadmus chose Echion for his valour as his son-in-law (Pausanias 9.5.3). Apollodorus confirms that Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, married Echion (Library 3.4.2); their son was Pentheus (Euripides, Bacchae 507), and Euripides calls Echion “the sown man” (Bacchae 1274). As atonement for killing the dragon, Cadmus had to serve Ares for an “eternal year”, which was equal to eight years (Library 3.4.2).

The Spartoi of Colchis

The teeth of the same dragon played a part in the quest for the Golden Fleece. Apollonius tells that Athena had torn the teeth from the dragon’s jaws and given them to Aeetes, king of Colchis, as well as to Cadmus, who sowed his share on the Aonian plains (Apollonius, Argonautica 3.1176–1190). Apollodorus likewise says that Aeetes had received half of the teeth that Cadmus sowed at Thebes from Athena (Library 1.9.23). Pherecydes also said that Ares and Athena gave half to Cadmus and half to Aeetes (Pherecydes, quoted in the ancient commentary on Apollonius, Argonautica 3.1178).

When Jason came for the fleece, Aeetes told him to yoke two fire-breathing bulls with bronze feet, plough a field and sow the dragon’s teeth (Argonautica 3.401–421). Medea, who had fallen in love with Jason, warned him that armed men would spring up from the seed; when he saw a group of them together he was to throw stones into their midst, and while they fought over it he could cut them down (Library 1.9.23). Jason followed her advice. He threw a huge round boulder into the earthborn crowd, and they fell on each other like hounds; he rushed in with his sword and mowed down those still half out of the ground (Argonautica 3.1365–1398). Aeetes still refused to give up the fleece, and Medea led Jason to it by night (Library 1.9.23).

Spartoi Sources

Apollodorus, Library 1.9.23, 3.4.1–2; Apollonius, Argonautica 3.401–421, 3.1176–1190, 3.1365–1398; Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.95–130; Pausanias 9.5.3, 9.10.1; Euripides, Bacchae 507, 1274; Pherecydes, fragment quoted in the ancient commentary on Apollonius, Argonautica 3.1178.

See Also: Cadmus, Ares, Athena, Jason, Argonauts, Aeetes, Harmonia, Pentheus, Medea