General Notes

HARMONIA, one of the inspired conceptions of some long-forgotten writer, was a tribute to the ability of the Greeks to create an ideal balance. She was the daughter of Love (Aphrodite) and War (Ares). Her brothers were Deimos (Terror) and Phobos (Fear), both mainly thought of in terms of war. Again, as if to balance things, some called Eros and Anteros full brothers as well, but in any case they were half-brothers. After Cadmus founded Thebes, Zeus gave him Harmonia as a wife. This was a union favored by all the gods and goddesses of Olympus, especially Athena, who was the self-appointed protectress of Cadmus. All the Olympians attended the wedding, and rich presents were give, the most opulent being a necklace of exquisite design studded with precious stones. Fashioned for him by Hephaestus, the was the groom's gift to the bride, along with a handsome peplus, or robe. Some said the necklace was presented to her by Aphrodite or Athena. Some said Cadmus had received it from his sister Europa, who had earlier received it from Zeus, but this would make no sense, since Cadmus never saw Europa again after her abduction. In fact, his fruitless search for her had resulted in his founding Thebes. This beautiful jewelry, whatever its origin, came with a curse as it was passed from generation to generation. The results of its attraction culminated in the battle of the Seven against Thebes and the subsequent campaign of the Epigoni. Even in Harmonia's possession, its virulence seemed to spread like poison over the family. The children of Harmonia by Cadmus were Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave, and Polydorus. While they were small, Harmonia seemed to lead a rather idyllic life. Undeniably immortal herself, she spent time in the company of other immortals such as the Charites (Graces), Hebe (the goddess of youth), the Horae (Seasons), the Muses, Apollo, and her mother Aphrodite. Some even claimed that the Charites were her daughters by Zeus, who was already her grandfather and later would become her son-in-law as well. The mellow life enjoyed by Harmonia came to an end when her daughters grew up. Ino's husband went insane and tried to kill her, but she leapt into the sea and became a sea divinity. Autonoe married the god Aristaeus, but he left her when their son Actaeon was turned into a stag, then killed and eaten by his hunting dogs. Semele was burned alive when she forced her lover Zeus to appear to her in his full splendor. He managed to save the child she was carrying, which turned out to be Dionysus. This grandchild did not help things when later he converted his aunts to his worship. One day the three of them got drunk and, mistaking him for a wild beast, tore Agave's son, Pentheus, apart with their bare hands. Only Polydorus, the son, turned out reasonably well, if we do not dwell on the fact that he was the great-grandfather of Oedipus. Cadmus and Harmonia left Thebes even before the death of Pentheus. Their leaving has never been explained; perhaps the tragedies of the other daughters caused them to go to a remote place. There was a prophecy among the Enchelean people in northern Greece that if Cadmus would lead them against their enemies, the Illyrians, the would be victorious. Cadmus did so, and the prophecy was fulfilled. He and Harmonia then ruled in Illyria. Although grandparents, they produced another son, Illyrius. Afterward, the gods changed them into dragons and transported them to Elysium, or the Isles of the Blessed. A variation of this account calls Harmonia the daughter of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas. She was therefore sister to Dardanus and Iasion. She and her brothers lived on the island of Samothrace, where they had gone from Arcadia. When Cadmus went there searching for Europa, he fell in love with Harmonia. In this version also, the gods smiled on the marriage and attended the wedding celebration on Samothrace. Then Cadmus took Harmonia to Thebes, and the two stories merged at that point. The second version might have arisen in conjunction with the strong Cabeirian influence in Theban worship (the Cabeiri were the divinities worshipped on the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace). Dardanus and Iasion taught the mysteries in the Aegean and Asia Minor, and it would seem appropriate that Harmonia introduced them on the Greek mainland. [Apollodorus 3.4.2,5.4; Diodorus Siculus 1.68,4.48; Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.94,167; Statius, Thebaid 2.266; Euripides, Bacchanals 1233,1350; Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.562-602; Pausanias 9.5.1,12.3; Hyginus, Fables 6,184,240; Ptolemaeus Hephaestion 1; Apollonius Rhodius 4.517.]