Out of all the pantheons, the exuberant deities of the ancient Greeks are perhaps the most iconic of all. For generations, imaginations have been enflamed and inspired by the sumptuous mix of high fantasy and human imperfection the gods of Olympus present, as they cheat, deceive, and contrive in the name of their own personal ambitions and animosities. One of these larger-than-life characters is Cadmus, a lesser well-known but equally fascinating character of the divine drama, and Greece’s first mythical hero. The story of Cadmus starts triumphantly, before plunging into the deepest of sorrows.

Cadmus, considered the first Greek hero, was a fifth-generation god of the Olympian bloodline started by Zeus and Io. Io, the daughter of the river god of Argos, Inachos, pledged herself to Zeus after fleeing from her father’s domain in the form of a cow and ending up at the River Nile. It was there that she met Zeus, producing for him a son called Epaphos, who would be a great grandfather to Cadmus.

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Cadmus is the great-great grandson of Zeus, the grandson of Poseidon, and the son of Agenor, and the goddess Telephassa. He has three brothers called Phoenix, Cilix, and Thasus, and one sister, Europa. Cadmus also boasts Ares and Aphrodite as his parents-in-law through his marriage to Harmonia. Cadmus is the grandfather of Dionysus and the father of his mother, Semele. His other daughters were Ino, Agave and Autonoe, and his sons were Polydorus and Illyrius.

Read more: Ancient Origins