Cadmus was the Greek hero who sowed dragon’s teeth that sprang up as the Spartoi.
Cadmus killed a dragon guarding a sacred spring near Thebes. Athena then instructed him to sow the creature’s teeth in the ground. Armed warriors emerged from the furrows, and these men were called the Spartoi, meaning “sown men.”
Cadmus threw a stone among them, causing the warriors to suspect one another and fight. Only five survived: Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus. They helped Cadmus establish the Cadmeia, the fortified center of Thebes, and became ancestors of important Theban families.
Jason also sowed dragon’s teeth in Greek mythology, but his warriors appeared during Aeëtes’s challenge in Colchis and did not become the Spartoi. Cadmus’s story is also tied to the foundation of Thebes, his marriage to Harmonia, and his long penance for killing the dragon sacred to Ares.