He subsequently left them and lived for a time with other nations, and at last did not die, but was changed into a dragon and carried by Zeus to Elysion.
The birthplace of this culture hero was somewhere far to the eastward of Greece, somewhere in "the purple land" (Phoenicia); his mother was "the far gleaming one" (Telephassa); he was one of four children, and his sister was Europe, the Dawn, who was seized and carried westward by Zeus, in the shape of a white bull.

Cadmus seeks to recover her, and sets out, following the westward course of the sun.

"There can be no rest until the lost one is found again.

The sun must journey westward until he sees again the beautiful tints which greeted his eyes in the morning."[1] Therefore Cadmus leaves the purple land to pursue his quest.

It is one of toil and struggle.