Cadmus Sows the Dragon's Teeth Which Turn into Armed Men

In the foreground, Cadmus stands before a large, serpentine dragon while the goddess Athena, accompanied by her owl, stands upon a cloud, gesturing toward the soil. In the background, the earth gives birth to fully armed warriors who engage in combat with one another. The engraving displays the intricate line work and dramatic movement characteristic of Northern Mannerist printmaking.

This scene is an important classical motif of 'spontaneous generation' or 'autochthony,' which was often interpreted by Renaissance natural philosophers as an allegory for the transmutation of matter, where the dissolution of one form leads to the sudden creation of another. The motif of sowing teeth to reap armed men served as a potent political and philosophical metaphor for chaos, civil strife, and the volatile nature of creation.