In Greek myth, dragon's teeth feature prominently in the legends of the Phoenician prince Cadmus and Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece. In each case, the dragon's teeth, once planted, would grow into fully armed warriors.
Cadmus, bringer of literacy and civilization, killed the sacred dragon that guarded the spring of Ares. The goddess Athena told him to sow the teeth, from which sprang a group of ferocious warriors called the spartoi. He threw a precious jewel into the midst of the warriors, who turned on each other in an attempt to seize the stone for themselves. The five survivors joined with Cadmus to found the city of Thebes.
Jason obtained the remaining dragon's teeth with the aid of Aeetes of Colchis. He offered the Golden Fleece to Jason if Jason would sow them into the ground. Jason did this and successfully overcame the warriors with the aid of Medea, who gave him the means to resist fire and steel.
The classical legends of Cadmus and Jason have given rise to the phrase "to sow dragon's teeth." This is used as a metaphor to refer to doing something that has the effect of fomenting disputes, rather akin to the law of unintended consequences.
The Red Dragon of Wales has no teeth to speak of, as the Welsh Assembly is hampered by the necessity to have its democratically enacted laws approved by the Secretary of State’s Welsh Office as LCO’s; then these nascent laws are passed to Westminster to be further examined and approved and then to the House of Lords for their final approbation before they are sent back to Cardiff to become enshrined in law. Thus, a lengthy, long-winded, tiresome and convoluted process is carried through before the people of Wales see their benefit manifested within Wales.
There is great indignity in this exercise, as it undermines the potency of the Welsh Assembly as a law-making institution. Why is it that Wales should be administered in a different fashion from Scotland which has its own Parliament and Justice system, and which has far greater control of its own affairs?
It is because Wales is regarded as a second-class nation, if a nation at all, and is subject to the dominating authority of the British state which has its power-base at Westminster. The time has come to gather together the scattered Dragon’s teeth and plant them in the soil of Wales, to sprout into warriors for truth and justice for a nation which has undergone too many trials and tribulations in its chequered history. The Dragon’s Teeth, when fully restored to their rightful place, will empower the nation to reclaim its true inheritance, and don the mantle of its princely forebears.
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