AUTONOE (mortal woman of myth)
Figure of myth · mythical daughter of Cadmus
- Parents
- Cadmus, Harmonia
- Siblings
- Semele, Ino, Agave, Polydorus
- Consorts
- Aristaeus
- Children
- Actaeon, Charmus
- In the sources
- 16 ancient passages
Autonoe, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, was a figure of the Theban house.1,2,3 She was the sister of Semele, Ino, Agave, and Polydorus.4 Her nature was marked by a capacity for frenzy, as she became frenzied after seeing Pentheus.5
Autonoe was married to Aristaeus, and accounts also state she was wedded by Polydorus in Thebe.1,2,6 In one account, she was identified as the aunt of the man being attacked, and as one of three ladies leading bands of Maenads to the mountainside.7,5
During the rites, she stripped wild leaves from a rugged oak, fresh ivy, and asphodel for ritual use.5 She helped build twelve altars in an open meadow for Semele and Dionysus.5 From a chest, she took mystic cakes and placed them silently on the altars.5 She was found asleep with her body relaxed among the other women when she was woken from sleep by the cry of Agave.8 She sprang upright from her sleeping position and called on Iacchus and Bromius with the other women.8 She girded her dappled hide with serpents and put on garlands made of ivy, oak, and flowering yew.8 She participated in the revelries by waving her thyrsos and led one of the three groups of dancing women.8
Autonoe was the first to see Pentheus hiding in a lentisk bush.5 She shrieked a dreadful yell upon discovering his presence and rushed forward to dash the mystic things of Dionysus with her feet.5 She pursued Pentheus after he fled in fear from the Maenads.5 She told Pentheus he would know what they wanted before he heard it.5 Acting under the command of Dionysus, Autonoe helped tear the flesh from Pentheus' body alongside the other Bacchae.9,10
In a separate incident, she tore away the right hand of Actaeon while he was praying, after his ghostly plea asked for her aid.7 She pressed a sweet pledge to her bosom and looked back at a bow.11 Accounts differ on her end, with one stating that Ino killed Autonoe and other women tore the remnants piecemeal.9 The women carried the remnants of Autonoe back to Thebes.9 In another account, she was present with Ino in the thicket, still suffering from madness when seen.12 Grief over Actaeon's death and her father's family misfortunes led Autonoe to leave Thebes.3 She chose to live in the Megarian village of Erenea, where her tomb is located.3
The codex facts behind this entry
Autonoe is the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Apollodorus 3.4.2 +5
