In
Greek mythology,
Autonoë (; ) was a daughter of
Cadmus, founder of
Thebes, Greece, and the goddess
Harmonia. She was the wife of
Aristaeus and mother of
Actaeon and possibly
Macris. In
Euripides' play,
The Bacchae, she and her sisters were driven into a
bacchic frenzy by the god
Dionysus (her nephew) when
Pentheus, the king of Thebes, refused to allow his worship in the city. When Pentheus came to spy on their revels,
Agave, the mother of Pentheus and Autonoë's sister, spotted him in a tree. They tore him to pieces.
