Agave (mythology) - Definition and Overview

Agave ("illustrious") was the queen of Thebes in Greek mythology, mother of Pentheus and daughter of Harmonia and Cadmus. She was a Maenad, a follower of Bacchus (also known as Dionysus in Roman mythology). She was married to Echion.

In Euripides' play, "The Bacchae", Theban Maenads murdered King Pentheus after he banned the worship of Bacchus because he denied Bacchus' divinity. Bacchus, Pentheus' cousin, himself lured Pentheus to the woods, where the Maenads tore him apart and his corpse was mutilated by his own mother, Agave.

Ovid III, 725