Agave in mythology

In Greek mythology, Agave (Agaue) (”illustrious”) was the daughter of Cadmus, the king and founder of the city of Thebes, Greece, and of the goddess Harmonia. She married Echion, one of the five spartoi, and was the mother of Pentheus, a king of Thebes. She also had a daughter Epirus. She was a Maenad, a follower of Dionysus (also known as Bacchus in Roman mythology).

Agave the cactus

Agave is the name of a succulent plant of a large botanical genus of the same name, belonging to the family Agavaceae. Chiefly Mexican, they occur also in the southern and western United States and in central and tropical South America. The plants have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves generally ending in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the root.

The maenads

In Greek mythology, Maenads were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication, and the Roman god Bacchus. The word literally translates as “raving ones”. They were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with. The mysteries of Dionysus inspired the women to ecstatic frenzy; they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sexual activity, self-intoxication, and mutilation. They were usually pictured as crowned with vine leaves, clothed in fawnskins and carrying the thyrsus, and dancing with wild abandon.