In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Autonous (Αὐτόνοος) was the son of Melaneus

Melaneus

In Greek mythology, Melaneus was a son of Apollo. He was the founder of Oechalia , variously located in Thessaly, Messenia or Euboea....

, husband of Hippodamia

Hippodamia

Hippodamia was a daughter of King Oenomaus and wife of Pelops with whom her offspring were Thyestes, Atreus, Pittheus, Alcathous, Troezen, Hippalcimus, Copreus, Astydameia, Nicippe, Eurydice and others....

, was father to Anthus

Anthus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Anthus was a son of Autonous and Hippodamia. His brothers were Erodius, Schoenous and Acanthus, and his sister was Acanthis. Once he drove his father's horses away from the grassy meadows, where they had been pastured by his brother Erodius...

, Erodius, Schoenous, Acanthus and Acanthis

Acanthis (mythology)

Acanthis or Acanthyllis was the daughter of Hippodamia and Autonous and sister to Anthus, Erodius, Schoenous and Acanthus. When their father's horses attacked Anthus out of hunger and ate him, Zeus and Apollo, out of pity for the grieving family, transformed them into birds. Acanthis thus became...

, and an owner of a large herd of horses. The land they lived in produced no crops, but only rushes and thistles, that's why all the children of Autonous were named after such plants. Erodius, who loved his father's horses the most, pastured them on grassy meadows, but one day, Anthus drove them out of their familiar pastures. Out of hunger, the horses attacked Anthus and ate him. Autonous, striken by panic, could not help his son, and neither could Anthus' servant, while Hippodamia was trying to drive the horses off but failed due to her physical weakness. Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 and Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

, out of pity for the grieving family, transformed the members into birds. Autonous became a Stone Curlew

Stone Curlew

The Stone Curlew, Eurasian Thick-knee, or Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus is a northern species of the Burhinidae bird family....

 (Greek όκνος, because he "was not in time", όκνησε in Greek, to save Anthus), Hippodamia became a Lark

Lark

Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark...

 (the bird has a crest which symbolizes her courage) and Acanthis became a thistle finch

Carduelis

The genus Carduelisis a large group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae. It includes the greenfinches, redpolls, goldfinches, linnets, the twite, and the non-African siskins...

; others became birds whose Greek names are the same as their personal names were when they were humans. Erodius and Anthus' servant were transformed into black and white heron respectively; birds of these two species are never seen together.