Ariadne

Theseus volunteered to join the seven Athenian boys and seven maidens sent to Crete as tribute for the Minotaur. The creature, Ariadne’s half brother, was kept in the Labyrinth beneath King Minos’s palace at Knossos. Theseus sailed with the other victims, intending to kill it and end the tribute.

When the party arrived, Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, fell in love with Theseus. She promised to help him kill the Minotaur if he took her to Athens as his wife. Theseus agreed. Daedalus had previously given Ariadne a magic ball of thread and had instructed her how it could guide someone through the Labyrinth. Ariadne gave the thread to Theseus. He tied one end to the entrance, or to the door, and unwound it as he went deeper into the maze. In some accounts, Ariadne also gave him a sword. Other accounts say that Theseus already had one hidden in his tunic.

Theseus reached the Minotaur and killed it. He then followed the thread back through the Labyrinth and escaped. He led the other Athenian victims out unharmed in one account. Theseus took Ariadne with him when he left Crete, as he had promised. The ship stopped at the island of Dia, also called Naxos, where the accounts diverge.

Some accounts say that Theseus abandoned Ariadne there. She was then found by Dionysus, who made her his bride. Diodorus Siculus gives a different version, in which Dionysus abducted her after Theseus placed her on the island. Other stories about her fate also existed. One related by Plutarch says that Ariadne hanged herself. After her death, Dionysus transferred her to the heavens as the constellation Corona Borealis.

Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of string before he entered the labyrinth where the Minotaur was confined. He unwound the thread as he went. After killing the Minotaur, he followed it back to the entrance and escaped. Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, then fled with Theseus on his voyage towards Athens, since he had promised to take her with him.

Theseus left Ariadne on the island of Naxos, or on Dia, which some accounts identify with Naxos. One account says she was asleep when he departed. She awoke to find herself abandoned and grieved over the loss of the mortal man she loved. Some sources say Theseus left her at Dionysus's demand. In another account, Dionysus abducted her after Theseus placed her on the island.

Dionysus found Ariadne there and made her his bride. In one telling, Aphrodite comforted her and promised that she would have an immortal lover. Dionysus gave Ariadne a wedding crown as a marriage gift. It was golden and set with gems. Another account describes it as a crown made by Hephaestus from fiery gold and red Indian gems arranged in the shape of roses. Ariadne bore Dionysus several children.

After Ariadne died, Dionysus placed her wedding crown among the stars. As it rose into the sky, its gems grew brighter and became stars. The crown became the constellation Corona Borealis, also called the Cretan Crown.

Theseus left Ariadne asleep on the shore of the island then called Dia, which later became known as Naxos, and sailed away. Ariadne was Minos's daughter and the king's daughter of Crete. Tellings said that Theseus left her for Aegle, daughter of Panopeus, feared the scandal her arrival would cause in Athens, or obeyed Dionysus, who appeared to him in a dream and demanded Ariadne for himself.

Dionysus came to Naxos and found Ariadne asleep on a rock. Sorrow and weeping had exhausted her after Theseus abandoned her. The god gazed at her with admiration. When she opened her eyes, he revealed himself and spoke to her gently. He tried to drive away her grief.

Ariadne welcomed his sympathy. She believed that Theseus had forsaken her and that she had no friends, but Dionysus's kindness gradually restored her calm. He continued to ask her to accept him. She yielded to his entreaties and agreed to become his wife.

In another telling, Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne, but Artemis killed her on Naxos at his urging. Other tellings said that Theseus deserted her for another woman or left her accidentally.