Ariadne

The daughter of king Minos and queen Pasiphae of the island of Crete; the sister of Deukalion (Deucalion).

Ariadne was the love smitten girl who gave Theseus the thread by which he escaped the labyrinth of Minos.

According to The Odyssey, Odysseus encountered the “shade” of Ariadne when he evoked the spirits of the Underworld; Theseus was taking her to Athens after he had escaped the labyrinth but abandoned her on the island of Dia; after Dionysus “bore witness against her”, the goddess Artemis killed Ariadne.

That is the oldest mention of Ariadne but, according to Plutarkh (Plutarch), the stories relating to Theseus, Ariadne and the labyrinth were not as clear-cut as we might imagine; the idea that Ariadne was in love with Theseus is a common thread that winds through all the stories but her ultimate fate is by no means clear; she either:

1. Was abandoned on the island of Dia and killed by Artemis;
2. Inherited the throne of Crete after the deaths of her father, Minos, and her brother, Deukalion, and she made a pact of truce with Athens;
3. She committed suicide after Theseus abandoned her;
4. She was taken to the island of Naxos after Theseus abandoned her for a woman named Aigle and she married a priest of Dionysus named Oenarus;
5. Theseus put the pregnant Ariadne ashore on the island of Cyprus and was not able to return before she died in childbirth; or
6. That there were two women named Ariadne stranded on the island of Naxos: one was married to Dionysus and her passing was celebrated with gaiety; the other Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus and her passing was commemorated with sorrow and lamentation.

Regardless of the fate of beautiful Ariadne, Plutarkh reminds us that it was never wise to offend the eloquent and dramatic Athenians because they would exaggerate and immortalize any insult or transgression against them; king Minos earned the hatred of the Athenians and he and his family are forever condemned to suffer the jibes and taunts of pre-historical innuendo.

Odyssey, book 11, line 321

Lives, Theseus, chapters 16, 19-21