Historiae Romanorum

Ariadne

The daughter of Minos, king of the Minoans, and Pasiphae.

When Theseus arrived in Crete to kill the Minotaur, she fell in love with him.  Ariadne promised to help him, if she could be his wife.  Theseus agreed.  In order to save Theseus from the labyrinth, Ariadne went to its designer Daedalus for help.  He told her to give Theseus a ball of thread, which he could use to retrace his steps.

After killing the Minotaur, Theseus and Ariadne sailed for Athens.  On the journey home, they stopped at the island of Naxos.  That night, Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne and took her away as his bride (Ovid writes that Theseus first abandoned her there).

Source(s):

1. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

2. Ovid.  Metamorphoses.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.