Ariadne

What does this mean for you? There is a selfless compassion in you that leads others towards their truest selves. A perceptive guide, you cleverly maneuver the pathways of life for others in the best ways possible. 

The story of Ariadne goes something like this: born on the isle of Crete to cruel King Minos and Queen Pasiphae, Ariadne was the eldest daughter and princess of Crete. She held her place in court with dignity, but disliked her father’s reign of tyranny over both Creet and the mainland territories of Greece. In particular, Athens. 

With the death of her eldest brother at the Panathletic Games in Athens years prior, King Minos sought revenge upon the city that let his chosen successor die in their midst. As a result, he warred against them, eventually subjugating Athens. Peace was brokered, but on the condition that every year Athens would send seven boys and seven girls to Crete to be sacrificed and eaten alive by the Minotaur hidden within the Labyrinth beneath the Creecian city of Knossos. 

Years ago, King Minos failed to properly venerate the god of the sea, the great Poseidon, and for this slight, Poseidon cursed the royal family of Crete with shame. Imparting madness into the mind of Minos’s wife, Queen Pasiphae, she became overcome with lust for a great bull, and contrived a plot to make love with this bull, eventually impregnating her with the monstrous Minotaur. It was upon its birth that the Minotaur was placed in the Labyrinth, a maze of indescribable difficulty, built at the hands of the world’s greatest inventor and architect, Daedalus. 

By the time Ariadne became a young adult this process of sacrificing the children of Athens had continued for years unchecked. Until a brave prince of Athens, Theseus, came among those to be sacrificed, plotting to kill the Minotaur with his bare hands. It was at the great feast the day preceding the sacrifice that Ariadne caught the eye of this handsome prince, rumored not to be the son of a king but actually, the god Poseidon himself. Although no words were exchanged between them, Ariadne could instantly tell what he planned, for he did not tremble with fear like the children around him. It was precisely this bravery that made Ariadne fall desperately in love with him at first sight. A princess of a cruel kingdom and no freedom to call her own, Ariadne saw an opportunity with Theseus that would not come from anyone else in Crete. 

But to save herself, she first had to save Theseus. 

In secret, she sought out the inventor Daedalus, asking for how to properly navigate the Labyrinth. He said there was no way except by the guidance of a red thread he held in his possession. He too saw freedom with Theseus, the first person to come along that seemed to have a chance of not just surviving the Minotaur, but to defeat it. Entrusting this guiding thread with Ariadne, it would be this very thread, like a red string of fate, that would seal their fates. Stowing away in the night, she then entrusted this thread with Theseus along with his weapon of choice. For this, Theseus promised her that he would make her a queen upon his crowning in Athens, far away from the kingdom she called home, her first grasp of freedom from the disgrace her family incited. 

By early morning, the deed was done. The Minotaur was dead and Ariadne and Theseus escaped Crete, freedom and greatness setting their sails aloft with the winds of change. But this would not last. Between Crete and Athens lied the small isle of Naxos, a lifeless island, and it was there that they stopped for the night. Some say they laid together that night, Ariadne knowing in her bones that they were to be wed anyway, but by morning, everything changed. 

Ariadne awoke alone, the island deserted. There were no signs of Theseus or the crew to be seen. Ariadne was abandoned there. Alone, her heart broke. Until the day Dionysus, god of wine and intoxication and madness, arrived.

Then the isle became flush with life, vines of grapes curling and twining above the ground and wine poured from the fountains. A young god without a wife, a traveler of places near and far, Dionysus now sought the hand of Ariadne herself. And she took it. It was upon their wedding that Dionysus gave her a crown only to throw it into the sky for us all to enjoy, the constellation we now know as Coronus. With a legacy known to myth, it is said they lived out her life together, begetting five sons that came to rule all over Greece. 

And Ariadne’s story ends there. 

The question of why Theseus left Ariadne alone in Naxos to fend for herself has been up for debate since ancient times. Some say it was because Dionysus saw her from afar and whispered into Theseus’s ear that she was supposed to be his. Others say Theseus’s reasoning had a political edge, that it would not be prudent to enthrone a princess as queen who had once deserted and betrayed her homeland. We shall never know, but also, such speculation breeds change in the story, the very purpose and trade of mythology itself, meant to change by the mouths that tell the story. 

As for Ariadne, the ancient authors do not say if she found happiness with Dionysus, but we can hope. Scholars often agree that Dionysus was a god that defies normal approximations of what we understand of the Greek gods, but also that he gave women their freedom. Madness and joy are for us all, and Dionysus understood that. He merely demands that he be worshiped by us mere mortals. It seems doubtful, however, that he demanded the same of his wife. Some versions attest that she became a goddess in death and stayed by his side forever after.  

Now, why should this matter to you, dear reader and established Ariadne? Ariadne was a helper, a guide. Her primary heroic act saved fourteen lives, fifteen if you count herself. It is with the thread that she entrusts with Theseus that does this. While the thread may not have been created by her hand, it is her idea, her clever calculation and planning that makes everything come together. She is the reason why Theseus survives to become king of Athens. She is also the reason how she came to be free from her past. She is not the hero that slays the monster, but she is the guide that leads others into greatness. Perhaps it was this very understanding of her character that made Dionysus fall in love with her. 

You too have a capacity to help others with your clever understanding of others. You may be the guide of your friends, seeing their weaknesses and strengths, or maybe you act as a personal therapist to other’s troubles, guiding them in the right direction and helping them learn more about themselves. You help them slay their inner Minotaurs and devils until they are able to exit the Labyrinth with a new perspective, closer to finding their true selves. All because of your guidance. Alternatively or additionally, you may be a grand strategist that knows how to plan out some extravagant event, aware of every piece of the puzzle and how it comes together. That said, this kind of understanding of others and acting as a guide can be exhausting. 

Be wary not to be pushed around, but use your abilities for not just others, but yourself. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses and don’t be afraid to find another Ariadne in your own life. Even the best guides need a guide of their own, after all. Also do not let others keep you trapped in situations that can be toxic to you. Ariadne ended up trusting Theseus’s word without question and this left her stranded. Have compassion for others, but also yourself. Remember that you too need a guiding thread in your life. 

In the end, Ariadne saved others with her clever thread, but also herself in the process. Not every hero or heroine needs to slay the Minotaur to be remembered for all time.