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The Story of ARIADNE, Princes of Crete

In Crete, long long ago, there lived a kind named Minos. This king was married to a daughter of the Sun(Helios) namedPasiphae.Together they had many children, four sons and four daughters, but it was his daughters who's lives were remembered. One in particular is often sung of, and that was the fair Ariadne


Among sweet Ariadne's family there was included a fearsome beast, the Minotaur, who was sent as a punishment upon the family.  

Poseidon, god of the sea, gave King Minos of Crete a beautiful bull to be given back to him. Minos became enchanted with the bull and, forgetting his responsibility to Poseidon, resolved to keep the bull for himself.  Poseidon, enraged by Minos's arrogance and pride, caused Minos's wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull. Their union produced the Minotaur, who was half man, half beast.

Pasiphae couldn't kill her son, but the beast ate human flesh, so they imprisoned it in an inescapable Labyrinth (built by Daedalus). Every year, sacrifices were required to the Minotaur, and the young men and women were locked into the Labyrinth to await their fate.

Theseus arrived in Crete as just that kind of tribute, for he had been selected as the victim in Athens - handpicked by Minos himself. But Theseus had a different fate in store for him - he was a hero.  Theseus entered the Labyrinth and killed the brute - saving all the other youths who were destiny was dinner - then followedAriadne's commands and found his way back to her.  The beautiful Ariadne saw the shining brightness of the hero within, and fell in love with him.

Theseus Killing Minotarus

She found Daedalus, the master inventor and builder and begged his aid. The aging genius had a soft spot in his heart for the girl and agreed to help her. He gave her a ball of thread and instructions for its use. 

In turn, Ariadne went to Theseus with the yarn, and bade him fasten the end to the door of the Labyrinth so that once the Minotaur was dead, he could find his way back again. 

With no time to spare, the lovers and the freed youths ran to the port of Crete and boarded the ship that had brought them there. They fled to Naxos, where they stopped to rest and replenish their supplies - besides, Naxos was beautiful at that time of year. But unfortunately for Theseus, things started to go downhill from there. Ariadnewandered off on the island and was spied by the God of Wine, Dionysus, who fancied her and came to her, offering his magical wine to make her forget her lover and her destination. Dionysus carried Ariadne away to Lemnos, and there they had four sons.