Ariadne

Greek mythology · heroine · the thread, abandonment, apotheosis

Cretan princess whose ball of thread led Theseus out of her father's Labyrinth. He sailed off with her and left her sleeping on Naxos, where Dionysus found her, married her, and set her bridal crown among the stars.

Stories

Theseus and the Minotaur

Athens pays Minos a tribute of youths to feed the bull-headed thing in Daedalus's Labyrinth. Theseus enters as tribute; Ariadne's thread leads him through the dark, and he kills the Minotaur at its heart. He sails home with her, and leaves her sleeping on Naxos.