Daughter of King Minos

King Minos required tribute from Athens in the form of young men and women to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.

Theseus, the son of Athenian King Aegisthus, volunteered to accompany one of these groups of victims to deliver his country from the tribute to Minos. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him a thread which he let unwind through the Labyrinth so that he was able to kill the Minotaur and find his way back out again.

Taking Ariadne with them, Theseus and his companions fled over the seas toward Athens. On the way they stopped at the island of Naxos. According to one legend, Theseus deserted Ariadne, sailing without her while she was asleep on the island; the god Dionysus found her and comforted her.

According to another legend, Theseus set Ariadne ashore to recover from seasickness while he returned to the ship to do some necessary work. A strong wind then carried him out to sea. When he was finally able to return, he found that Ariadne had died.




FURTHER READING

| MINOAN CIVILIZATION | MINOAN PALACES | Sir ARTH EVANS |
| KNOSSOS | PHAESTOS | GOURNIA | IRAKLION MUSEUM |
ARIADNE | EUROPA and ZEUS | THESEUS |
| DIKTI CAVE | LABYRINTH | MINOS |


The information on this page is taken from books published by D&I Mathioulakis, Athens, Greece. Check the list of books published on Greece. You can order them on line, and claim your free map of Crete