Ariadne summary

Discover the legend of Ariadne, the daughter of Pasiphaë and King Minos

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Ariadne.

Ariadne, In Greek mythology, the daughter of Pasiphaë and King Minos of Crete. She fell in love with Theseus, who had promised to slay the Minotaur confined in Minos’s Labyrinth. She gave Theseus a ball of thread or glittering jewels that enabled him to mark his path and thus to escape the Labyrinth after killing the monster. Endings to the legend vary. In one, Theseus abandons Ariadne and she hangs herself; in others, he carries her to Naxos, where she either dies or marries the god Dionysus. See also Phaedra.

Dionysus Summary

Dionysus, in Greco-Roman religion, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god of wine and ecstasy. The occurrence of his name on a Linear B tablet (13th century bce) shows that he was already worshipped in the Mycenaean period, although it is not known where his cult

Exekias: Greek amphora depicting Achilles slaying Penthesilea

Greek mythology Summary

Greek mythology, body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks and Classical antiquity. That the myths contained a considerable element of fiction was recognized by the more critical Greeks, such as the philosopher Plato in the 5th–4th century bce. In general,

myth Summary

Myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from symbolic behaviour (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons). Myths are