Arianne
Genre/Style: Traditional Irish Song
Touchstones: “Whisky in the Jar,” “Finnegan’s Wake”
Themes: Abandonment, resilience, drinking songs, ecstasy, liminality, balladeering
Myth: Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on Naxos
Notable Tellings: Gaius Valerius Catullus, poem 64.50-264 (ca. 50 BCE); Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), Heroides 10 (
Geography
Ariadne was born a princess of Crete: daughter of King Minos, sister of Phaedra and others. Half-sister of Asterion (the Minotaur). The myth of the Labyrinth takes place at the political center of Crete, Knossos. After she fled with Theseus, he left her behind while she napped on the island Naxos, sometimes called Dia. There, she was found and led to marriage by Dionysos/Bacchus.