Ariadne

Content Warning: This section features mentions of rape, violence against children, and child death.

Ariadne is a princess of Crete and a daughter of the ruthless King Minos. She is the novel’s protagonist and one of its narrators, and the story follows her journey as she navigates her role as a woman in ancient Greek society. Her monstrous brother’s conception and its lasting effects on her mother, Pasiphae, alert her to the precariousness of her status; she learns young that women are often pawns in the games of men, their lives shattered as punishment for men’s actions and sins. Tragically and ironically, her attempt to escape from an arranged marriage that she dreads leads her to betray her family and aid Theseus, who promptly abandons her.

Ariadne is a dynamic character whose journey is one of a naive, lovestruck young girl coming to understand the reality of the society she lives in and of her position within it as a woman, as she progresses through her rage and grief at having been discarded to settle into a relationship with Dionysus. Gentle and compassionate by nature, she finds comfort and purpose in Familial Bonds and Motherhood and in solidarity with other women, and she believes her marriage to be based on genuine respect and love.