Ariadne
Daughter of King Minos who fell in love with Theseus and gave him the thread that allowed him to escape the Labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur.
The Legend of Ariadne
Princess of Crete and daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, Ariadne fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus when he came to slay the Minotaur. She gave him a ball of thread — a gift devised by Daedalus — so he could navigate the Labyrinth and find his way back. After Theseus killed the Minotaur, they fled together, but he abandoned her on the island of Naxos. There Dionysus found her, married her, and set her crown among the stars. Zeus granted her immortality, and her story bridges Athens, Crete, and the divine world of Olympus.
Parents
Minos and Pasiphae
Symbols
Fun Fact
Ariadne's thread has become a metaphor for any solution that guides one through a complex problem — used in mathematics, logic, and computing.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Theseus
🗡 heroFounder-hero of Athens
Theseus was the great hero of Athens who slew the Minotaur, united Attica, and established Athenian democracy — Athens' answer to Heracles.
Butes
🗡 heroBeekeeping, Resistance, Sirens
Argonaut and Athenian hero who alone leaped toward the Sirens and was saved by Aphrodite.
Ariadne
🗡 herolove
Cretan princess who saved Theseus with a ball of thread, was abandoned on Naxos, and became the immortal wife of Dionysus.
Hypsipyle
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Lemnos who saved her father when the women of the island murdered every other man, later becoming the lover of Jason during the Argonauts' voyage
Odysseus
🗡 heroKing of Ithaca, hero of the Trojan War
The cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest stories ever told. Odysseus's cunning was his greatest weapon.
Psyche
🗡 heroMortal whose love conquered a god
Psyche was a princess so beautiful that Aphrodite was jealous — she married Eros in darkness and lost him when she looked, then won him back through impossible labours.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts, seeker of the Golden Fleece
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's story is one of ambition, adventure, and tragic betrayal.
Alcmene
🗡 heroMother of Heracles
Alcmene was the mortal woman whom Zeus seduced by disguising himself as her husband — she bore Heracles, the greatest hero of Greek mythology.
Arsinoe
🗡 heroNursing, protection
Nurse or foster-mother of Orestes who saved the prince from Clytemnestra's murderous designs
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Alcimede
🗡 heroMotherhood, nobility
Noble Thessalian woman and mother of Jason, leader of the Argonauts