Editing Ariadne (section)

===Minos and Theseus===
Because [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] myths were orally transmitted, like other myths, that of Ariadne has many variations. According to an Athenian version, [[Minos]] attacked [[Athens]] after his son, [[Androgeus (son of Minos)|Androgeus]], was killed there. The Athenians asked for terms and were required to sacrifice [[Sacrificial victims of Minotaur|7 young men and 7 maidens]] to the [[Minotaur]] every 1, 7 or 9 years (depending on the source).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minotaur {{!}} Definition, Story, Labyrinth, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Minotaur |access-date=10 May 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> One year, the sacrificial party included [[Theseus]], the son of King [[Aegeus]], who volunteered in order to kill the [[Minotaur]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carter |first=Tim |date=1999 |title=Lamenting Ariadne? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3128655 |journal=Early Music |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=395–405 |doi=10.1093/earlyj/XXVII.3.395 |jstor=3128655 |issn=0306-1078}}</ref> At first sight, Ariadne fell in love with him and provided him a sword and ball of thread (ο Μίτος της Αριάδνης, "Ariadne's string") so that he could retrace his way out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur.<ref name="TheCollector-2021"/>

[[File:The Abandoned Ariadne, ancient fresco from Pompeii, National Archaeological Museum.jpg|thumb|250px|The abandoned Ariadne, ancient fresco from [[Pompeii]], [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]]]

Ariadne betrayed her father and her country for her lover Theseus. She eloped with [[Theseus]] after he killed the [[Minotaur]], yet according to [[Homer]] in the ''[[Odyssey]]'' "he had no joy of her, for ere that, [[Artemis]] slew her in seagirt Dia because of the witness of [[Dionysus]]". The phrase "seagirt Dia" refers to the uninhabited island of Dia, which lies off the northern coast of the Greek island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Dia may have referred to the island of [[Naxos]].

Most accounts claim that Theseus abandoned Ariadne on [[Naxos]], and in some versions [[Perseus]] mortally wounds her. According to some, [[Dionysus]] claimed Ariadne as wife, therefore causing Theseus to abandon her.<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu">{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Diodorus Siculus — Book V Chapters 47‑84 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/diodorus_siculus/5d*.html |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Homer does not elaborate on the nature of Dionysus' accusation, yet the ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'' speculated that she was already married to him when she eloped with Theseus. According to Plutarch, Paion the Amathusian recounted Theseus accidentally abandoned Ariadne only to come back when it was too late.<ref name="TheCollector-2021"/>