Ariadne: The Mesmerising Sunday Times Bestselling Retelling of Ancient Greek Myth

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As other reviewers have pointed out, retellings are usually supposed to build upon the base myth and add things to better the story and fully flesh it out, not recount them step by step, which is what the author did, and it led to the story falling extremely flat and having no feeling behind it. This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, providing citations to reliable, secondary sources, rather than simply listing appearances. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2017) the writing in this is also lovely. not quite on the level of madeline miller (an impossibly high standard, tbh), but still has moments of beauty. there are quite a few moments of characters recounting tales, which reminded me so much of traditional greek oral storytelling, so that was nice to see. i also think this story offers a great commentary on the role women play in the world of men and gods and gives ariadne (as well as her sister) a much deserved voice.

The price we paid for the resentment, the lust and the greed of arrogant men was our pain, shining and bright like the blade of a newly honed knife.” Henry Liddell; Robert Scott (1940). Jones, Henry Stuart (ed.). A Greek–English Lexicon. Clarendon Press. Ariadne reflects that the ritual gave shape to the Maenads grief and anger. Does this explanation make sense to you? Can you think of rituals or activities in our culture today that might fill a similar role? Does that justify them? I will talk about events in the novel without spoilers aside from things that line up with the original myths and, thus, are not spoilers because you can look it up on Wikipedia or Theoi . com or if you truly want to know nothing about the events of the myth or this book, maybe skip my review.Edit 18-12-2020: I'm an even simpler girl, I get approved for ARC: I do a little happy dance in my livingroom. Can't wait to get started in this one. The skill of Saint’s characterisation is most prominently felt in that of Dionysus. He is given a vitality and youthful sense of liberation, which cannot hide his separation from humanity, even as great pathos is created. This pathos stems from the beautiful exploration of his relationship with his human mother Semele. Saint’s treatment of the characters and myths creates a compelling narrative with believable characters. And so, Ariadne provides the perfect antidote to the frequently misogynistic and frankly dull versions of the story which solely focus on Theseus.

As an avid reader of Greek mythology I was so curious to see which myths of Ariadne Jennifer Saint would include. I’ve been especially curious about Ariadne and have read many different versions of her story and what happens to her. I was excited to delve into this book to see which ones the author would take inspiration from. I loved seeing their sisterhood and growing up in Crete shrouded in shame, ruled over by their tyrannical father. I also loved the exploration of the sisters individual characteristics; Ariadne as the gentler, introspective sister with bravery and cunning when deciding to help Theseus: Phaedra as the outgoing, daring and confident of the two.Ariadne bore Dionysus famous children, including Oenopion, Staphylus, and Thoas. Dionysus set her wedding diadem in the heavens as the constellation Corona Borealis. Ariadne was faithful to Dionysus. In one version of her myth, Perseus killed her at Argos by turning her to stone with the head of Medusa during Perseus' war with Dionysus. [22] The Odyssey [23] relates that Artemis killed her. According to Plutarch, one version of the myth tells that Ariadne hanged herself after being abandoned by Theseus. [24] Dionysus then went to Hades, and brought her and his mother Semeleto Mount Olympus, where they were deified. [25] As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year. Ariadne, played by Aiysha Hart, is a major character in the BBC series Atlantis (2013), which is loosely based on Greek myths. She falls in love with Jason and helps him conquer the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth. Later, her stepmother, Pasiphae tries to prevent their union. I think my favorite part of reading anything based off of greek mythology is that you really get to see how interpretation works. By so many different authors. So many different minds. One line of something can be taken differently because of the way it's read and the person it's read by. It's so interesting, and chaotic, and in this case, inspiring. I love the line I quoted above because it's so true. That we only see one side of a story so often that it's cool to look at the others around them to see what else was truly going on. A story can be spun from so many different things. I'm so glad I got to know Ariadne a bit better.

These stories are falling into the hands of a very diverse array of authors at the moment, and that’s giving them a new life, ” agreed Jeffs, pointing to books from Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad to more recent works by Madeline Miller, Monique Roffey and Natalie Haynes. “And maybe in difficult times, that freshness and that inspiration, and just a really good story, is something we yearn for.” With her wonderfully executed debut that reimagines the classic tale of Theseus, Adriane and the Minotaur, Jennifer Saint joins the likes of Madeline Miller and Pat Barker in forging mesmerising retellings of ancient Greek myths from a female perspective.’– Waterstones.com Saint’s immersive novel thrusts the reader straight into the heart of Greek mythology with this wonderful reimagining of the story of Ariadne.’– iPaperAriadne is a major character in Mary Renault's historical novel The King Must Die (1958), about the Bronze Age hero Theseus. However, other than her actions at the beginning of the book, I found Ariadne to be quite a passive character. I did enjoy reading the story from a woman’s perspective and it perfectly highlighted how women would be punished for the actions of a man. When Dionysus sends the Argive women mad: "I saw him for what he was, no different from the mightiest of gods. Or the basest of men ... he could measure his glory in female torment."

For example on the mirror engraving reproduced in Larissa Bonfante and Judith Swaddling, Etruscan Myths, The Legendary Past series, University of Texas/British Museum, 2006, fig. 25, p. 41. What am I supposed to take from this? That it's impossible for Ariadne to break out of the suffering that men (and gods) cause in creating their legends? She certainly doesn't try - the woman is so passive that she knows nothing about the world or about her own husband. It would be better to write this as a tragedy and show an active heroine who tries to break out of the fate set for her, and who chooses Dionysus because he is interesting and powerful. I loved the twist on the Greek heroes. Theseus is an asshole and I loved hating on him. I enjoyed all the different elements and characters, including Daedalus and Icarus. I hope you enjoyed this Ariadne book review. The book is available to buy now. You may also be interested in: The atmosphere of the book was beautiful and I'll give it some extra points because even though it had all the rights to be a heavy one, it wasn't. Everything felt natural, very Greek if you want, and the story fell nicely into a fluid pace.Having said that, I did like Ariadne as a character. Not every character has to be a feminist icon. I enjoyed her gentleness and her capacity for forgiveness. I also enjoyed reading Phaedra’s perspective, despite finding her infuriating at times. This book evoked a lot of emotions. As soon as I saw Theseus enter the scene I had utter dread in my stomach as I knew what would happen. But however, this story also included the god, Dionysus, my favourite God of wine and rituals- I was so happy he was included! I Love Dionysus 🍷 🍇 Ariadne is associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of Theseus and the Minotaur.