Twisted Mythology: Ariadne

Twisted
Mythology: Ariadne

By Ashleigh Matthews

Copyright © 2016
Heather Mayson

All Rights Reserved

Sunlight pouring in from the window behind her onto her loom
let Ariadne know that the noon hour had arrived at last.  The princess set her
shuttles aside to inspect her progress.  The scene depicting an Athenian
tribute being sent down into the Labyrinth was coming along quite nicely.  Her
work could not compare to anything that Athena might produce herself, but
Ariadne had a feeling the quality of her design and her technique would impress
the goddess.

She let out a sigh the shadows from the shrine’s main doors
shifted.  The princess turned her eyes to see the two servants who tended the
shrine with her entering with a platter of food and a jug of wine for the three
of them to share.  She came to her feet and followed the two young women to the
apartment they shared located near the entrance to the Labyrinth.  She thanked
the gods that these two women were not as stupid as the previous pair.

Ariadne watched the taller of the servants serve the wine
while her companion set the platter closer to their mistress’s preferred seat. 
They learned at a faster pace than their predecessors.  She would pay them a
compliment if she could find the words that would not make it come out as an
insult.  She took a seat and accepted the goblet extended in her direction. 
Her stomach growled as the aroma of seasoned meats and vegetables reached her
nostrils.  Had it truly been that long since she had eaten the morning meal? 
Surely it hadn’t.  Other than her weaving, she had little to occupy her time
this day.

Neither servant took a seat nor poured wine into their own
goblets until Ariadne had taken several bites of food.  And once they had taken
their spots at the table, they stared at their hands in silence.  Their
obedience would please the gods and make their parents proud.  When she had her
fill, she pushed the platter away.  The two women would sit there until she
gave them permission to eat.  A part of her sometimes wondered how long she
could make them sit there.  She had heard stories of master being so cruel. 
But she was not that cruel plus it displeased the gods, and the judges would
hold it against her when she stood before them in the Underworld.  Yet before
she could allow them to enjoy what she had not eaten, she had questions to ask
and job assignments to hand out.

“Do you have any messages for me?” she asked.

“We were told a messenger from the King, your father, would
be coming down an hour past noon, your Highness,” the taller of the two
informed her.

“Did my mother send down any instructions with you?”

“Only that you join her and your sisters for the evening
meal at sundown.”

Ariadne nodded.  She hoped the action would keep the groan at
the back of her throat from reaching her lips.  She joined her mother every
evening for dinner unless her father wanted to parade her in front of his court. 
It had not changed since she was still a babe in her mother’s arms.  Not once
had she missed the meal, even when the tributes had arrived later in the day than
expected.  Did her mother think her as stupid as most servants?  Ariadne hoped
that when she became a mother to a daughter, she would have more confidence in
her child’s ability to remember to do something without being reminded.  She
could almost hear her mother ask her what she possibly knew about mothering
children.  She snorted.  If she hesitated any longer, no doubt the servants
would die of starvation.

“After your meal, head into the tribute dormitory and give
the place a thorough cleaning,” she commanded.  “We have to assume that the
messenger His Majesty is sending down will be announcing their impending
arrival.  We want the Athenians to know that Crete respects the sacrifice they
are making on behalf of their polis.”  Her lips curled into a smile.  “Take
time to enjoy the food and the wine.  It would be a shame to let the flavors go
unappreciated.”

She finished the last of her wine and retreated to her
loom.  Her mind stayed so focused on the task in front of her that she did not
realize the messenger had arrived until he let out a polite cough.  The sound
startled her that she nearly dropped the shuttle in her hands.  Ariadne turned
to face her guest, a small grin on her face.  So rarely did she get to be in
the presence of a young man near her age, she took a moment to enjoy the view. 
He barely stood a head taller than her, his shoulders had yet to fill out and
he was only beginning to show the signs of a beard on his chin.  He carried no
weapons.  Her father would not allow him so close to her if he had a sword on
his hip.  This young man probably had been warned that King Minos had employed
an Amazon to tutor Ariadne in weapons.

He returned her smile and gave her a stiff bow.  “Your
Highness, the King wishes a private word with you.  I am to escort your person
to the great hall.”

The princess set down her shuttle and muttered, “Thank
you.”  She slowly came to her feet, willing herself to not take a moment to
stretch.  Somehow her mother would hear about it, and Ariadne had little doubt
that her father’s entire court would hear the scolding her mother would give
her for showing too much skin.  It was bad enough that a male not related to
her was being allowed to set eyes on her at all.  Her father, when he heard
about the incident, would assign the messenger elsewhere, or worse.  Every
person in her father’s employ had been threatened at least once with being sent
into the Labyrinth as a tribute for the Minotaur.  Ariadne remembered only one
unfortunate soul being punished in this manner.  Her father had encouraged her
to use the threat of the Labyrinth when encouraging her servants to perform
their tasks.  She found it did nothing to speed their work.  Giving them more
time for their meals, however, led to these two servants being more productive.

Ariadne straightened her skirts and pivoted towards the
messenger.  He stayed a respectful distance behind her as they headed out of
the shrine and into Knossos, her father’s capital on Crete.  They did not have
to walk through the city very far for Minos’ palace stood the next street
over.  Few people were on the streets at this hour and those who were ignored
her as they debated with their companions.  She should consider herself lucky
that she had seen this much of the city.  Her sisters had never left the palace
grounds and wouldn’t until they wed.  Even her mother rarely left the confines
of the palace; her place was tending to her husband and his household. 
Pasiphaë received high praise for being a good wife.  Anyone who said otherwise
was severely punished.  No one wanted to be reminded who had given birth to the
monster in the Labyrinth.  The princess scolded herself for even thinking it. 
The quicker she arrived at her father’s side, the quicker she could get the
memory off her mind.

On the palace grounds, members of her father’s court stopped
her long enough to praise her work tending the shrine.  Ariadne smiled and
whispered her thanks.  A few tried to distract her with more pleasantries which
she put to a quick end with the words, “My apologies, my lord, the King has
summoned me to his side.”  Her mother would certainly compliment her on her
behavior, or at least find very little wrong with how she conducted herself in
front of her father’s court.

The guards outside the great hall gave her short bows before
pulling the large doors open for her to enter.  A herald announced her arrival
but her father and the three men speaking with him paid her no attention.  They
were deep in a conversation of which she would get only a short part.  Could
she hope that they were bringing word of the new god making his way through
Hellas?  Her lips wanted to curl up in a smile, but she forced her mouth to
stay put.  It was unladylike for a future wife to take interest in the
activities outside her home much less tales from abroad.  She must –and
would—feign disinterest, until her father voiced his opinion and gave her
permission to speak.  But she would listen intently to both her father and his
honored guests like any good daughter would.

“I find these rumors to be outrageous!” a tall gentleman
with dark brown hair only now beginning to gray shouted.  A second man nodded
in agreement.  “A new god!  They say he surrounds himself with crazy women.”

“Who entices the women of wherever they are visiting to
abandon their womanly duties,” the second man added.  “We only bring these
rumors to your attention for I understand his followers are making a sojourn on
Naxos, and that is only a day’s sail from your shores at best.”

“Dionysus, they call him,” her father said after a long
pause.  “I’ve heard these ill stories you recite to me and more: that he drove
the mother of the King of Thebes to rip off his head, that he drives the women
who don’t join his festivities mad for the insult they’ve paid him.  But
stories of his benevolence have reached my ears as well.  Should he and his
followers come to my court, I will welcome him.  We do not need a reminder of
what happens when the gods are insulted.  Athens thinks of it regularly, I
assure you.”  Minos smiled and cast his eyes in her direction.  He came to his
feet, extending his hands towards her as he walked in her direction.  Ariadne
slip her hands onto her father’s and gave him a low curtsey.  “How does the
monster fair?”

“I can hear his moans at the doors of the Labyrinth,
Majesty,” she told her father.  “I pray Athens will send their next batch of
tributes soon.”

“A messenger arrived this morning,” the King smiled.  “They
arrive within a fortnight.  Begin your preparations for their arrival.”

“It will be as you command, Majesty,” she replied as her father
released his grip on her fingers.

Her father’s household had likely already started to gather
the necessary supplies.  All she would truly need to do was direct her own
servants in their tasks.  But Ariadne would check all the supplies several
times over to ensure only what was needed to take care of her father’s guests
were delivered to the shrine.

The shrine to the Labyrinth included a dormitory where the
Athenian tributes would reside until they were, one by one, sent to their
dooms.  The building itself stood three stories tall with a common room on the
main floor and two rooms on each of the floors above.  Fourteen youths would
arrive within the hour; their boat had been spotted on the horizon.  Poseidon
had granted them a peaceful journey from Athens.

Ariadne herself would not be meeting the seven youths and
seven maidens at the dock.  The King always greeted them and gave them a long
speech.  He believed these Athenians needed to hear outright what their fate
was and why they were being sent to it.  Minos could have ordered an underling
to perform this task; rumors suggested that he had even considered it, yet he
had set the thought aside quickly.  He respected King Aegeus of Athens too
deeply to hand the task over to someone else.

To keep herself busy until the tributes arrived on her
doorstep, she and the servants cleaned the shrine and the dormitory yet again. 
She would make certain her father’s guests were treated as though they were a
part of Mino’s own family.  Her treatment of them would please both her father
and Zeus.  The Athenians would see how hospitable Minos could be.

When they could dust and mop no more, Ariadne sent the
servants up to the palace kitchens to bring some refreshment to the shrine for
the tributes.  Her father would hand them over to her with little ceremony
before slipping away to oversee the final preparations for the feast he always
held in their honor.  It would give them time to rest and to get to know their
surroundings.  It also gave Ariadne the chance to give her new charges her own
words of welcome.  The princess paced, turning towards the alcove and her
loom.  She felt the urge to add more rows to her weaving.  When the tributes
arrived, they would see for themselves that the people of Crete refused to be
idle.  Her father had reminded her that morning, though, that he wanted her to
greet the tributes at the shrine door, not from her loom.

The servants returned with the jugs of wine and announced
that Minos and the Athenian were approaching.  She stepped outside to see her
father leading a procession of the tributes and her father’s welcoming party. 
Minos stopped only a few steps from the shrine door as Ariadne bowed her head
and gave her father a low curtsey.  The King pivoted around to face the
tributes.

“Welcome to your temporary home,” her father said.  “I
present to you my daughter the Princess Ariadne.  She will be your host for the
remainder of your sojourn on Crete.”

She welcomed the youths inside the shrine and as they entered
her servants offered each of them a goblet of wine.  Minos retreated to the
palace after he reminded his daughter to treat his honored guests with the
hospitality that Zeus commanded.  Ariadne proclaimed that she would see it done
and watched her father vanish into the sea of people before following the last
of the tributes inside.  The Athenians huddled close together save for one
youth who stood several steps away from the rest.  While the others stood with
hunched shoulders and took small sips from their goblets, this one kept his
shoulders out, his back straight, and his wine all but forgotten in his hands. 
She would have to keep an eye on this one.

“Welcome to Knossos, honored guests,” she greeted.  “We have
prepared rooms for you in the building next door.  The maidens have the rooms
on the top floor and the youths on the middle floor.  The King commands that
you be allowed to go wherever you like while you are on Crete.  He only asks
that if possible to go out in groups, that you have an escort from his guards
and that you return to the shrine by dusk.  With the exception of the feast the
King is holding in your honor, you will take your meals on the main floor of
the dormitory.  Guards have been appointed by the King will check that you are
in your beds at night, at regular intervals.  If there is anything else you
require, let me know and I will see what I can arrange.”

The youth who stood apart from the others took a step
forward.  It gave Ariadne a chance to admire him.  His body was lean and tan
from spending years outside.  His features reminded her of some sculptor’s
statue.  His eyes reminded her of the sea on a stormy day.  She would have to
see that he was the last of the tributes to be sent into the Labyrinth.

“I am called Theseus, Princess,” he said.  “Will we have the
opportunity to train with a weapon’s master while we are here?”

Ariadne smiled.  “I have not heard that one before.  Do you
plan to slaughter the Minotaur?”

“Every Athenian dreams of putting an end to your monster in
the Labyrinth, Princess,” he told her.  “I’ve heard it is an impossible task
without a weapon.  I doubt that I would be given one before I am sent to my
death.  We only ask for the chance not to be idle while waiting.”  He paused
for a moment to consider his next words.  “You can tell your King that while it
would make us stronger, it would also put a little more meat on our bones for
your monster to eat.”

“I will take you request to the King, Theseus of Athens.”

“Your courtesy towards us would please our kin,” Theseus
said.

Ariadne smiled.  She supposed that was as close to a thank
you as she would get from any of the Athenians.  “If you please accompany me, I
will show you to your accommodations,” she said, raising her hand to gesture
towards the door that led through a small courtyard to the dormitory.  The
tributes followed a distance behind her.  She did not catch how far way Theseus
stood from the group as they continued on.  She imagined that he was studying
his surroundings, perhaps searching for a way to escape.  The two previous
groups of tributes had done the same.  Somehow one youth had made it all the
way to the docks, throwing himself into the sea.  He had been quickly rescued
and taken directly to the Labyrinth.

Her servants walked ahead of her and the tributes, torches
in their hands.  She had discussed with them their duties for this day until
they both could recite it back to her word for word.  As a reward, she had
given them an extra hour of leisure after the noon meal.  By then, it felt like
they had cleaned both the shrine and the dormitory a thousand times.  Another
cleaning certainly could have waited.  She watched the two women vanish
outside, joining them a moment later.  The taller servant quickened her pace
and hurried to open the door across the courtyard.  When Ariadne herself reached
the dormitory, she pivoted around and motioned for the tributes to head
inside.  Theseus had taken a position several paces behind his fellow
Athenians.  She could see his eyes darting from one end of the small courtyard
to the other.  He was planning something.  Perhaps she could entice it out of
him before he or the other tributes were sent to their doom.

Only after Theseus entered the dormitory did Ariadne
follow.  The servants had lit several of the lamps around the room, and a small
fire burned in the fireplace.  Several of the maidens had taken a seat at one
of the four tables scattered around the room.  Her eyes drifted to Theseus who
again seemed to be studying his surroundings.  Ariadne remained by the door,
waiting for the King’s messenger to arrive with news that the tributes were
expected in the great hall.  She let them whisper amongst themselves for a
moment, watching them carefully.  Periodically, their eyes drifted towards
Theseus.  Was it hope in their eyes when they looked at him?  She would
endeavor to find out.

“This is where your meals will be delivered after today, as
I have said before,” she told them.  “The King will provide you three meals a
day.  The first will be delivered at dawn, the second at the noon hour and the
third at dusk.  Please do not feel like you are stuck in this building, but
know only here and at the shrine will you not need an escort.”

She gave them a generous smile to the sound of footsteps
approaching the door.  An armed guard took two steps inside.  “Honored guests
of King Minos of Crete, my King asks for the pleasure of your company at his
palace for a feast to celebrate your sacrifice,” the guard announced.  He then
turned on his heel and exited.

The Athenian maidens slowly came to their feet.  The youths
lingered behind until the young women had reached the door.  One yelped as she
stepped outside.  All the youths, with Theseus at the front, rushed outside to
her aid.  Her father had sent enough guards for each of the tributes.  They
were leaving the grounds after all.

“Please do not be alarmed, honored guests,” she said after
stepping into the courtyard.  “These are the guards my father chose to be your
escorts while you are off the shrine grounds.  They will be stationed outside
the main doors during your stay.”  She tried to give them a reassuring smile. 
“If you would please follow me, the King grows impatient,”

With no more encouraging words, Ariadne walked past the
Athenians and led them back through the shrine.  A chorus of footsteps and
swords tapping against armor followed her.  Outside the shrine, they were
greeted by a crowd of citizens, male and female, young and old.  In their eyes,
she could read their appreciation that it would not be one of them who would be
fed to the Minotaur.  If they obeyed their King’s laws and honored the gods,
they would never know the inside of the Labyrinth.  Minos had a steady stream
of other polis’ who paid a tribute in youths destined to become her
half-brother’s next meal along with a staggering number of criminals from
across Crete and slaves from across Hellas.  The monster would never grow
hungry.  But the possibility still loomed over them, and Ariadne knew they
lived with fear daily.