Children will whisper their wishes to it before the close their eyes to dream. Women will look to it for a sing of comfort, a light in the darkness. Your coronet will guide sailors to safety through the labyrinth of the treacherous seas. However, when Minos saw the bull and how magnificent it was, he couldn’t bring himself to sacrifice it, and so he kept the bull for himself and sacrificed one of his regular bulls instead, in the hopes that he could trick Poseidon. Poseidon sent the magnificent bull, and Minos’ claim was supported. So, Minos sacrificed to Poseidon and asked him to send a bull from the sea, and that if Poseidon did this, Minos would sacrifice the bull to the god.

Minos claimed he had support from the gods to become king of Crete, and so he said that if he sacrificed and prayed to the gods for anything, they would fulfil the wish. When the ruler of Crete, Aseterion, died, the three sons of his wife Europa with Zeus Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus all wanted to be king. Ariadne and Phaedra were daughters of King Minos of Crete, a son of Zeus, and his wife Pasiphäe who was a daughter of the Titan-god of the sun, Helios. As the title suggests, our main focus of the book is Ariadne, although I was pleasantly surprised that in Part Two and Three of the book (it’s split into four parts), we also get the point of view of Ariadne’s little sister Phaedra. Let’s start with the mythology Ariadne is based off. Since the book follows the myths very closely, this review details the core myths used in Ariadne, and then my thoughts on the book below will mention key points from the myth which will spoil it for you if you aren’t familiar with it! Mythological Inspiration (this is a long one…) If you aren’t familiar with the myths of Ariadne, Phaedra, Theseus and the Minotaur, then this will spoil those for you.

I am very happy to say I was not disappointed. So to say I was excited to read this one is an understatement, especially due to my obsession with Greek Mythology and women in the ancient world. ★★★★★ (Either 5 stars or 4.75… either way, this book was brilliant!) Head to the end of my review to find my interview with Jennifer Saint with World History Encyclopedia! After you’ve finished watching my interview with Jennifer, I would recommend you then head over to Erica’s YouTube channel MoanInc, where she has built off the questions I asked, and delved even deeper into the story with Jennifer which you can find here!Īriadne by Jennifer Saint was a hugely anticipated read for me this year, even more so after I saw the beautiful cover art for both editions.

Ariadne a novel