Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne is a retelling of the story of the Cretan princess Ariadne, a well-known figure from the Greek myths. If you are familiar with the ancient Greek myths and legends, you might know Ariadne as the traitorous daughter of King Minos who betrayed her family and kingdom, and helped the Athenian prince Theseus kill the Minotaur, a monster who was her own brother. In her feminist reimagining of Ariadne’s tale, Saint hands over narrative agency to princess Ariadne and her sister Phaedra, instead of the better known heroes like Theseus and the god Dionysus whose lives got intertwined with those of the two sisters’. Saint’s mesmerisingly beautiful prose makes Ariadne a fascinating read, even though it doesn’t quite live up to the standards set by other feminist Greek myth retellings like Madeline Miller’s Circe, and ultimately doesn’t really stand out amongst the many mythological reimaginings we’ve been getting over the past few years.
Ariadne, the eldest princess of Crete, still remembers the time before her monstrous brother Asterion’s birth, when her mother used to smile and dance with her and tell her the stories of gods and heroes and monsters. But since he’s been born, her mother seems to get more and more distant with every passing day, as the half-bull child grows into a nightmarish creature whom Minos renames the Minotaur after himself, and who needs to be trapped in a labyrinth running underneath the king’s palace. When Minos’ eldest son Androgeos gets trampled to death by a rampaging bull on an Athenian hillside, Minos wages war on Athens and returns victorious, and as payment for his son’s lost life, he demands fourteen Athenian children be sent every year to Crete to sate the Minotaur’s appetite.
In the third year since Minos’ war against Athens, the Athenian prince Theseus arrives at Crete with thirteen other Athenian children to conquer the Minotaur. Ariadne is drawn to him almost immediately upon his arrival, and she decides to help the hero kill her brother, defying the gods and deceiving her father. In the world of gods and heroes where even the divine women are nothing but assets and pawns belonging to the men, Ariadne sets out to find her happy ending, and her rightful place in a hero’s glorious tale.
In her retelling of Ariadne’s story, Saint stays true to the original Greek myths, and stitches together elements from the many different versions of the tale of Ariadne. Despite Saint’s captivating writing, Ariadne’s narrative voice wasn’t one I particularly enjoyed; there was little dialogue, and too many instances of Ariadne monologuing about her problems and not actually doing anything to solve them, which got monotonous after a while. Indeed, Ariadne as a protagonist is quite indolent, her life too sheltered and stagnant for a reader to truly be interested in her story. Only when the story is almost at its end does she finally, truly decide to take her fate into her own hands and do what is right, but by then, it’s too late.
As for Phaedra, I found her chapters to be infinitely more absorbing when compared to those of Ariadne’s. Phaedra, whom I hadn’t known much about before reading this book, is almost a villain in the Greek myths she’s a part of, branded a conniving seductress. However, we first see Phaedra in Saint’s writing as a charming, witty, effervescent girl, and I enjoyed reading about how she slowly made her place among the men involved in Athens’ city governance. As for the other people in the book, while the Olympian Dionysus and the famous hero Theseus both play significant roles here, the ones who truly shined were the minor characters, like the inventor Daedalus and Theseus’ son Hippolytus. Even though both these characters get very little page time, they manage to leave their marks on you, and when tragedy strikes them both, it truly is almost unbearable, unlike Ariadne, with whom I failed to form an emotional connection in Saint’s story.
If you are interested in the Greek myths and enjoy retellings, you might find Ariadne to be a good read. While Madeline Miller’s Circe is still in a class all by itself, you’d want to give Saint’s novel a try if you liked some of the recent women-centric mythological retellings, like The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, or The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.
Ariadne is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.
A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS.
