Ariadne. Ariadne was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. One of the most popular themes in the representation of Ariadne is her abandonment by Theseus, the Athenian hero who promised to marry her but left her on the island of Naxos. Another common theme in the representation of Ariadne is her discovery by Bacchus, the god of wine, who falls in love with her and marries her. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. The ancient Roman author Hyginus identified Ariadne as the Roman Libera/Proserpina at approximately the same time as Libera was officially identified with Proserpina in 205 BC, these 2 names becoming synonymous for the same goddess. Hyginus equated Libera/Proserpina with Ariadne as bride to Liber, whose Greek equivalent was Dionysus, the husband of Ariadne. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, the King of Crete and son of Zeus, and of Pasiphaë, Minos' queen and daughter of Helios. Others denominated her mother Crete, daughter of Asterius, the husband and King of Europa. Ariadne was the sister of Acacallis, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Xenodice, and Catreus. Through her mother, Pasiphaë, she was also the half-sister of the Minotaur. Ariadne married Dionysus and became the mother of Oenopion, the personification of wine, Staphylus, who was associated with grapes, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Phliasus, Enyeus, Ceramus, Maron, Euanthes, Latramys, and Tauropolis. Minos put Ariadne in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made as part of reparations either to Poseidon or Athena, depending on the version of the myth; later, she helped Theseus conquer the Minotaur and save the victims from sacrifice. In other narrations, she was the bride of Dionysus; her status as mortal or divine varying in those accounts. Because 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 was killed there. The Athenians asked for terms and were required to sacrifice 7 young men and 7 maidens to the Minotaur every 7 or 9 years. One year, the sacrificial party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus, who volunteered to kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love with him at first sight and provided him a sword and ball of thread so that he could retrace his way out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur. 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 Most accounts claim that Theseus abandoned Ariadne, and in some versions Perseus mortally wounds her. One of the versions that the oldest Greeks told was that the god of wine, Dionysus claimed Ariadne as wife, therefore causing Theseus to abandon her. 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. In Hesiod and most other versions, Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, and Dionysus rediscovered and wedded her.