King Minos and Queen Pasiphae of Crete had many children, including Androgeos and Ariadne. Upon offending the god Poseidon by keeping a bull Minos had intended to sacrifice, Poseidon cursed Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull. She mated with it and the offspring, being half man and half bull, was the Minotaur, named Asterion. Despite trying to raise it, Asterion turned feral and began devouring humans. After seeking advice from the Oracle of Delphi, Minos made Daedalus construct a labyrinth to imprison Asterion. Years later, Androgeos, the eldest of Minos’ children, participated in the Panathenaic Games and did so well he was envied and assassinated, which enraged King Minos, who went to war with Athens after its king, King Aegeus, could not reveal the assassins. Upon winning, he demanded that every nine years, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were sent to Crete to be eaten by Asterion in the labyrinth. On the third occurrence of sacrifices, Aegeus’ son, Theseus, volunteered to slay Asterion and vowed to return flying white sails. When he arrived in Crete, Ariadne fell in love with him and vowed to help him. She gave him a ball of string and advice from Daedalus to help navigate the labyrinth, if he would take her and her sister away from Crete. Theseus agreed and took the gifts, along with the sword he had hidden, and found his way to the center of the labyrinth. He came upon sleeping Asterion, who woke, and a battle ensued. Theseus killed Asterion, used the string to escape the labyrinth with the other sacrifices, and took Ariadne and her sister with him as he sailed back to Athens. They fell asleep on the island of Naxos and Athena visited Theseus in a dream, telling him he had to leave right away and abandon the girls. Theseus complied, and in his distress, forgot to change the black sails to white. When Aegeus saw the black sails and thought his son had been killed, he threw himself into the sea, which became known as the Aegean. Ariadne was in such despair from being abandoned that Dionysus, the god of wine, heard her cries and saved her, eventually marrying her and she became the goddess of labyrinths, vegetation, wine, and Crete.
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