Ariadne Quotes
"Stories told that, at the moment of her drowning, Scylla was transformed into a seabird."
"My father's bloody travails were not limited to Scylla or Nisus, I know."
"It wasn't wealth or power that Minos sought from Athens, however."
"A labyrinth to which only I held the key."
"The statues he carved seemed so full of life that they were tethered to the walls by a length of chain lest they should stride away of their own accord."
"I did not feel like an annoying child, a daughter who would never command a fleet of ships or conquer a kingdom and so was of little use or interest to Minos."
"And then Minos proclaimed him the Minotaur."
"I would not imagine the terrors of the Labyrinth: the dank, airless stench of death and despair, and the tearing of teeth through flesh."
"Minos' voice was clipped. 'You may go now, Ariadne.'"
"The greatest prize we give today is usually the olive wreath."
"Do you think he'll try to put up a fight?"
"We must be out of sight, to talk undisturbed."
"I must be able to dance at sunrise tomorrow; it is a sacred day, and I would prepare by honoring the gods as I know best."
"I would not run," he stated simply, and I knew that Daedalus had been right, of course. A hero would not shrink from his destiny; he would not sneak from his dungeon and flee the fight. His name wouldn't ring through the ages for that.
The beast is my brother," I rebuked him, gently. "And there is no weakness in the Minotaur or the Labyrinth. They are both certain death to anyone who enters.
I am not afraid," Theseus assured me. "But I think you fear for me, Ariadne.
"My mother always told me that I was born of greatness, though she concealed my father's identity from me."
"Of course, Heracles chose the rocky path, and in due course he set forth on labors more grueling and perilous than anyone could have imagined."
"I arrived in Athens, my home and my own city, which I had never set foot in before, and I believed my struggles to be at an end, for I had surely proven my worth and my valor."
But Aegeus was right!" Phaedra's voice was earnest, breaking through whatever it was that held Theseus to me in that moment. "You should have raised an army!
"Ariadne, I will not deny a request from you. She must not come near the Labyrinth. You will be outside the door."
When you enter the Labyrinth tomorrow," I told him, "you must fasten this to the doors once they are bolted behind you. Secure it to you firmly, for without it, you will never find your way back out again.
"It was the Pallantidai who killed your brother Androgeos. They were bitter and jealous of anyone's success, and his victory in the games had enraged them."
"Your flesh would be rotting off your bones in the Labyrinth if I had not saved you! You are no hero, you faithless coward!"
"I wondered what he had not told. How many women had he left in his path before me?"
"I thought of Phaedra; she had loved him, too, of course."
"I would tear his head from his shoulders with my bare hands."
"Their purple juice spilled over my fingers as they split in my clenched fists, staining like blood."
"I was on my knees now, gasping with the shock of my fury as though I had been doused in cold water."
"The great bulk of Knossos loomed behind me, blotting the moon from the sky."
"I had always known that monsters existed."
"I leaned right over the edge and blood flooded to my head."
"A winged man. Flying through the misty skies of the dawn, toward the rising sun."
"The heavy door below that was always bolted and secure creaked a long, slow groan as it swung steadily open."
"I knew of gods and their demands, the games they played with mortals, and the way they discarded the broken fragments of the humans who adored them."
"If Dionysus came to punish me, there was nothing I could do."
"I could die whimpering or I could face my fate with the courage of all those women before me."
"We had lived in fear of Minos for our whole lives. Now I waited for the trembling, for the tears to burn in the back of my eyes and the words of protest to crumble to dust in my throat."
"He was an Olympian god; he knew anything he cared to know."
"I was a prisoner of your father, just as much as our own Athenian children were."
"It wasn't long before my steps turned irresistibly toward the lure of the busy hall in which the business of the palace was conducted."
"I summoned that royal smile, the brightest I could, and stepped forward."
"Silver has been discovered there, and perhaps there is more to be mined."
"I swallowed my frustration and used it to the best of my advantage."
"Theseus did not need a wife; he needed a grateful audience and someone to run the city while he carved his name into history."
"Whenever it flickered in my mind, the prevailing sense was that aching loss I felt without Ariadne by my side."
"The gods would take what they wanted, whenever they wanted it."
"My father plucked me from her womb as she burned."
"I had not thought that Dionysus was like the other gods--cold, cruel, and petty."
"I was proud when we reached a clearing in the trees some way up, where a platform of rock gave a view of what lay behind the mountain."
"The mountains give us a natural defense against anyone seeking to take us by land; no army that has ever existed could cross them."
"The silver deposits give us wealth, but do we have the might that Minos wielded?"
"We are vulnerable to attack by sea; that is how Minos took Athens at first."
"It worked. He was contented with his queen, with his quests, and with the promise of eternal glory for his endless exploits."
"Perhaps tomorrow I will slip from the rocks at the cliff edge, or a hungry bear will come from the forest for me."
"My father held this city hostage for three years."
"I was determined that we would attract no divine attention."
"I was sure not to clap too loudly when my son achieved his tiny triumphs."
"I had taught myself well to rarely think of Ariadne at all."
"His infant fists never had to throttle a serpent in his crib."
"I only want to be here, milking goats and talking with you."
"I will love you when you are shriveled and ancient."
"I could feel the truth of it, unshakable and solid to the core."
"The truth of her desire that had led me to his kingdom."
"It was like nothing I had ever seen in all of my travels."
"The competent queen who had juggled the needs of the city so expertly was now a slave to the relentless wailing from the crib."
"I rejoiced in his every step away from me."
"Theseus left, and a few weeks passed when I thought I might know happiness once more."
"I felt trapped beneath the smothering weight of obligation, drudgery, and exhaustion."
"Naxos was only beyond a short stretch of ocean, but it seemed as far out of my reach as the stars fixed in the night sky."
"I knew that lying comes as easily to that man as breathing or walking or drinking wine."
"I had rediscovered my courage. I would not let it slip from me now."
"Far from dissuading me, she had only succeeded in making me more resolute than ever."
"I wonder why she was here now, in the vineyard."
"The important thing is that I try, whatever the outcome."
"You have the chance now to please an Olympian god."
"What kind of a welcome do you give your brother?"
"Did she think my fury would incite Dionysus to burn her to cinders?"
"We were not like them, we had always told ourselves so."
"I would be glad, though, if you did not mention this to Dionysus."
"I knew that little life was communicating with me."
"My legs are weak beneath me, but I must run."
"The gods miss so much, flashing through the skies or galloping around in the skins of animals."
"I felt a hollow sickness gathering in my stomach."
"You do not understand what being a god means."
"I felt them chill my skin and clear my mind."
"Of course she would be at this battle for her city."