Both of the voices are well-articulated, and it's so enjoyable to explore their development. The author switches back and forth quite enjoyably between the voice of the priestess Ariadne and the builder Daedalus. What would a normal person, not essentially credulous by nature, who was born into the priestesshood, think of her own form of worship compared to the new Zeus-centered religion? Etc. What the book really explores, though, is the development of a realistic account of how mother-goddess worship could turn into father-god worship. This book offers a realistic version of the semi-mythical events that lead up to the Athenian Theseus slaying the minotaur at Knossos and marrying, somewhat messily, the two princesses, Ariadne and Pheadra. I was expecting some sort of histrionic 'sex and death among the alabaster pillars of the ancients!!!!1!' - but, I was pleasantly surprised. This book is among the many I have found on the ground, and as such, I wasn't expecting all that much of it. We are guided in this dog eat dog world by Deadalus, Athenian architect and all round handyman to Minos, and Ariadne who we watch grow from young princess to Queen to.read the book.

Brutal massacres of priestesses and corruption of the sacred rites is the order of the day. Minos himself is on a mission to replace the Father/Zeus with the mother. Crete has long been infiltrated by Atticans/Athenians. Pasiphae, Ariadne’s mother, Queen of Crete and the Mother made flesh, has already broken the ancient laws by her submission to her consort Minos, who should have been ritually sacrificed long ago. We enter the palace at Knossos after the rot has already set in. This is not an airy, romantic rendition of an idealized Goddess centered past. She clearly brings a good deal of scholarship (includes a long bibliography) to her fictional interpretation of the collapse of the Mother centered religions and political structures (Crete) and the rise of the patriarchal structures exemplified by Zeus (Athens). Brindel has decoded and reimagined the Cretan and Greek Myths of the Minotaur, Daedalus, Icarus, Theseus and, above all, Ariadne. I cracked its spine again this summer and was amazed (probably all over again) at how brilliant it is. Since then it has survived many cullings of my bookshelf - as well as a house fire.

I first read Ariadne around the time of its publication in 1980.

Ariadne by June Rachuy Brindel