120 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
jig. 4, Dionysos is reclining in an indolent attitude upon a trotting ass. He 
is holding his usual attributes, the thyrsus and drinking horn; before him 
marches a satyr playing on a double flute; and in front and behind the 
group are seen a sacrificial cake and a sacred sash. In jig. 5, he is repre- 
sented riding with a radiant crown on a panther or tiger; a Meenad with 
two torches leads the way, and a satyr with a huge wine goblet follows after. 
A celebrated myth which furnished an admirable subject for artists, was 
the love of Dionysos for Ariadne, of which the following are the principal 
incidents. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos J/., king of Crete, and 
Pasiphoé, who had also borne to her husband the J/inotaur, a monster with 
a human body and the head of a bull, endowed with immense strength, and 
whose hunger could only be appeased with human victims. At the time of 
his birth there resided at the court of Minos an Athenian artist, Dedalos, 
who had been condemned to death in Athens for the murder of a rival, but 
who made his escape, and was kindly received and protected by the king 
of Crete. During his exile he built the celebrated Labyrinth in which the 
Minotaur was confined and fed on human flesh. His common victims were 
criminals or captives taken in war; but when Minos had conquered Attica, 
enraged at the loss of his eldest son Androgeos, who was murdered at the 
instigation of geus, king of Athens, he imposed upon the country an 
annual tribute of seven Athenian youths and virgins, to be given to the 
Minotaur. When this revolting tribute was to be paid for the fourth time, 
Theseus, the king’s son, voluntarily joined the number of the victims, with 
the intention of conquering the monster or of perishing with his companions. 
His youth and beauty affected the heart of Ariadne, who presented him with 
a ball of thread by which to guide himself into the labyrinth, and afterwards 
find his way out. He soon found the Minotaur and slew him (pi. 30, 
jig. 17), and then carried off and married his protectress. Arriving at the 
island of Naxos, he yielded to the persuasions of his companions, proved 
faithless to Ariadne, and set sail secretly without her. Sad and deserted, 
she endeavored to terminate her existence in the waves; but Morpheus, god 
of dreams, spread over her eyelids a soft balmy slumber. At length 
Dionysos discovered her on the rocky shore (pl. 24, fig. 14). Captivated by 
her extraordinary beauty, he declared his love, and after satisfying her that 
he was a god and was sincere in his proposal, she consented to be his wife. 
Fig. 5 represents a solemn procession of the two lovers; though according 
to some writers the central couple are Dionysos and Demeter. Both are 
standing on the chariot. The mantle of Dionysos has fallen to his hips, 
while the nebrzs or sacred fawn-skin covers his breast. He carries in the right 
hand a double-handled wine vessel, in the left the thyrsus. Ariadne, clothed 
in a wide tunic, rests her right arm upon her husband’s shoulders, while her 
left hand carries poppies and ears of wheat. Both are crowned with wreaths 
of ivy. A joyous sporting Cupid stands on the right of Dionysos. The car 
is drawn by two centaurs, one of which holds a thyrsus and drinking horn, 
the cther a goblet and blazing torch. They are assisted by two female cen- 
taurs, one blowing a double flute, the other beating the tambourine. The 
chariot itselfis decorated with serpents’ eggs and tongues, and the centre bears 
340 
