] obviously has an excellent command of myths, how they fit together, and the possibilities that they lend to story-telling. I really enjoyed this Greek myth retelling. Phaedra's unwillingness to accept his repulsion with the offer of love from his stepmother causes tragedy for them both.The portrayals of Dionysius and Theseus are quite contrary to the familiar versions from the ancient authors, making this a gem from the female perspective, as is now the reigning custom of our wonderful modern women authors. Phaedra, in the meantime, has realized what a bonehead her own husband Theseus is, he who only is happy when making war on other nations, and she falls in love with his son Hippolytus, who has resolved not to marry and to become the chaste devotee of Artemis. Ariadne, who knows the best side of her husband and adores him, now sees his fatal flaws and his hubris, and when Perseus turns Medusa, the Gorgon’s head, to face Ariadne, she is turned to stone. But, having the worst qualities of human and god, he cannot accept the refusal of anyone who does not want to join his cult, and causes the ruination of the women of Argos, whose king is his half-brother, the hero Perseus. He chooses not to reside in Olympus and castigates the gods and goddesses for toying with and abusing humans. All is well until Dionysius, who is sympathetic to humans because he is the child of Semele, a human woman, and Zeus, seeks followers of his growing cult, which reveres wine, music, and reanimation. The demigod Dionysius, who lives on Naxos, finds Ariadne and marries her. Sister Phaedra flees to Athens to avoid the wrath of Minos and because she, too, has fallen in love with Theseus. Fleeing the wrath of Minos, Theseus brings Ariadne to Naxos, a nearby island, where he seduces and abandons her, for no apparent reason. When the hero Theseus arrives with his fellow citizens of Athens as forced tributes to the monster, Ariadne falls in love with him and, with the assistance of Daedalus (yes, THAT Daedalus!) the brilliant engineer, provides the key to the maze prison so that Theseus can slay her brother.

Pasiphae is forced by Poseidon's anger at Minos to mate with a bull and gives birth to the Minotaur. There's an amazing cast of well-known monsters, heroes, and deities, but the dual narrations by the daughters of Minos, tyrant king of Crete, and his wife Pasiphae, reveal previously unimagined events and circumstances. Of all the recent books offering lookbacks on the roles of women in Greek mythology, this straightforward rendering of the stories of sisters Ariadne and Phaedra is the most enlightening.

Jennifer saint ariadne