mythology

a Minoan-inspired poetic story about how The Lily Prince got his name

Soon after he took his initial steps,
his heart was drawn to the coast at sunset
bedecked with rosen cumulus clouds.
The seagulls’¹ elegiac yeows
set to the Aegean’s sonorous symphony—
all served as an invitation from the sand lilies².

Prince of the Lilies Reconstruction from Original Fragments

So, the young wide-eyed prince wandered off
every opportune moment he got
to inhale the warm salted air
sweetened by the flowers’ subtle flair.

But it wasn’t long before his mother caught up
and urged him to return with her to the palace at once.
And he would oblige, for he was the Wanax’s³ son,
but not before he picked her the most vibrant one.

P.S. You’ll be seeing quite a bit of Minoan-inspired poems from me this month because it’s National Poetry Month/NaPoWriMo. 😀

Seabirds of the genus Larus were likely present in ancient Crete. ↩︎
Also known as a sea daffodil or sea lily (Pancratium maritimum), the sand lily is native to Crete and has been around since prehistoric times, with the Minoans depicting it in their art. ↩︎
“king” in Mycenaean Greek (pronounced as wa-na-ka in Linear B). While not directly associated with Minoan rulers, there is evidence of kings in Minoan Crete, but there is no known word for them. ↩︎

Ariadne (Greek: Ἀριάδνη) was a Cretan princess and the daughter of King Minos (the mythic king that the Minoans were named after) and Pasiphae (a sorceress and daughter of Helios). Upon her death, she was regarded as a goddess of labyrinths and paths.

a painting of Ariadne in a reclining position with two leopards nearby. She is by a harbor.

^{Ariadne by John William Waterhouse (1898)}

The Myth of Ariadne: Princess Turned Goddess

There are several versions of Ariadne’s myth, but she is best known for overseeing the labyrinth where sacrifices were made. Putting an end to these atrocities once and for all, she ended up assisting Theseus in his escape from the Minotaur (a half-bull, half-man creature) with a ball of thread, only to be abandoned by him at Naxos. Exhausted and heartbroken, she fell asleep at the island’s shore. Dionysus (god of wine and festivity) happened to see her, and it was love at first sight. They later married, and as a sign of his devotion, Dionysus tossed Ariadne’s bejeweled crown into the heavens, creating the Corona Borealis¹. Her goddess status came after she died when her grief-stricken husband traveled to the Underworld and brought her back to life so they could be together forevermore.

^{Bacchus (Dionysus) and Ariadne by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1720)}

A Goddess of Pre-Greek Origins

While Ariadne is prominent in Greek mythology, linguist Robert S. P. Beekes and archaeologist Stylianos Alexiou have theorized that she had a pre-Hellenistic origin. The main reason is due to her name including “dn” (δν), which is particularly rare in Indo-European languages. Therefore, that points to her name stemming from Minoan loanwords². Furthermore, Greek lexicographers have claimed that Ariadne is derived from the ancient Cretan dialectical elements: “ari” (ἀρι: most) and “adnós” (ἀδνός: holy), so The “Most Holy” One³.

Yet another aspect to Ariadne is that of a Minoan fertility goddess. Could it be that Ariadne was the Minoan’s mother goddess repurposed/re-imagined by the Greeks?

Some more information about her is included in the infographic I created below: