Listed 15 sub titles with search on: Homeric world for destination: "NAXOS Island KYKLADES".
A name of the island of Naxos, where Artemis slew Ariadne (Od. 11.325).
Commentators on Homer have preserved the legend that Poseidon saw Amphitrite dancing in Naxos and carried her off
Amphitrite, according to Hesiod (Theog. 243) and Apollodorus (i. 2.7) a Nereid, though in other places Apollodorus (i. 2.2, i. 4.6) calls her an Oceanid. She is represented as the wife of Poseidon and the goddess of the sea (the Mediterranean), and she is therefore a kind of female Poseidon. In the Homeric poems she does not occur as a goddess, and Amphitrite is merely the name of the sea. The most ancient passages in which she occurs as a real goddess is that of Hesiod above referred to and the Homeric hymn on the Delian Apollo (94), where she is represented as having been present at the birth of Apollo. When Poseidon sued for her hand, she fled to Atlas, but her lover sent spies after her, and among them one Delphinus, who brought about the marriage between her and Poseidon, and the grateful god rewarded his service by placing him among the stars (Eratosth. Catast. 31; Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 17). When afterwards Poseidon shewed some attachment to Scylla, Amphitrite's jealousy was excited to such a degree, that she threw some magic herbs into the well in which Scylla used to bathe, and thereby changed her rival into a monster with six heads and twelve feet (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 45, 649). She became by Poseidon the mother of Triton, Rhode, or Rhodos, and Benthesicyme (Hesiod. Theoy. 930, &c.; Apollod. i. 4.6; iii. 15.4). Later poets regard Amphitrite as the goddess of the sea in general, or the ocean (Eurip. Cycl. 702; Ov. Met. i. 14). Amphitrite was frequently represented in ancient works of art; her figure resembled that of Aphrodite, but she was usually distinguished from her by a sort of net which kept her hair together, and by the claws of a crab on her forehead. She was sometimes represented as riding on marine animals, and sometimes as drawn by them. The temple of Poseidon on the Corinthian isthmus contained a statue of Amphitrite (Paus. ii. 1.7), and her figure appeared among the relief ornaments of the temple of Apollo at Amyclae (iii. 19.4). on the throne of the Olympian Zeus, and in other places (v. 2.3, comp. i. 17.3, v. 26.2). We still possess a considerable number of representations of Amphitrite. A colossal statue of her exists in the Villa Albani, and she frequently appears on coins of Syracuse. The most beautiful specimen extant is that on the arch of Augustus at Rimini.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
...Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the magician
Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but he did not enjoy
her, for before he could do so Artemis killed her in the island of Dia on account
of what Bacchus had said against her. (Od.11.321)
Ariadne. The daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, who fell in love with Theseus when he came to Crete to kill the Minotaur, and gave him a clew of yarn, to help him to find his way back to the light of day after slaying the monster in the Labyrinth. She then escaped with him. Homer represents Ariadne as slain by Artemis in the island of Dia, close to Crete, at the request of Dionysus. But the later legend shifts the scene to the isle of Naxos, where the slumbering Ariadne is deserted by Theseus. On waking, she is in the depths of despair, when Dionysus comes and raises her to the dignity of a god's wife. Zeus grants her immortality, and sets her bridal gift, a crown, among the stars. She received divine honours: at Naxos her festivals were held, now with dismal rites recalling her abandonment, and now with bacchanalian revelry befitting the happy bride of Dionysus. The story of Ariadne has been a favourite subject for artists and poets in all ages. At Athens in the autumn they held a joyous festival to her and Dionysus, which Theseus was supposed to have founded on his return from Crete. In Italy, where they identified Dionysus with their wine-god Liber, they also took Ariadne for the wine-goddess Libera.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ariadne, a daughter of Minos and Pasiphae or Creta (Apollod. iii. 1.2). When Theseus was sent by his father to convey the tribute of the Athenians to Minotaurus, Ariadne fell in love with him, and gave him the string by means of which he found his way out of the Labyrinth, and which she herself had received from Hephaestus. Theseus in return promised to marry her (Plut. Thes. 19; Hygin. Fab. 42; Didym. ad Odyss. xi. 320), and she accordingly left Crete with him; but when they arrived in the island of Dia (Naxos), she was killed there by Artemis (Hom. Od. xi. 324). The words added in the Odyssey, Dionusou marturieisin, are difficult to understand, unless we interpret them with Pherecydes by "on the denunciation of Dionysus," because he was indignant at the profanation of his grotto by the love of Theseus and Ariadne. In this case Ariadne was probably killed by Artemis at the moment she gave birth to her twin children, for she is said to have had two sons by Theseus, Oenopion and Staphylus. The more common tradition, however, was, that Theseus left Ariadne in Naxos alive; but here the statements again differ, for some relate that he was forced by Dionysus to leave her (Diod. iv. 61, v. 51; Paus. i. 20.2, ix. 40.2, x. 29.2), and that in his grief he forgot to take down the black sail, which occasioned the death of his father. According to others, Theseus faithlessly forsook her in the island, and different motives are given for this act of faithlessness (Plut. Thes. 20; Ov. Met. viii. 175, Heroid. 10; Hygin. Fab. 43). According to this tradition, Ariadne put an end to her own life in despair, or was saved by Dionysus, who in amazement at her beauty made her his wife, raised her among the immortals, and placed the crown which he gave her at his marriage with her, among the stars (Hesiod. Theog. 949; Ov. Met. l. c.; Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 5). The Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (iii. 996) makes Ariadne become by Dionysus the mother of Oenopion, Thoas, Staphylus, Latromis, Euanthes, and Tauropolis. There are several circumstances in the story of Ariadne which offered the happiest subjects for works of art, and some of the finest ancient works, on gems as well as paintings, are still extant, of which Ariadne is the subject.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
...And at his (Theseus) suggestion she gave Theseus a clue when he went in; Theseus
fastened it to the door, and, drawing it after him, entered in. And having found
the Minotaur in the last part of the labyrinth, he killed him by smiting him with
his fists; and drawing the clue after him made his way out again. And by night
he arrived with Ariadne and the children (the boys and girls whom he had rescued
from the Minotaur) at Naxos. There Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne and carried
her off; and having brought her to Lemnos he enjoyed her, and begat Thoas, Staphylus,
Oenopion, and Peparethus. (Apollod. R.1.9)
Comments:
The clearest description of the clue, with which the amorous Ariadne
furnished Theseus, is given by the Scholiasts and Eustathius on Homer l.c.. From
them we learn that it was a ball of thread which Ariadne had begged of Daedalus
for the use of her lover. He was to fasten one end of the thread to the lintel
of the door on entering into the labyrinth, and holding the ball in his hand to
unwind the skein while he penetrated deeper and deeper into the maze, till he
found the Minotaur asleep in the inmost recess; then he was to catch the monster
by the hair and sacrifice him to Poseidon; after which he was to retrace his steps,
gathering up the thread behind him as he went. According to the Scholiast on the
Odyssey, the story was told by Pherecydes, whom later authors may have copied.
Homer's account of the fate of Ariadne is different. He says (Hom.
Od. 11.321-325 ) that when Theseus was carrying off Ariadne from Crete to Athens
she was slain by Artemis in the island of Dia at the instigation of Dionysus.
Later writers, such as Diodorus Siculus identified Dia with Naxos, but it is rather
the little island, now Standia, just off Heraclaion, on the north coast of Crete.
Theseus would pass the island in sailing for Athens (Merry on Hom. Od. xi.322
). Apollodorus seems to be the only extant ancient author who mentions that Dionysus
carried off Ariadne from Naxos to Lemnos and had intercourse with her there.
This extract is from: Apollodorus, Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer, 1921). Cited Mar 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Minos, the son of Jupiter and Europa, offended with the Athenians,
because they had murdered his son Androgeos, made war upon them, and obliged them
to send yearly seven young men, and as many virgins, to be devoured by the Minotaur.
At last the lot fell upon Theseus, who, arriving in Crete, slew the Minotaur;
and being instructed by Ariadne how to escape out of the labyrinth, afterwards
fled with her to the isle of Naxos. There, admonished by Bacchus, he left Ariadne,
and carried Phaedra her sister (whom he had also brought with him,) forward to
Athens. She, awaking, and not finding him, writes this epistle, in which she accuses
him of perfidy and inhumanity, and endeavours to move him to compassion, by a
mournful representation of her misery.
This whole epistle is an expostulation with Theseus for his cruelty and ingratitude. She begins therefore with reproaching him as more savage than the fiercest beasts. She felt the effects of his barbarity, in his desertion of her; whereas hitherto the wild beasts had given her no disturbance.
Anne Mahoney, ed.
This text is cited Mar 2003 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dancing: In many of the Greek States the art of dancing was carried to great perfection by females, who were frequently engaged to add to the pleasures and enjoyment of men at their symposia. These dancers always belonged to the courtesans. Xenophon ( Symp.ix. 2-7) describes a mimetic dance which was represented at a symposium where Socrates was present. It was performed by a maiden and a youth, belonging to a Syracusan, who is called the orchestodidaskalos, and represented the loves of Dionysus and Ariadne.
This extract is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Mar 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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