Making an effort to post a review every Friday!

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint is an excellent introduction to mythological retellings and fiction which focuses on Ariadne, obviously, but also on her sister Phaedra. The story switches perspective between the two sisters telling both of their stories and how they diverge, beginning the with their close relationship in childhood, to the eventual tragedies both are known for. It emphasizes how different interpretations of the same familial trauma shape their personalities and choices. Neither sister is hero nor antagonist, but rather a result of the roles placed upon them within a patriarchical society—beginning with an abusive and controlling father.

To the uninitiated, Ariadne and Phaedra are both sisters to the Minotaur, daughters of King Minos and Queen Pasiphaë. Ariadne is of course most famous for assisting Theseus in his quest to slay the Minotaur and being immediately abandoned by Theseus on Naxos. And appropriately, this book portrays Theseus as the benign villain that he is. Let me explain that word choice. Theseus isn’t maliciously evil. He doesn’t abandon Ariadne out of spite or ill will; he does it purely because she isn’t useful to him any longer. It’s indifference and self importance that drive Theseus, and it is the small amount of value given to these women which justifies it.

This is largely a story of how women suffer through the inconsiderate nature of the men around them; how if men were not in charge of those women’s lives, they could be self determined. Both Ariadne and Phaedra are intelligent, clever, problem solving. But it is the hubris, pride, the need for self advancement—again and again it is the women who suffer in mythology from the hero’s pursuit of glory.

Phaedra, in contrast to Ariadne, tries to be self determined. She tries to push forward, to behave as a man would, she tries to pursue what she wants—but when she pursues an affair and isn’t wanted in return, society doesn’t behave the same way toward a woman as it does a man. She can’t be successful, she can’t force herself or her will onto others, she is shamed. She has no way out.

I liked very much the portrayal of Dionysus and his relationship with Ariadne, the portrayal of their marriage, though ultimately the story ends in the same theme that it begins—that the hubris of a man is responsible for the downfall of women in his life.

It’s not a kind book to the men in it, and it shouldn’t be. It isn’t meant to be. Because very little is actually changed. The course of events is the same as it is in the mythology. It’s merely a step taken slightly to the left, to the women in it. They have the microphone, though they’re still only wanted as stage dressing.