Each of us at least once in his life heard the expression "thread Ariadne." Often we call something that helped us figure out a difficult situation, find a way out of it. The emergence of this phraseological unit is associated with ancient Greek mythology.
Who is Ariadne?
A thread is a tangle that gave the Athenian hero Theseus Ariadne. She was the daughter of King Crete Minos and the sister of the terrible Minotaur, who lived in a maze.
The beautiful Ariadne fell in love with the young Athenian youth Theseus. He reciprocated her. But the lovers were not destined to be together, because Theseus arrived in Crete with other boys and girls to die a terrible death. They will become victims of the Minotaur - a monstrous creature, a half-man, half-man.
Once every nine years, the inhabitants of Athens must give seven young girls and young men to the Minotaur for consumption. Such a bloody tribute was established for them by the gods of Olympus.
The young son of the Athenian king Theseus decided to destroy the monster, thereby saving his hometown from the need for terrible victims. But how to cope with this, because they will be thrown into the labyrinth unarmed? Even winning, it is unlikely to be able to escape. Intricate corridors and numerous labyrinth rooms with their deadly traps will become a place of death, it is impossible to find a way out of it.
But the daughter of King Minos came to the rescue , subdued by the beauty of the young man. Love made her betray her father and her homeland.
Guiding thread, love and betrayal
Secretly making their way to Theseus, Ariadne handed him the dagger, with which the brave young man was supposed to stab the Minotaur. And so that he did not get lost in a terrible maze, she handed a lover a tangle.
Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance to the palace of the Minotaur. Going deep into the maze, he unwound a ball. And when the young man met with the Minotaur and defeated him, he found the way back with a thread.
From there came the expression "thread of Ariadne," "guiding thread." But the story of the heroes of the myth does not end there.
Ariadne in love escaped from Crete with Theseus on his ship. But she also had to survive the betrayal. Caught in a strong storm, Theseus's ship landed on the island of Naxos. When the sea calmed down, Theseus went on, leaving the girl sleeping from fatigue. The help Ariadne provided was forgotten, the thread that led out of the maze, the dagger that killed the Minotaur.
Having woken up, the girl became desperate from the treachery of the man for whose salvation she sacrificed everything. Ariadne remained to live on the island, was a priestess, and then she was married to Dionysus, the god of winemaking.
What does the thread of Ariadne mean?
So, this expression is used in the meaning of "guiding thread." In a broad sense, it means a tool that can help you get out of a difficult situation, solve a complicated question, or deal with a problem.
No wonder the telecast, designed to provide psychological assistance to people who find themselves in a difficult life situation and do not see a way out, is called - "Ariadne's Thread".
At the end of the 19th century, an ancient civilization called Minoan was discovered on the island of Crete. Found and unearthed the Knossos palace labyrinth. It is symbolic that his discoverer, the British archaeologist Arthur Evans, said that he, like a guiding thread, was guided and searched by ancient Greek myths about the Minotaur, Theseus and Ariadne.
The story of Ariadne’s thread in art
The guiding thread of Ariadne was reflected in art. This story was given attention by artists, poets, and playwrights. The most famous paintings are "Bacchus and Ariadne" by Titian, "Ariadne wakes up and sees the sailing ship of Theseus" by John William Waterhouse. Of the sculptural images, one should recall Ariadne from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
The poem by Valery Bryusov, written in 1902, is called "The Thread of Ariadne." Vladimir Vysotsky has a work of the same name. Peru Marina Tsvetaeva belongs to the play "Ariadne."
Love, self-denial, betrayal and the guiding thread of Ariadne - this story will inspire people to create new masterpieces more than once.