Sarcophagus with depiction of Dionysus and Ariadne

myminifactory

Ariadne was the immortal wife of the wine-god Dionysos. There were several versions of her story. In one, Ariadne, a daughter of King Minos of Krete (Crete), assisted Theseus in his quest to slay the Minotauros (Minotaur) and then fled with the hero aboard his ship. When they landed on the island of Naxos Theseus abandoned her as she slept. It was then that Dionysos discovered her and made her his wife. Some say she was later slain by the goddess Artemisor else ascended to Olympos with her husband as an immortal. According to others Ariadne's bridal with Dionysos occurred several generations before this when the god was still travelling the earth spreading his cult. During his war against Argives with a band of sea-women, Ariadne was slain or turned to stone by King Perseus. The god descended into the underworld to recover her and brought her back with him to Olympos.   This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.