This story is part of Ariadne’s feminist reawakening.

Rather than the God seeing any consequences, Athena turned Medusa into a Gorgon. A young woman who was raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. When she and Phaedra are young, they hear the story of Medusa. Not only did this result in the birth of the minotaur but it meant that Pasiphaë was the subject of court gossip. This isn’t a new concept for Ariadne as her own mother suffered because of a God’s vendetta. Instead, it confirms that women are just pawns for powerful men and immortal beings.

The life she imagines when she flees Crete in the night doesn’t come to fruition. Of course, Ariadne isn’t allowed her happily ever after. By helping him kill the monster, she ends up betraying her father and homeland. Ariadne instantly falls in love with the Prince of Athens. It’s a practice that Ariadne and Phaedra are happy to ignore until the arrival of Theseus. Every year, 14 youths travel from Athens to Crete so they can be offered as a sacrifice to the Minotaur. They are also the half-sisters of the horrific minotaur trapped in Daedalus’s labyrinth. The pair are princesses of Crete and the daughters of King Minos. Instead, we get to see how it affected Ariadne and her sister Phaedra. It retells the story of Theseus and the minotaur but takes the focus away from the great hero. Jennifer Saint was going to give a voice to some of the forgotten women in one of the most famous myths. Ariadne sounded like a really exciting concept. You can see why so many writers would want to take on the task of rewriting their stories with a feminist slant. There are so many examples of women being horribly treated by Gods and mortals alike for no real reason. It’s well known that women got a raw deal in Greek mythology. I was interested to see what it would be like but also kind of scared to start it. Although, it was also nominated for a GoodReads award in 2021 which is often a worrying sign. Ariadne is one of those books that I’ve heard so many good things about. Yes, The Song of Achilles was great but not everything can be the same. Flooding the market with these types of books just means that quality declines. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it but do we need quite so many at the same time? People regularly moan about the lack of originality i the film industry but what of publishing? It feels as though the only books getting a green light right now are either mythology retellings or cosy crime. It feels like every single book being published at the moment is based on some poor figure in Greek mythology. This recent trend of feminist rewritings of myths and legends isn’t going away any time soon.

Ariadne by jennifer saint summary