Ariadne - Versailles, France
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 48.272 E 002° 07.105
31U E 435267 N 5406101
Ariadne helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur.
Waymark Code: WMCZR9
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 10/30/2011
Views: 18
One of hundreds of sculptures at the Gardens of the Versailles Palace, this 1686 marble statue is entitled "Ariane Endormie" or "Ariadne Asleep". It depicts a woman lying half on her back and half on her side with her head reasting on her left arm which is propped by her elbow on a pillow. Her right arm is raised and draped over her head.
Apparently there are many different versions of the story of Ariadne...but Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us that in the Greek version "...Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there. The Athenians asked for terms, and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens every nine years to the Minotaur. One year, the sacrificial party included Theseus, a young man who volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of red fleece thread that she was spinning, so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth.
She eloped with Theseus after he achieved his goal, but according to a man "he had no joy of her, for ere that, Artemis slew her in seagirt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus"
The artist is Cornielle Van Cleve (1646-1732).