She is a granddaughter of Helios, a daughter of Minos, a lover of Theseus, a sister of the Minotaur, a wife of Dionysos, a mother of many.
She is also a famous palace dancer, an ingenious engineer of solutions, a celebrated heroine, a bold adventurer, a descendant of legendary sorcerers, an enduring constellation in the heavens, a venerated goddess across islands.
She is Ariadne, a force all in her own right, swirling in Mysteries...in the capital M sense of the word!
Her historical record gives such scant clues that nothing seems certain. Yet when we compare these accounts with those of other mystery cults, common threads (pun intended!) pull us deeper...
Maze, bull, honeycomb, crane. Sacred groves and shape-shifting epiphanies.
In the center of it all we meet the Mistress of the Labyrinth, the Northern Crown, the Evening Star.
Join us this winter as we theoretically reconstruct the Mysteries of Ariadne!
We will explore...
- Mistress of the Labyrinth: Theories about the Indigenous Origins and Etymologies of Ariadne
- Ariadne and the Sacred Bull: Bronze Age Roots of the Graeco-Roman Myth
- Earth and Starry Sky: The Blazing Light and Divine Possession of Corona Borealis
- The Grove of Aphrodite-Ariadne: Layers of Mystery in the Syncretic Form of the Goddess
- Ariadneia: Reconstructing the Cycladic and Cypriot Festivals and Dances of Ariadne
This course draws upon secondary scholarship, Linear B tablets, art and material culture from the Bronze Age, and ethnographic and historical sources such as poetry, drama, epigraphy, dance, and myth.
In addition to exploring Ariadne's mythological and cultic history, you will be guided to cultivate a devotional practice with a deeper understanding of her roots and layers of mystery, including festival scripts to follow at home.
"Ariadne and her Maidens dance, while the Fates, the Goddess in triple-form, spin the thread of that dance, the dance of events, and the story of humanity. And at the end what is left is the honeycomb, the golden creation, its cells filled with sweetness: the creative act has led to the ‘timeless’ creation. Yet by opening the work, to read it once more, the thread is taken up, the dance unfolds again, time is conquered through time, the music repeats, the story is told."
Kline, A.S. 2003. A Honeycomb for Aphrodite.
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Course meets on Zoom each Sunday at 1 PM CST (Central Standard Time), 16 November - 21 December, 2025. No class on 30 November.
It is not required to attend classes live, though encouraged. All recordings and materials will be uploaded to a portal as a self-paced option.
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Cost: $99 USD
Course inquiries: courses@mtnysa.com
