Volume 51, Number 14 · September 23, 2004
Ariadne's Own Story
By Louis Begley
She knew the story of her family, its future, and her own future within it. Her royal father, Minos, had told it to her. Besides, of late, brief visions of that future had flashed before her eyes. Dreams or revelations? She wasn't sure. The knowledge of the future made her sad, proud, and ashamed. Her sister Phaedra and she, both suicides, hanged by their own hands! Minotaur, her half-brother, slain! The Athenian ship with Theseus on board was sailing for Crete. Knowing that disaster would strike very soon made her distraught. One late sunlit afternoon she went to the courtyard where she knew she would find her father reclining on his couch of gold and silver, knelt by his side, wept, and told him her fears. She knew he would console her. The King listened, stroked her hair, and said, Be brave, my Ariadne. What is to come is ever before the eyes of Zeus and cannot change. He reveals to us who are his children as much of the future as we can bear to perceive. But not even he can bend the laws of Necessity. The past lives in the minds of mortals. What will come to pass is not what they will know or remember.
Feature, 715 words
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