Ariadne: Abandonment and Transformation
Translation and notes by Jack Vaughan In this passage by Nonnos, Ariadne has been deserted on Naxos by the hero Theseus. As she lies on the lonely shore sleeping, she is discovered by the god Dionysus who transfigures the human woman into the goddess that defines Ariadne. 265 Bacchus [=Dionysus] now leaving Ilissos’ honey-sweet watercourse [in Attica], comes in joyous procession with his reveling troop to the vine-clad island of… Read more