Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/117

 to his vessel which had remained anchored in the harbor and set sail for Athens.

On his homeward journey the goddess Minerva appeared to Theseus and told him that he must leave Ariadne at Naxos, an island celebrated for its vineyards, for the Fates had decreed that she should not go with him to Athens. Such barbarous conduct on the part of Theseus must have been past all understanding to poor Ariadne. Ræ has painted a very beautiful picture of her as she sits by the rocks on the sea-shore sadly gazing out to sea, for she was a very sweet girl and not at all like her wicked father. But Theseus suffered also for his seemingly heartless desertion, for he had promised his father, Ægeus, that if he succeeded in subduing the Minotaur he would exchange his black sail for a white one. With one thing and another happening, Theseus forgot to change his sail, and the poor old man watching the black wing loom in the distance, supposed his son to be lost, and threw himself into the sea. This sea was henceforth called the Ægean Sea in memory of the tragic fate of Ægeus. In the meantime Bacchus, the God of the Vineyards, came along decked in ivy and vine leaves, and discovered the forsaken Ariadne asleep on a rock, worn out with sorrow and weeping. The god was so captivated by the beauty of the Cretan maid that he did everything in his power to make her forget her unhappiness, even marrying her and promising at her death to give her a place among the gods. He then suspended her wedding crown in the sky, where it still hangs, although its jewels have grown so large that they resemble stars. These stars are now called the "Northern Crown" though they are really

Spenser pointing them out in his Faerie Queene says