Book 1: the early years

Ariadne seduces the sea God Poseidon to ensure that her father Minos becomes King of Crete. In this way she can obtain the position of royal princess herself.

Ariadne manages to avoid the disagreements between Minos and his two brothers Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, and with the help of Poseidon ensures that Minos is crowned King.

Ariadne becomes State Counsel at her father's court, becoming the woman behind the scenes who arranges everything.

Ariadne's mother, Queen Pasiphaë, tells her daughter about men and what they always want from women. Ariadne thinks her mother is whining. When the sorceress gives her daughter a potion to drink, Ariadne sees as in a dream how her grandfather Zeus kidnapped her grandmother Europe.

Ariadne takes a seat in the court of justice with her parents, where they deal with the complaint of a man whose wife no longer wishes to please him.

Together with her father Minos, Ariadne visits his father Zeus to ask him for advice on the laws of Crete.

The dramatic death of her oldest brother Katreus heralds the start of the Trojan War. Ariadne's cousin Idomeneus goes to battle and joins the Achaean coalition with eighty ships, and will not return for a long time.