Theseus, son of Ægeus, the king of Athens, grieved deeply at the fate of so many innocent sufferers, and thinking that he might be able to overcome the monster, bravely offered himself as one of the seven youths. When Ariadne, daughter of the wicked King Minos, saw the handsome Prince arrive among those to be sacrificed, she was filled with love and pity and risked her own life by secretly furnishing him with a strong sword and a long thread. Theseus then attacked the Minotaur and slew him, afterwards extricating himself from the difficult windings of the labyrinth by means of the thread. He and Ariadne then slipped down 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. [Figure 60] 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 "A brilliant sign of the lost Ariadne." --_Aratus._ Spenser pointing them out in his _Faerie Queene_ says "Look! how the crowne which Ariadne wore Upon her ivory forehead-- --is unto the starres an ornament, Which round her move in order excellent." Ariadne's Crown rests about 20 degrees east of Arcturus and may be easily seen in the east just after sunset during the early spring, about the 8th of April, but it is at its best during the early evenings of July when it is almost overhead.