"Fantasy at its Finest"
BULL GOD breaths life into the traditional myth of
the
Minotaur. It is a girl's nine year journey into womanhood,
caught between two young "gods" both young and impulsive.
One inspires passion, the other her compassion. Consecrated to Dionysus at the tender age of thirteen, the
young priestess calls forth the god to accept her offering
and bless the vines. As the god has not favored Knossos
with an appearance during her predecessor's service, no one
really expects him to appear. To everyone's surprise,
including
Dionysus', he appears before all. At first he is angered at
the unripeness of his priestess, but soon it becomes clear
that she is a gift from the Mother. He is beautiful but
troubled. Ariadne loves him at first sight. Considered mad even by the other gods, Dionysus is wildly
unpredictable. His visions throw him into
uncontrollable rages, which rapidly transfers to those
around
him, causing chaos and destruction. The visions frighten
him for he does not understand them. Once there had been a
priestess who had understood his visions. She alone had
been able to sooth him. But she had abandoned him and he
had stopped coming to Knossos. The priestess had been named
Ariadne, but she was much older than this girl. Yet the new
Ariadne has the gift. She is Mother blessed and can
interpret his visions. Perhaps he can find peace once more. One particular dream troubles him. He sees a bull with the
head of a man. As he relates the tale, Ariadne becomes
fearful as well. Her father King Minos has angered the god
Poseidon. The god had verified Mino's fitness to rule by
sending him a white bull from the sea to be sacrificed at
his alter. But the greedy king had instead kept the bull to
breed to his cows. Poseiden had paid him back in kind,
tampering with Queen Pasiphae, getting her with child. The queen is ecstatic. Jealous of Ariadne's ability to call
forth a god, she will soon bear one of her own. When the
child is born, the gods displeasure is apparent for the
child is grossly deformed. He bears the head of a bull on a
child's body. Dionysus predicts that the new bull god will bring about
the destruction of Knossos, and bades Ariadne to end the
poor creature's life. But Ariadne has only pity for him.
Asterion loves her and she alone is able to
sooth the savage child. Her defiance of his will sends her
beloved away in fury, but she cannot bring herself to harm
her pathetic little brother. Dionysus soon realizes that he cannot live without her and
returns. Her love for him deepens even though she soon
realizes he is something less than a god. She has witnessed
his appetites, his weaknesses, and his wounds. Yet she
continues to worship him. Through Ariadne he too learns
compassion for the Minotaur, for in some ways they are
similar. His emotional growth strenthen's his control over
his feelings. Even the other gods begin to find him more
tolerable. He wishes to have her with him always and
invites her to live with him in Olympus, but Ariadne is
torn. After nearly a decade, Dionysus still regards her as
the child he first met. She knows he desires her, yet
something holds him back. Can she stand by and watch him
bring
other women to his bed, while she perishes with passion for
him? What will become of the poor Minotaur, each day
becoming more beast than boy? Fabulous reading. Copyright Reviews © 2001
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted September 6, 2001
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