Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown, is the crown Ariadne wore at her wedding. It was made by the supreme goldsmith, Hephaestus, at his underwater smithy. The story is connected to a more notable myth, of the Minotaur and of Theseus, who was destined to kill it. To do so, he needed Ariadne's help. This beautiful young maiden was the daughter of Minos, king of Crete. She was also the half-sister to the Minotaur, the half-man half-bull which lived at the centre of a labyrinth. Every year Minos ordered seven young men and seven maidens from Athens to be served up to the Minotaur. The current hero in Athens was Theseus, son of Poseidon, and heir to the Athenian throne. Only a young man, Theseus had already proved himself by a variety of heroic deeds. The time came for the yearly tribute to Crete. Theseus volunteered to be one of the seven young men. As he arrived in Crete, Theseus was met by Minos, who challenged the young man to prove he was indeed the son of Poseidon. Minos threw a gold ring into the sea, and told Theseus to fetch it. Theseus dove into the deep, and was met by dolphins which escorted him to the palace of the Nereids. Thetis, one of the Nereid sisters (or sea nymphs), gave Theseus a jewelled crown that Hephaestus had made. With the gold ring and the crown, Theseus swam back to Crete. This feat received the loving admiration of Ariadne. Ariadne had a magic ball of twine that could roll out by itself and follow the path to the centre of the labyrinth, where the Minotaur was kept. She promised to help Theseus kill the Minotaur if he would marry her and take her back to Athens. Theseus agreed, so she gave him the ball of twine. Theseus followed the rolling twine to the centre of the labyrinth and promptly killed the Minotaur. Unfortunately he forgot his promise. Or, some say, he did marry Ariadne, giving her the jewelled crown as a wedding present. And then he later abandoned her on the isle of Naxos, on the way to Athens. Others have it that Theseus sailed off, leaving a sleeping Ariadne to pine for her loss. She implored her father, Zeus, to make amends. Zeus took pity on her and sent Dionysus to comfort his daughter.