In Greek mythology, Ariadne’s crown was said to become the constellation Corona Borealis.
Ariadne helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth, but many versions say he later left her on the island of Naxos. In one connected myth, the god Dionysus found Ariadne and married her. Her bridal crown was then placed in the heavens, where it became Corona Borealis, the “Northern Crown.”
The constellation is a small, distinctive semicircle of stars in the northern sky. Its brightest star is Alpha Coronae Borealis, also called Alphecca. The Greek myth explains the constellation through Ariadne’s divine marriage rather than through the Labyrinth itself.
Accounts differ about whether Dionysus or another divine power placed the crown among the stars. The celestial identification, however, is consistently associated with Corona Borealis. It should not be confused with the constellation’s separate astronomical name, which simply describes its crown-like shape.