The daughter of Minos and Pasifae, Arianna fell in love with Theseus the minute he landed on Crete. She gave him a ball of thread that would unwind and lead him safely out of the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. Theseus eloped with Arianna but then abandoned her on the island of Naxos, where Dionysus found her and married her.

In Greek mythology, satyrs were the assistants of Dionysus. Creatures of the woods, they resembled humans with some animal features, such as tails and cleft hooves. Lovers of excess, they are described and depicted intent on getting drunk to release their wild instincts. Priestesses of Dionysus, the maenads - literally, "the possessed", so called for their behaviour - played the flute and danced during Dionysian processions. Music and dance were essential elements of the symposium.