Happy Endings in Mythology

One morning I was reciting a local folklore of The Owl who Misses the Moon to my one and loyal audience, and they commented, "why such terrible ending?". Unfortunately as I did not write the story, I had not much consolation to offer. Often times, myths, folklores, legends, they speak to human tragedies and some, in an effort to create a universal and ultimate hope, give birth to Heroes within the story. However, at the behest of my audience's thirst for happy endings, here is one short myth that seems to end so.

The story of Ariadne and Dionysus

Ariadne is said to be the Greek goddess of mazes, and labyrinth. She was first married to Theseus, whom she helped win the match against the Minotaur and escaped a labyrinth, only to abandon her on an island while she sleeps. However, later on she weds the immortal wine-god Dionysus. There are several versions of her story. Here is one by Thomas Bulfinch:

Accordingly, when the time of sending off the tribute (to Minos) came, and the youths and maidens were, according to custom, drawn by lot to be sent, he (Theseus) offered himself as one of the victims, in spite of the entreaties of his father. The ship departed under black sails, as usual, which Theseus promised his father to change for white, in case of his returning victorious. 

When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens were exhibited before Minos; and Ariadne, the daughter of the king, being present, became deeply enamored of Theseus, by whom her love was readily returned. She furnished him with a sword, with which to encounter the Minotaur, and with a clew of thread by which he might find his way out of the labyrinth. He was successful, slew the Minotaur, escaped from the labyrinth, and taking Ariadne as the companion of his way, with his rescued companions sailed for Athens. 

On their way they stopped at the island of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne, leaving her asleep. His excuse for this ungrateful treatment of his benefactress was that Athena appeared to him in a dream and commanded him to do so....

...Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, was carried by him to the island of Naxos and was left there asleep, while the ungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without her. Ariadne, on waking and finding herself deserted, abandoned herself to grief. But Aphrodite took pity on her, and consoled her with the promise that she should have an immortal lover, instead of the mortal one she had lost.

The island where Ariadne was left was the favorite island of Dionysos, the same that he wished the Tyrrhenian mariners to carry him to, when they so treacherously attempted to make prize of him. As Ariadne sat lamenting her fate, Dionysos found her, consoled her, and made her his wife. As a marriage present he gave her a golden crown, enriched with gems, and when she died, he took her crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and preserving its form Ariadne's crown remains fixed in the heavens as a constellation (Corona Borealis), between the kneeling Herakles and the man who holds the serpent.

Ariadne by John William Waterhouse

 And so they live happily, possibly ever after.