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Daedalus was a famous architect, inventor, and master craftsman.
He created many objects that figure prominently in various
myths. Among his inventions and creations were the wooden cow he
constructed for the queen Pasiphae, the Labyrinth of the
Minotaur at Knossos, artificial wings for himself and his son
Icarus, and he was even said to have invented images.
His homeland was Athens but his parentage is uncertain. Alcippe,
Merope and Iphinoe are all mentioned at different times as being
his mother. His father's identity was never precisely
established but many claim that it was Metion, son of Erectheus.
For a short time, his apprentice was his sister's son Perdix.
Other sources claim that his apprentice was his nephew Talos. At
the age of twelve Talos displayed a skill that nearly rivaled
his mentor's. When Daedalus feared that the boy would surpass
him in talent, he murdered the boy by tossing him from the
Acropolis of Athens. He was then tried at the Areiopagus, which
was the ancient Greek court, and banished from his home city of
Athens.
He fled to the island of Crete, where he began to work at the
court of King Minos and Queen Pasiphae, in the magnificent
palace of Knossos. There he constructed a wooden cow for the
queen to hide in to satisfy her amorous longings for a white
bull sent by Poseidon, and by which she became pregnant with the
Minotaur.
When the Minotaur was born, Daedalus built the Labyrinth to
contain the monstrous half-man, half-bull. For years Minos
demanded a tribute of youths from Athens to feed the creature.
Eventually, the hero Theseus came to Crete to attempt to slay
the Minotaur. Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, fell in
love with Theseus and asked Daedalus to help him. Daedalus gave
her a flaxen thread for Theseus to tie to the door of the
Labyrinth as he entered, and by which he could find his way out
after killing the monster. Theseus succeeded, and escaped Crete
with Ariadne. Minos, enraged at the loss of his daughter, not to
mention the killing of the Minotaur, shut Daedalus and his son
Icarus into the Labyrinth.
Daedalus managed to get out of the Labyrinth - after all, he had
built it and knew his way around. Daedalus decided that he and
his son Icarus had to leave Crete and get away from Minos,
before he brought them harm. However, Minos controlled the sea
around Crete and there was no route of escape there. Daedalus
realized that the only way out was by air.
To escape, Daedalus built wings for himself and Icarus,
fashioned with feathers held together with wax. Daedalus
warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt
his wings, and not too close to the sea, as it would dampen them
and make it hard to fly.
They successfully flew from Crete, but Icarus grew
exhilarated by the thrill of flying and began getting careless.
Flying too close to the sun god Helios, the wax holding together
his wings melted from the heat and he fell to his death,
drowning in the sea. The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named
after him and it is said that Heracles (Hercules), who passed
by, gave him burial. Daedalus lamented his dead son and then
continued to Sicily, where he came to stay at the court of
Cocalus in a place called Camicus.
King Minos then went in pursuit of Daedalus, hoping to trick the
great inventor into revealing himself. At each city he visited,
Minos offered a reward to whomever could thread a spiral
seashell. Eventually, Minos came to Camicus in Sicily and
presented the contest at Cocalus' court. Cocalus knew of
Daedalus' talents, and gave the shell to him. The clever
Daedalus tied the string to an ant, place the ant at one end of
the shell, and allowed the ant to walk through the spiral
chambers until it came out the other end.
When Minos saw that someone had solved the puzzle, he demanded
that Cocalus surrender Daedalus. Cocalus promised to do so, but
he persuaded Minos to take a bath and stay for some
entertainment. Minos agreed, and was consequently murdered by
Cocalus' daughters, who had been so taken by the toys and gifts
which Daedalus had bestowed upon them and did not want any harm
to come to him.
Daedalus eventually left Camicus, much to the dismay of king
Cocalus and his daughters, and ended up in Sardinia with a group
led by Iolaus, who was a nephew of Heracles.
(Myth
Man's note: in some versions of the myth it is
suggested that Icarus drowned as he and his father attempted to
swim to freedom, or that they built a boat and sailed away, only
to have it capsize, leading to the death of Icarus. I prefer the
"escape by air" version. Don't you wish that Icarus had listened
to his father?
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