Daedalus, a descendent of King Erichtheus of Athens, was ...



Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus was known across Greece for being a master craftsman and inventor. So great was his talent that it was said that his teacher had been none other than Athena herself. It came about that Daedalus took as an apprentice his nephew, Talos. Before long the boy started to surpass Daedalus with his artistic talents. Though only twelve years old, Talos picked up the spine of a fish and with it proceeded to cut a stick in half. Finding this to be a handy tool, he copied his invention in iron, hence creating the first saw. Along with the saw, Talos was credited for developing the potter's wheel and the compass, which to this day is used to help accurately draw circles.

These inventions earned the young boy a great reputation across Athens. Unfortunately his glory was short lived, for Daedalus was so envious of his nephew's popularity that he devised a plan to rid himself of his competition. He led the boy to the top of the Acropolis and when Talos was looking off into the distance, he pushed the young man over the side.

Daedalus immediately rushed to the bottom and tried to cover up the death of the boy. He pretended to passers-by that he was following his civic duty by burying the carcass of a dead serpent that he found lying at the bottom of the great hill. In Athens a serpent was treated with great importance.

Try as he may, Daedalus was unable to keep the murder a secret for long and was soon found guilty of murder and was exiled from the city that

he so loved. The spirit of Talos took the shape of a partridge and flew off while his body was buried upon the spot where it landed.

Daedalus took refuge at the court of King Minos of Crete, where he was greatly welcomed for his talents as a craftsman. While living in Crete, Daedalus was asked by King Minos to build a labyrinth in which to hide a beast. The beast was a prince named Minotaur. He was the son of the king’s wife. He had a bull’s head but a man’s body and he ate human flesh. The king could not kill the queen’s child and he could not kill a prince so he asked Daedalus to create a maze in which he could keep Minotaur hidden forever.

We know this as the famous Labyrinth of Crete. The dark corridors were so intricately twisted, it made it virtually impossible for those imprisoned inside to ever find their way out again. Every nine years the city of Athens paid tribute to Minos by offering fourteen youths, which were given to the Minotaur as a sacrifice. One year, Theseus, the son of King Aegeus arrived in Crete as part of the offering of youths. After one look, Minos' daughter Ariadne fell madly in love with Theseus. She was determined to save his life by helping him slay her half-brother, the Minotaur.

Knowing the only person who would be able to help her was Daedalus, Ariadne paid him a visit. He gave her a magic ball of thread and instructed her to have Theseus tie one end to the entrance of the maze before entering. He was then to allow the ball to unwind as he made his way through the black tunnels and, after slaying the Minotaur, he was to retrace his steps by following the trail of thread that he left behind him. Theseus did as he was told and was successful in his mission, escaping Crete with not only his life but also with Ariadne.

Minos was furious at this act of betrayal and in a fit of anger imprisoned both Daedalus and his son Icarus inside a tower room with one single window looking over the sea. Day after day young Icarus stood on a bench and watch through the window as the seabirds dipped and soared over the waves. Day after day, Daedalus leaned against the wall and cursed the gods and felt sorry for himself. One day, Icarus convinced his father to look out the window. It was then that Daedalus figured out how to escape using the bird feathers on the windowsill.

Daedalus used his creative talents to fashion two pairs of wings out of bird feathers, thread, and wax. He told his son that freedom came to them through the sky alone. Fitting the one pair to Icarus' body, Daedalus warned his son to be careful not to fly too close to the sun, for the heat of the rays would melt the wax holding the small feathers together and he would surely die. Icarus was also warned not to fly too close to the sea, as the waves would spray his wings with water thus causing him to fall to his death.

The two prisoners made an effortless escape from Crete but soon after being airborne Icarus, who was very much enjoying both his new freedom and the feeling of flight, soon forgot his father's words of warning. He passed the birds. He passed the clouds. He was taken in by the sun’s magnificence. The careless young man soared closer and closer to the shining sun, too absorbed in its warmth to notice that one by one his feathers were falling off. Daedalus looked back over his shoulder only to find that his son was nowhere in sight.

Searching frantically across the vast water, his worst fears came to life. For there upon the frothy waves floated the feathers that had once been worn by Icarus. The intense heat of the glorious sun had melted the wax on the carefree boy's wings causing him to fall into the deep water and drown. Daedalus circled the area until he finally caught sight of his son's body gliding on top of the waves. He removed Icarus from the water and flew him to an island now known as Icaria. It was there that he buried his son, and it is said that a partridge sat watching and chattering with delight from a nearby tree. Could this be the spirit of Talos, finally receiving justice for his own death?

Daedalus then flew off to Sicily where he was warmly welcomed by the King, but back in Crete Minos was outraged by his escape and came up with a plan to return him to his prison. He let the word be spread that he would give a great prize to anyone who could pass a thread through a closely spiraled shell. Minos thought this a sure way of recapturing his prisoner as he knew that if there was anyone who could accomplish this feat it would surely be Daedalus. This proved to be true as Daedalus announced to the Sicilian King that he was sure he could do as Minos asked and thus inherit whatever great prize the king was giving.

He drilled a hole in the closed end of the shell and attached a thread to the body of an ant. He then smeared the opened of the shell with honey and placed the ant inside closing the hole behind him. As the ant tunneled to reach the honey, he also threaded the shell through all of its twists and turns. Knowing that only Daedalus would be cunning enough to devise such an invention, Minos sailed to Sicily to retrieve his prisoner.

The King of Sicily refused to hand over the artist and Minos lost his life in the battle.

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