Daedalus in Greek mythology

Daedalus was the most skilled of all artisans of ancient Greece. So skilled in fact that he is credited with the invention of images themselves. Daedalus was a master craftsman, inventor and architect, whose skill is now legendary.

The original stories point to Daedalus being a Cretan character, but as the dominance of Athens grew, so he became an Athenian. The change of nationality does cause some confusion in the timeline of events, though the stories will be told in Athenian order. Even then there are variations of the story.

The Athenian Daedalus became the son of Metion and therefore the grandson of the ancient king Erechtheus. His mother, though, is never clearly defined, and at various times Merope and Iphinoe are both named. Daedalus grew up to be a brilliant architect and sculptor; his statues in particular brought him widespread fame. Before Daedalus, statues were sculpted such that their arms were fixed to the sides of the body. Daedalus carved them in more natural poses, and is on occasion credited with providing them with the power of movement.

Statue of Daedalus - Jordiferrer - CC-BY-SA-3.0

For a time Daedalus had an apprentice, his nephew Perdix, or Talos depending on the version. From an early age Perdix showed immense skill, inventing the saw and compass. Daedalus feared for his own reputation if the skill of his apprentice passed his own. This jealousy resulted in Daedalus throwing Perdix from the Acropolis. Daedalus was tried for murder by the Areopagus, the ancient Athens court, and as punishment he was banished from the city.

In some versions of the story Perdix did not die, but was saved by the goddess Minerva and turned into the partridge. As a result of his experiences, the partridge will not build a nest in the trees and avoids high places.

Daedalus, though, was forced to leave Athens, and eventually found employment with King Minos on the island of Crete. One of his first jobs was for the king’s wife Pasiphae. Poseidon had given King Minos a white bull to be used as a sacrifice; Minos though had kept the bull for himself. As an act of vengeance, Poseidon made Pasiphae lust after the Cretan bull. To aid in the mating process Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow for Pasiphae.

The result of the mating was the birth of the Minotaur, a creature half-man and half-bull. Minos, not wanting the illegitimate offspring in the palace, ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth in which to contain the Minotaur. The Labyrinth at Knossos was the most complex ever built: an infinite number of passages would cross over each other, whilst there seemed to be no start or end to the maze. It was said that it was so complicated that even Daedalus had trouble getting out of it after he had constructed it. Once the Minotaur was imprisoned, King Minos demanded an annual tribute of Athenian youths to feed the beast.

The story of Daedalus then mixes with that of the hero Theseus. Theseus arrives on Crete in order to kill the Minotaur, and stop the annual tributes. Theseus falls for Ariadne, the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, and she falls for him. Ariadne therefore seeks out the assistance of Daedalus, who provides a thread with which Theseus can guide himself out of the Labyrinth, after slaying the Minotaur.

Daedalus and Icarus - Pyotr Ivanovich Sokolov (1753—1791) - PD-art-100

King Minos is of course outraged at the loss of his annual tribute, the killing of the Minotaur and the departure of Ariadne. Realising the treachery of Daedalus, Minos incarcerates him, and his son Icarus, in his workshop. In some versions Daedalus is locked in the Labyrinth, although if anyone could escape from it surely the creator would be the most obvious. The workshop, though, is in a room that looks down on the Cretan countryside, and so Daedalus looks for a means to escape.

Daedalus realises that King Minos controls the land and sea; so instead he looks to the air for an escape route. Daedalus builds wings for himself and Icarus. Fabricated from bird feathers, wings were built in the style of a bird wing. Daedalus used thread to secure the largest feathers, whilst the smallest ones were kept together with wax. Trials eventually saw Daedalus able to suspend himself by beating the wings fixed to his arms. Teaching Icarus how to fly, Daedalus added a warning about not flying too high or too low. Too high would see the heat of the sun melt the wax, whilst too low would see the feathers become wet from the sea and would not work.

After practice attempts, Daedalus and Icarus escaped from Crete. Together they passed Samos, Delos and Lebynthos. Icarus, though, became over confident, and attempted to fly up into the heavens. As he got closer to the god Helios, the sun, the wax holding many of the feathers together melted, causing Icarus to crash into the sea and drown. The place where he drowned was named Icaria in his honour. Grieving for the loss of his son, Daedalus continued his escape, arriving safely at the court of King Cocalus in Camicus, in Sicily. To honour the gods, Daedalus built a temple to Apollo and hung up his wings.

King Minos was not happy at losing the great artisan, and sought to bring him back to Crete. Minos searched from city to city. In each city Minos would offer a reward to whoever could run a thread through a spiral seashell, knowing that Daedalus would be the only person who could solve such a puzzle. When Minos arrived in Camicus, King Cocalus took the puzzle to Daedalus. Daedalus tied the thread to an ant and then used honey to lure the ant through the shell.

Solving the puzzle, though, betrayed Daedalus’ presence, and Minos demanded his return. King Cocalus agreed to do so, and convinced Minos to take a bath and then partake of some entertainment. Whilst he was in the bath, Cocalus’ daughters murdered Minos. The daughters had no desire to lose the inventor of their numerous amusing gifts.

With all of his inventions and artisan skills, Daedalus became a key figure in Greek mythology. Even in modern times his name is still associated with any master craftsman.

Copyright - First Published 1st March 2008