Make your own escape.
Definition/Summary:
Mythology
Daedalus
- Craftsman who built the labyrinth for Minos, king of Crete. Minos imprisoned him and his son Icarus, but they escaped using wings which Daedalus made and fastened with wax. Icarus, however, flew too near the sun and was killed
Expanded info:
Daedalus story
- He was a craftsman who created the art of carpentry.
- He had two sons, Icarus and Iapyx
- He was known as the creator of the Labyrinth, a huge maze located under the court of King Minos of Crete, where the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature dwelt
- The king of Athens was forced to pay tribute to King Minos by sending seven young men and seven young women each year to Crete, in order to be sacrificed to the Minotaur
- The legendary hero Theseus was sent into the labyrinth and managed to kill the Minotaur, with the help of Minos’ daughter, Ariadne
- Daedalus was kept imprisoned in a tower in Crete, so that the secret of the Labyrinth would not be spread to the public. In order to escape, Daedalus created two sets of wings for himself and his young son Icarus, by using feathers and glueing them together with wax. He gave one of the sets to Icarus and taught him how to fly. However, he warned him not to fly too high as the sun would melt the wax, nor too low as the sea water would soak the feathers. They left the tower jumping off the window and started flying towards freedom. Icarus, forgetting his father’s advice, started flying higher and higher, thus causing the wax on his wings to melt; he fell into the sea and drowned
Daedalus eventually reached the island of Sicily, where he was welcomed at the court of King Cocalus. There, he built a temple in the name of Apollo and offered his wings to the god.