Labyrinth
Daedalus, whose name meant “witty” or “clever,” was a descendant of the royal family of Cecrops, the mythical first king of Athens. He was a skilled craftsman who was highly regarded for his ability to invent and build things. His nephew Talus, his apprentice, was also remarkably talented, that Daedalus was convinced that the boy could surpass him in his dexterity, especially when Talus invented the saw by copying the jaw of a snake or the spine of a fish. Unable to bear this idea, he threw the young man off a cliff and for this terrible act Daedalus was exiled to serve the Cretan ruler Minos, where he had a son Icarus with the beautiful Naucrate, a mistress-slave of the king. He created numerous objects for the wife and daughters of Minos, including Ariadne’s dance floor and ultimately the Labyrinth under the king’s command.
The minotaur
The Cretan ruler asked the sea god Poseidon for a sacrificial bull and when a beautiful white animal emerged from the sea, Minos decided to keep it for himself. Enraged by this insult, Poseidon punished the Cretan ruler by causing his wife, Pasiphae, to fall hopelessly in love with the animal. Consequently, the queen asked Daedalus to build a life like that of a cow to hide and spend time with her beloved bull; she later gave birth to a half-human, half-man monster called the Minotaur. The king humiliated by the birth of this horrible creature ordered Daedalus to build the famous Labyrinth to imprison the dreaded beast that fed on humans who were taken as “tribute” by Minos. When his son was killed at the Pan-Thenaic Games, Minos called on the Athenians to send seven young men and women as human sacrifices for the Minotaur, each year. Theseus, the brave and legendary king of Athens, offered himself as “human tribute” and went to Crete in hopes of slaying the beast. The monarch’s daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him and, at her request, Daedalus revealed the mystery of the Labyrinth to the young woman. With their help, Theseus killed the monster and fled Crete with the young princess. An enraged Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in the Labyrinth.
The flight
The Master Craftsman planned to escape with Icarus because “the king may block my way by land or by ocean, but the sky is surely open …”! So he collected bird feathers and wax from a beehive and made two pairs of huge wings for himself and his son. While placing them on his son’s back, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high or too low because if he flew too high, the sun would melt the wax and if he was too low, the sea would bathe him. Despite the warning, the young man was so overwhelmed by the thrill of flying that he soared higher and higher, after which the heat of the sun melted the wax and he was “swallowed into the deep blue water, which is now called after of the”. Still in mourning, Deadalus flew to the Italian island of Sicily, where he performed funeral rites for his son. The island’s ruler, King Cocalus, took pity on him and hid him from the wrath of Minos when the Cretan ruler came looking for him. When he demanded to hand over Daedalus, Cocalus promised to do so and persuaded Minos to bathe and was killed by his daughters.
Analysis
The story of Deadalus and Icarus inspired many writers such as James Joyce, who named his literary hero Stephen Daedalus. The myth imparted the lesson of caution and envy of a jealous teacher to his nephew, Daedalus became a cautious father to his son. Icarus’ unfortunate flight expressed arrogance: human pride and overconfidence. Ovid in his work developed the theme of the power of art and that of Deadalus seemed to possess magical properties. He seemed to achieve the impossible by dominating land, sea, and air. However, the Roman poet emphasized that art was dangerous as it was powerful because Daedalus’s art was the cause of his broken heart.