Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus was an ingenious inventor. He was expelled from Athens for killing his nephew for surpassing his inventive genius. He ended up in Crete where he served King Minos and Queen Pasiphae.

The queen requested that he build a fake cow that she could hide in so she could mate with a beautiful bull given to her husband by Poseidon god of the sea. The union of the bull and Pasiphae produced the Minotaur, a creature with a man’s body and a bull’s hea. Theseus the hero of Athens later encountered the Minotaur and killed it.

King Minos had Daedalus build a labyrinth. A labyrinth is a large complicated maze which is nearly impossible to escape. After the king discovered the cow Daedalus made for his wife. He punished Daedalus and his son Icarus by locking them up in the Labyrinth. To escape, Daedalus used his inventive skills to create wings held together with wax for he and his son. The two were able to get airborne and fly out of their maze prison. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high or to low by the sea. Icarus soared so near the sun that the wings melted. The boy plunged to his death into the sea south of Samos. The sea was then called the Icarian Sea.

Daedalus and Icarus by Canova Antonio, Museo Correr, Venice

Major Gods and Goddesses