Daedalus -- his name means "skilled worker" -- was a famous architect, inventor, and master craftsman

known for having created many objects that figure prominently in various myths. He had a beloved son
named Icarus.

Among the many inventions and creations crafted by Daedalus were the wooden cow he constructed for
the queen Pasiphae, the Labyrinth of the Minotaur at Knossos on the island of Crete, artificial wings for
himself and his son Icarus, and he was even said to have invented images.

The infamous Labyrinth was so cunningly crafted that Daedalus himself could barely find his way out
after constructing it. With countless winding passages and turns that opened into one another, the
Labyrinth appeared to have neither beginning nor end. Daedalus built the maze to imprison the
Minotaur, half man - half bull.

His homeland was Athens but his parentage is uncertain. Alcippe, Merope and Iphinoe are all mentioned
at different times as being his mother. His father's identity was never precisely established but many
claim that it was Metion, son of Erectheus.

For a short time, his apprentice was his sister's son Perdix. But Daedalus was so proud of his
achievements that he could not bear the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her son Perdix under his
charge to be taught the mechanical arts.

Perdix was an apt scholar and showed striking evidence of ingenuity. Walking on the seashore, he picked
up the spine of a fish. According to Ovid, imitating it, he took a piece of iron and notched it on the edge,
and thus invented the saw.

Perdix also put two pieces of iron together, connecting them at one end with a rivet, and sharpening the
other ends, and made a pair of compasses.

Daedalus was so envious of his nephew's accomplishments that he seized an opportunity to toss him
from the hill of the Acropolis. As he was plunging to his death, however, the goddess Athena turned
Perdix into a partridge to save him.
Other sources claim instead that his apprentice was his nephew Talos. They say that it was Talos, at the
age of twelve, who displayed a skill that nearly rivaled his mentor's. Daedalus, fearing that the boy would
surpass him in talent, murdered the boy by tossing him from the Acropolis of Athens.

He was then tried at the Areiopagus, which was the ancient Greek court, and banished from his home
city of Athens. He fled to the island of Crete, where he began to work at the court of King Minos and
Queen Pasiphae, in the magnificent palace of Knossos.

It is said that Daedalus was the first to conceive masts and sails for ships for the navy of Minos, helping
Crete become a naval power. The statues he carved were so exquisite, they looked as if they were alive.
It is said that they would have escaped were it not for the chain that bound them to the palace wall.

Daedelus also constructed a wooden cow for the queen to hide in to satisfy her amorous longings for a
white bull sent by Poseidon, and by which she became pregnant with the Minotaur. Long story.

When the dreadful Minotaur was born, Daedalus built the Labyrinth to contain the monstrous half-man,
half-bull. For years Minos demanded a tribute of youths from Athens to feed the creature as punishment
for the accidental killing of his son while he was visiting Athens.

Eventually, the Athenian hero Theseus came to Crete to attempt to slay the Minotaur. Princess Ariadne,
daughter of king Minos and queen Pasiphae, fell in love with Theseus and asked Daedalus to help him.

Daedalus gave her a flaxen thread for Theseus to tie to the door of the Labyrinth as he entered, and by
which he could find his way out after killing the monster, simply by following the thread back. Theseus
succeeded, and escaped Crete with Ariadne.

Minos, enraged at the loss of his daughter, not to mention the killing of his pet Minotaur, shut Daedalus
and his son Icarus into the Labyrinth, knowing that Theseus could not have accomplished the deed
without inside help.
Daedalus managed to get out of the Labyrinth - after all, he had built it and knew his way around.
Daedalus decided that he and his son Icarus had to leave Crete and get away from Minos, before he
brought them harm.

However, Minos controlled the sea around Crete: the king kept strict watch on all vessels, permitting
none to sail without being carefully searched by his soldiers.

Since Minos controlled the land and sea routes, and there was no route of escape there. Daedalus
realized that the only way out was by air. But only the gods could fly!

To escape, Daedalus built wings for himself and Icarus, fashioned with feathers held together with wax.
Daedalus tried the wings on himself first and was satisfied that his plan would work.

Before taking off from the island, Daedalus warned his son to follow closely behind him. He sternly
cautioned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt his wings, and not too close to the sea,
as it would dampen them and make it hard to fly.

They successfully flew from Crete, but Icarus grew exhilarated by the thrill of flying and began getting
careless. The father and son passed the islands of Samos, Delos and Lebynthos, and the further away
from Crete they flew, the more cocky became Icarus.

Forgetting his father's stern advice, Icarus flew too close to the sun god Helios, pulling the sun behind his
chariot high in the sky.

The wax holding together his wings softened and melted from the heat and, try as he might, Icarus could
not prevent the feathers from falling off his body. Furiously he flapped his arms, but soon no feathers at
all were left and he fell to his death, drowning in the sea, as his helpless father with anguish watched his
son perish.

His father cried, bitterly lamenting his own arts, and called the land near the place where Icarus fell into
the ocean Icaria in memory of his child. The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was forever named after him and
it is said that the great hero Heracles (Hercules), who was passing by, gave him proper burial.
Daedalus grieved for his dead son and then continued to Sicily, where he came to stay at the court of
Cocalus in a place called Camicus. On the island's south coast Daedalus built a temple to Apollo, and
hung up his wings, as an offering to the Olympian god.

But vengeful King Minos wasn't quite done -- he then went in pursuit of Daedalus, hoping to locate and
trick the great inventor into revealing himself.

At each city he visited, Minos offered a reward to whomever could thread a spiral seashell, a seemingly
impossible task. Eventually, Minos came to Camicus in Sicily and presented the contest at Cocalus' court.

Cocalus knew of Daedalus' talents, and gave the shell to him. The clever Daedalus tied the string to an
ant, place the ant at one end of the shell, and allowed the ant to walk through the spiral chambers until
it came out the other end.