Skip to main content

Daedalus

Daedalus
Daedalus was a craftsman and artist in Greek mythology, who had two sons, Icarus and Iapyx. He is best 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. According to the myth, 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. One year, however, the legendary hero Theseus was sent into the labyrinth and managed to kill the Minotaur, assisted by Minos' daughter, Ariadne.
Later, 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. Unfortunately, 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, while a nearby island took the name Icaria after him.
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. In the meantime, Minos had started a search for Daedalus. Going from place to place, he asked if anyone could solve the riddle of running a string through a spiral seashell. When he went to Sicily, Cocalus knew that Daedalus would be able to solve the riddle and asked him to do so. Daedalus took an ant and attached the string to it, and then lured it into the seashell with a drop of honey. Thus, Minos found out that Daedalus was hiding in Cocalus' court, and demanded that he be sent to him. Cocalus told Minos he could first relax and take a bath; when Minos went into the bath, Cocalus' daughters killed him.
Daedalus



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gorgon

In Greek mythology, a Gorgon  is a mythical creature portrayed in ancient Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus. The large Gorgon eyes, as well as Athena 's "flashing" eyes, are symbols termed "the divine eyes" by Gimbutas (who did not originate the perception); they appear also in Athena's sacred bird, the owl. They may be represented by spirals, wheels, concentric circles, swastikas, firewheels, and other images. Anyone who would gaze into their eyes would be turned to stone instantly. Essential Reads: Engaging Books You Can't Miss

Scylla And Nisus

MINOS was the first king to control the Mediterranean Sea, which he cleared of pirates, and in Crete ruled over ninety cities. When the Athenians had murdered his son Androgeus, he decided to take vengeance on them, and sailed around the Aegean collecting ships and armed levies. Some islanders agreed to help him, some refused. Siphnos yielded to him by the Princess Arne, whom he bribed with gold; the gods changed her into a jackdaw which loves gold and all things that glitter. He made an alliance with the people of Anaphe, but rebuffed by King Aeacus of Aegina and departed, swearing revenge. Aeacus then answered an appeal from Cephalus to join the Athenians against Minos . b. Meanwhile, Minos was partying the Isthmus of Corinth. He laid siege to Nisa, ruled by Nisus the Egyptian, who had a daughter name Scylla. A tower stood in the city, built by Apollo [and Poseidon ?], an at its foot lay a musical stone which, if pebbles were dropped upon from above, rang like a lyre-because Ap

Sisyphus

SISYPHUS, son of Aeolus, married Atlas ’s daughter Merope, the Pleiad, who bore him Glaucus , Ornytion , and Sinon, and owned a fine herd of cattle on the Isthmus of Corinth. b. Near him lived Autolycus , son of Chione , whose twin-brother Philammon was begotten by Apollo , though Autolycus himself claimed Hermes as his father. c. Now, Autolycus was a past master in theft, Hermes having given him the power of metamorphosing whatever beasts he stole, from horned to unhorned, or from black to white, and contrariwise. Thus although Sisyphus noticed that his own herds grew steadily smaller while those of Autolycus increased, he was unable at first to accuse him of theft; and therefore, one day, engraved the inside of all his cattle’s hooves with the monogram SS or, some say, with the words ‘Stolen by Autolycus’. That night Autolycus helped himself as usually and at dawn hoof-prints along the road provided Sisyphus with sufficient evidence to summon neighbours in witness of the th