Daedalus

Minos locked Daedalus and his son Icarus in Crete after learning that Daedalus had helped Pasiphaë couple with Poseidon’s white bull. Daedalus had built the Labyrinth for Minos, but the king later feared that its secret would be discovered. In another account, Minos imprisoned Daedalus because he suspected that he had helped Theseus escape. Minos guarded the roads and ships, and offered a reward for Daedalus’s capture, so escape by land or sea seemed impossible.

Daedalus collected feathers and made two pairs of wings. He joined the feathers together, using wax to hold them in place, and fitted one pair to Icarus’s shoulders. He warned his son to keep near him. If he flew too low, dampness would weigh down the wings. If he flew too high, the Sun’s heat would melt the wax. Daedalus kissed Icarus, then rose into the air and urged him to follow.

They flew over the sea. A ploughman stopped his work, and a shepherd leaned on his staff to watch them, thinking they were gods. Samos and Delos lay to their left, and Lebynthos to their right. Icarus rejoiced in the lift of his wings and began to rise beyond his father’s guidance. The heat of the Sun softened the wax. The feathers came loose, and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.

Daedalus looked back and saw only scattered feathers floating on the waves. He circled until Icarus’s body rose to the surface, then carried it to a nearby island. He buried him there, and the island became known as Icaria. The surrounding sea took its name from the island. A partridge watched from a holm oak, chattering with delight. It was said to be the soul of Daedalus’s sister Polycaste, avenged at last.

Daedalus escaped from Crete on wings made from feathers and wax, but his son Icarus flew too near the sun. The heat melted the wax, and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. Daedalus carried his body to the nearby island later called Icaria and buried him there. Some accounts instead say that Daedalus escaped by boat, and that Heracles buried Icarus after his death.

Minos pursued Daedalus to Sicily. Daedalus reached Camicus, where King Cocalus received him. For Cocalus, he constructed fortified buildings, waterworks, and other marvels. Minos then devised a test to find him. He sent Cocalus a spiral shell and offered a reward to anyone who could pass a linen thread through it, knowing that Daedalus alone could solve the problem.

Daedalus bored a hole at the shell’s point. He tied a fine thread to an ant, then smeared honey around the hole so that the ant would follow the shell’s spirals. He attached the linen thread to the other end and drew it through. Cocalus returned the threaded shell to Minos and claimed the reward. Minos recognised that Daedalus was hiding at Camicus and demanded his surrender.

Cocalus’s daughters did not want Daedalus taken away, since he made beautiful toys for them. With his help, they prepared a trap. They led a pipe through the roof of the bathroom and poured boiling water down it while Minos relaxed in a warm bath. Some say they poured pitch instead. Minos died there. Cocalus may have been involved in the killing, and some accounts instead say that Minos was killed in battle. Daedalus remained under Cocalus’s protection in Sicily.