The Probert Encyclopaedia of Greek & Roman Mythology

DAEDALUS

In Greek mythology, Daedalus was an Athenian artisan whose skill rivalled that of Hephaestus. He was ordered by King Minos to construct a vast underground palace linked by a labyrinth of rooms into which Minos imprisoned his wife Pasiphae and her monstrous child the Minotaur. Daedalus fled from Crete because he knew the secret of the labyrinth and didn't trust Minos not to kill him. He fled with his son Icarus using wings made by them from feathers fastened with wax, Daedalus warning his son not to fly to close to the sun less the heat melted the wax. Icarus ignored his father's advice, the wax melted and he fell to his death. Daedalus however escaped to Sicily or mainland Italy, depending upon accounts.
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