Nearly contemporary with the labours of Hercules is the history of
Pasiphae and the Minotaur; and this brings us again within the sphere
of magic. Pasiphae was the wife of Minos, king of Crete, who conceived
an unnatural passion for a beautiful white bull, which Neptune had
presented to the king. Having found the means of gratifying her
passion, she became the mother of a monster, half-man and half-bull,
called the Minotaur. Minos was desirous of hiding this monster from
the observation of mankind, and for this purpose applied to Daedalus,
an Athenian, the most skilful artist of his time, who is said to have
invented the axe, the wedge, and the plummet, and to have found out
the use of glue. He first contrived masts and sails for ships, and
carved statues so admirably, that they not only looked as if they were
alive, but had actually the power of self-motion, and would have
escaped from the custody of their possessor, if they had not been
chained to the wall.
Daedalus contrived for Minos a labyrinth, a wonderful structure, that
covered many acres of ground. The passages in this edifice met and
crossed each other with such intricacy, that a stranger who had once
entered the building, would have been starved to death before he could
find his way out. In this labyrinth Minos shut up the Minotaur. Having
conceived a deep resentment against the people of Athens, where his
only son had been killed in a riot, he imposed upon them an annual
tribute of seven noble youths, and as many virgins to be devoured by
the Minotaur. Theseus, son of the king of Athens, put an end to this
disgrace. He was taught by Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, how to
destroy the monster, and furnished with a clue by which afterwards to
find his way out of the labyrinth.
Daedalus for some reason having incurred the displeasure of Minos, was
made a prisoner by him in his own labyrinth. But the artist being
never at an end of his inventions, contrived with feathers and wax to
make a pair of wings for himself, and escaped. Icarus, his son, who
was prisoner along with him, was provided by his father with a similar
equipment. But the son, who was inexperienced and heedless, approached
too near to the sun in his flight; and, the wax of his wings being
melted with the heat, he fell into the sea and was drowned.