Dædalus and Icarus
Dædalus of Athens was a son of Metion, grandson of Erectheus. He was the
most skilful man of his time--an architect, sculptor, and stone worker.
His works were admired in various parts of the world, and his statues
were said to live, move, and see; for while the statues of earlier
artists had their eyes closed and the hands not separated from the body,
he was the first one who gave open eyes to his statues, extended the
hands, and represented the feet as walking. But skilful, zealous, and
active as he was in his work, he had vices which brought him into
trouble. He had a nephew, named Talos, who was his pupil, and who
displayed even more skill than his uncle and master. He discovered the
potter's wheel. He also took the jaw of a snake and copied it in iron,
cutting into it a row of continuous teeth, thus inventing the saw. He
also invented the lathe and many useful instruments without assistance
from his teacher, which made him famous.
Dædalus, fearing that the name of his scholar might become more renowned
than his own, grew so jealous that he killed the boy by hurling him down
from the castle at Athens. While engaged in burying him, he was
surprised by the authorities and pretended he was burying a snake. At
last he was brought before the Areopagus, charged with murder, and was
found guilty. He managed to escape, however, and at first wandered about
in Attica, but finally fled to the island of Crete. There he met King
Minos, became his friend, and was highly esteemed as a renowned artist.
He was chosen to make a house for the Minotaur, a monster resembling a
bull from its head to its shoulders, the remainder of its body being
like a man, and to construct it so that the monster would be entirely
removed from human sight. The inventive genius of Dædalus produced the
Labyrinth, a structure full of complicated windings, confusing both to
the eyes and feet of those who entered it. When it was finished and
Dædalus began to look it over, the builder himself found his way back to
the opening only with the greatest difficulty. The Minotaur was kept in
the very centre of this Labyrinth, its food being seven youths and seven
maidens sent to it periodically from Athens.
In the meantime Dædalus began to weary of his long banishment from home.
It vexed him that he must spend his life upon an island exposed to the
caprices of a tyrannical and cruel king. After long consideration, he at
last joyfully exclaimed: "I have found the way to escape. Minos may be
master of land and water, but the sky is free to me. He has no power
over that. Through the air I will escape." No sooner said than done. He
began by arranging bird feathers of different sizes in regular order.
These feathers he fastened in the middle with waxed linen cords. He then
bent the joined feathers in such perfect curves that they clearly
resembled wings. Dædalus had a boy, named Icarus, who stood by him and
eagerly meddled, childlike, with his father's work. All of a sudden he
took some of the feathers and deftly kneaded the wax, which his father
had been using, with his thumb and forefinger. The father smiled at the
unassisted exertions of the child. After his work was finished Dædalus
fastened the wings to his body, balanced them equally, and sailed
through the air as lightly as a bird. Then, descending to earth, he
constructed a smaller pair for his son and instructed him how to use
them. "Always fly, my dear son, in the middle course," he said. "If you
fly too low your wings may become so dampened by the sea air that they
will grow heavy and you may fall into the waves, and if you mount too
high and go too near the sunbeams your feathers may suddenly take fire.
Fly between sea and sky and always follow in my course." After these
warnings Dædalus fastened his wings on Icarus' shoulders, though the old
man's hands trembled as he did so, and anxious tears dropped upon them.
He then embraced his son and kissed him for the last time.
The two rose in air. The father led the way, flying as natural as a
bird. He moved his wings easily and skilfully and from time to time
looked back to see how his son was succeeding. They soon passed the
island of Samos at the left and flew by the islands of Delos and Paros.
Several other localities were left behind them when suddenly Icarus, who
had grown over-confident, forsook his paternal guide to reach a higher
altitude. He soon encountered the danger his father predicted. The
proximity of the sun weakened the wax which held his wings together and
they became detached from his shoulders. The unfortunate youth tried to
keep in air with his bare arms, but it was in vain and he suddenly
plunged downwards with the name of his father on his lips; but before he
could call for help he sank in the sea's blue depths. It all happened so
quickly that Dædalus, when he looked back for his son, could see nothing
of him. "Icarus, Icarus," he shouted in the vacant sky, "where and in
what region of air shall I seek thee?" At last he cast an anxious glance
downward and saw the feathers floating on the water. He descended and
wandered from shore to shore seeking the body of his unfortunate child,
and at last found it. The murder of Talos was avenged. The despairing
father attended to the burial of his son, upon an island which in
lasting memory of the tragic event is called Icaria.
After Dædalus had buried his son he went to the large island of Sicily,
where King Cocalus ruled. He met with the same hospitable reception
which Minos once extended to him, and his skill created universal
astonishment. He constructed an artificial lake from which issued a
broad river emptying into the neighboring sea. Upon a barren and almost
insurmountable cliff, which had hardly room for a couple of trees, he
built a strong fortress approached by a winding way which could be
defended by three or four men. King Cocalus used this impregnable castle
as a storehouse for his treasures. The third work of Dædalus was a deep
cavern on the island of Sicily. Here he overcame the reek of internal
fires so skilfully that a visit to the cavern, which was usually so
damp, became as agreeable as if it were a mildly warmed room and the
body experienced a gentle perspiration without being overheated. He also
enlarged the temple of Aphrodite (Venus) upon Mount Eryx[21] and
dedicated to the goddess a golden honeycomb so skilfully made that it
was difficult to tell it from a real one.
When King Minos, whose island Dædalus forsook, learned that he had fled
to Sicily he resolved to follow him with a strong force. He organized a
fleet and set out from Crete to Agrigentum. There he disembarked his
troops and sent messengers to King Cocalus, demanding the surrender of
the fugitive. But Cocalus was enraged at this invasion by a foreign
tyrant and determined to find some way of destroying him. He pretended
to consent, promised to comply with his wishes in every way, and invited
him to an interview. Minos came and was received by Cocalus with the
greatest hospitality. A warm bath was prepared to relieve him of
fatigue, but when he sat in the tub it was so soon overheated that Minos
was suffocated. The king sent his body to the Cretans who came with him,
informing them that Minos had slipped and fallen into the hot water in
the tub. Minos was taken with great pomp by his warriors to Agrigentum
and above his grave a temple of Venus was built. Dædalus remained in the
continuous favor of Cocalus, educated many famous artists, and was the
founder of art in Sicily. But he was never happy after the death of his
son, and while he enriched the country which had given him refuge, with
beautiful art works, his old age was sorrowful and full of troubles. He
died upon the island and was buried there.