Daedalus

Daedalus Europe
Legendary Greek craftsman. At the command of Minos, King of Crete, he designed and built the Labyrinth, in which was hidden the Minotaur, a monstrous creature born of the strange love of Pasiphae, the Cretan queen, for a sea-born bull. Minos had asked Poseidon for a sign when he was contending with his brothers for the throne, and it happened that the splendid bull that god sent from the waves inspired in Pasiphae an ungovernable passion, which was gratified by means of a bronze cow into which she slipped so as to deceive the beast. Again this was the handiwork of ‘cunning’ Daedalus.

According to legend, Daedalus was imprisoned by Minos for revealing the secret of the Labyrinth, but escaped by constructing wings for himself and his son Icarus. Despite his father's warning the boy flew too close to the sun, the wax holding together his wings melted, and he fell into the sea and was drowned. Daedalus himself managed to touch down...

[The entire page is 173 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass