Daedalus

The Athenian Daedalus, son of Metion and the grandson of Erechtheus 1, was a
famous architect, inventor, and craftsman. Among his inventions and creations were the
wooden cow he constructed for the queen Pasiphae, the La!rinth at "nossos, artificial
wings for himself and his son #carus, and he was even said to have invented images.
$is homeland was Athens. %or a short time, his apprentice was his sister&s son Perdi'.
(hen Daedalus feared that the o! would surpass him in talent, he murdered the o!
! tossing him from the Acropolis of Athens. $e was then tried at the Areopagus and
anished from the cit!.
$e fled to )rete, where he egan to wor* at the court of "ing Minos and +ueen
Pasiphae, in the magnificent palace of "nossos. There he constructed a wooden cow
for the queen to hide in to satisf! her amorous longings for a white ull sent !
Poseidon, and ! which she ecame pregnant with the Minotaur.
(hen the Minotaur was orn, Daedalus uilt the La!rinth to contain the monstrous
half,man, half,ull. %or !ears Minos demanded a triute of !ouths from Athens to feed
the creature. Eventuall!, the hero Theseus came to )rete to attempt to sla! the
Minotaur. Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, fell in love with Theseus and as*ed
Daedalus to help him. Daedalus gave her a fla'en thread for Theseus to tie to the door
of the La!rinth as he entered, and ! which he could find his wa! out after *illing the
monster. Theseus succeeded, and escaped )rete with Ariadne. Minos, enraged at the
loss of his daughter, shut Daedalus and his son #carus into the La!rinth.
To escape, Daedalus uilt wings for himself and #carus. The! successfull! flew from
)rete, ut #carus& wings melted when he flew too close to the sun, and he drowned in
the sea. Daedalus uried his son and continued to -icil!, where he came to sta! at the
court of )ocalus.
Minos then went in pursuit of Daedalus, hoping to tric* the great inventor into revealing
himself. At each cit! he visited, Minos offered a reward to whomever could thread a
spiral seashell. Eventuall!, Minos came to )amicus in -icil! and presented the contest
at )ocalus& court. )ocalus *new of Daedalus& talents, and gave the shell to him. The
clever Daedalus tied the string to an ant, place the ant at one end of the shell, and
allowed the ant to wal* through the spiral chamers until it came out the other end.
(hen Minos saw that someone had solved the pu..le, he demanded that )ocalus
surrender Daedalus. )ocalus promised to do so, ut he persuaded Minos to ta*e a ath
and sta! for some entertainment. Minos agreed, and was murdered ! )ocalus&
daughters.
Icarus
#carus was the son of the inventor Daedalus and a slave named /aucrate. "ing Minos
of )rete imprisoned Daedalus and #carus in the La!rinth to punish Daedalus for
helping the hero Theseus to *ill the monster called the Minotaur and to escape with
Minos& daughter, Ariadne. Daedalus *new that Minos controlled an! escape routes !
land or sea, ut Minos could not prevent an escape ! flight. -o Daedalus used his
s*ills to uild wings for himself and #carus. $e used wa' and string to fasten feathers to
reeds of var!ing lengths to imitate the curves of irds& wings.
(hen their wings were read!, Daedalus warned #carus to fl! at medium altitude. #f he
flew too high, the sun could melt the wa' of his wings, and the sea could dampen the
feathers if he flew too low.
0nce the! had escaped )rete, #carus ecame e'hilarated ! flight. #gnoring his father&s
warning, he flew higher and higher. The sun melted the wa' holding his wings together,
and the o! fell into the water and drowned. Daedalus loo*ed down to see feathers
floating in the waves, and reali.ed what had happened. $e uried his son on an island
which would e called #caria, and the sea into which #carus had fallen would ever after
e called the #carian -ea 1etween the )!clades and Asia Minor2.
Gods and Goddesses
Greek Roman
Aphrodite 3enus
Apollo Apollo
Ares Mars
Artemis Diana
Athena Minerva
Demeter )eres
$ades Pluto 4conventionall! or for a trivia question,
ut reall! Pluto, a god of wealth, is the
equivalent of a god of wealth called Dis5
$ephaistos 3ulcan
$era 6uno
$ermes Mercur!
$estia 3esta
"ronos -aturn
Persephone Proserpina
Poseidon /eptune
7eus 6upiter
Minor Gods
with Greek or English name on the left and Latin on the right
Erin!es 8 Eumenides 1%uries 8 "indl! 0nes2 Dirae 8 %uriae
Eris Discordia
Eros )upid
Moirai
1%ates2
Moirae 8 Parcae
)harites
19races2
9ratiae
$elios -ol
$orai
1-easons2
$orae
Pan %aunus
T!che %ortuna