Lindsay Beardall

ENGL 2600-003

To create and to soar: the Daedalus myth in Joyce’s Portrait

James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is bursting at the seams

with allusions. One of the most noteworthy is the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus.

The myth works on many levels, giving overall structure and lending its labyrinthine

roots to the novel. Stephen’s desire for flight and freedom, his artistic soul, even his name

- Dedalus, all reflect and allude to this myth.

The Greek myth of Daedalus claims that he was a great craftsman and innovator;

an artisan. So great, in fact, that King Minos asked Daedalus to built a labyrinth to hold

the notorious half-bull, half-man monster, the Minotaur. After it was built, for reasons

that vary with the telling, King Minos locked Daedalus and Daedalus’ son Icarus high in

a tower within the labyrinth. But, Daedalus being the genius and innovator he was,

couldn’t be kept locked up. He was inspired by the birds he saw wheeling above the

ocean outside his window, and decided to create wings for himself and his son to be able

to escape the tower and the grasp of King Minos. Stephen is well aware throughout the

novel of the myth his name denotes, and for this reason, is inspired by Daedalus.

Now, at the name of the fabulous artificer, he seemed to hear the noise of dim
waves and to see a winged form flying above the waves and slowly climbing the
air…a hawk-like man flying sunward above the sea, a prophecy of the end he had
been born to serve and had been following through the mists…a symbol of the
artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of earth a new
soaring impalpable imperishable being? (183)
The accomplishment of flight is something Stephen both admires and desires. In a

moment of epiphany and reflection on the beach, Stephen begins to realize this desire

consciously. Echoing the tower Daedalus and Icarus were trapped within, Stephen is

trapped within the constraints of family, country, language, and religion. Poetry and art

are his wings to escape these bonds.

His throat ached with a desire to cry aloud, the cry of a hawk or eagle on high, to
cry piercingly of his deliverance to the winds…This was the call of life to his soul
not the dull gross voice of the world of duties and despair, not the inhuman voice
that had called him to the pale service of the altar. An instant of wild flight had
delivered him and the cry of triumph which his lips withheld cleft his brain. (183-
184)

The realization that pursuing his art is the only way for him to live a complete,

worthwhile life, showed that “his soul had arisen from the grave of boyhood” (184) and

he imagines himself as that “hawk-like man” (183), as Daedalus and Icarus, experiencing

the same freedom and exultant joy that flight and the escape from imprisonment can

provide. “His heart trembled in an ecstasy of fear and his soul was in flight. His soul was

soaring in an air beyond the world…an ecstasy of flight made radiant his eyes and wild

his breath and tremulous and wild and radiant his windswept limbs.” (183) This is the

moment that Stephen finally realizes his potential and the freedom his artistry can give

him. He grasps that realization and holds tight to it, for it gives him purpose and hope.

But there is more to the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. Before they leave the tower

to fly to freedom on the island of Crete, Daedalus warns Icarus that the binding agent

used on the wings (wax) would melt if he flew too close to the sun, rendering the wings

useless and guaranteeing certain death. When they leave, Icarus is caught up in the joy of

flight, and forgets his father’s warnings. The wax melts and Icarus’ wings fall apart. He
plunges to the sea, and perishes. Daedalus is understandably distraught, but continues on

his way to Crete. Daedalus and Icarus are often used as symbols of artistry. Daedalus the

classical, practical artist, mature and straightforward, yet ingenious, and Icarus the

romantic poet, passionate and emotional, yet often tragic. Stephen, despite his last name

Dedalus (which is, consequently, his father’s name), is most definitely a romantic artist,

seeing the world in a completely different way than anyone else. “From sound and shape

and colour which are the prison gates of our soul, an image of the beauty we have come

to understand – that is art.” (224) Stephen’s mind is steeped in esthetic philosophy, and

because of this he has the potential to become a great artist, something he eventually

realizes and clings to. Between Stephen and Daedalus, the major tie-in is art, something

they both feel strongly about and excel (or at least aspire to) at. On the title page of the

novel, there is a quote from Ovid, “Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes.” (2) This

translates to “And he applied his spirit to obscure arts.” Ovid is talking about Daedalus,

and the fact that Joyce includes this quote on the title page shows us from the very

beginning the parallels between Daedalus as an artist and Stephen as an artist. Stephen

also realizes the implications of his name; “He would create proudly out of the freedom

and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and

soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable.” (184) Stephen is an artist down to his

very soul, like Daedalus, and he utilizes this trait, this calling; searching for and finding

his identity, his individual purpose.

One of Daedalus’ crowning achievements, and without a doubt the most widely

known, is the labyrinth he created to imprison the Minotaur. The labyrinthine structure is
utilized by Joyce throughout the entire novel, seen in the city of Dublin, Stephen’s

struggle with religion, and even Stephen’s life as a whole. The novel is full of false exits,

raising hope in Stephen, only to leave him unfulfilled. Dublin is “a maze of narrow and

dirty streets” (106) as Stephen observes while wandering at the end of Chapter 2. He also

alludes to the Minotaur, comparing himself to “some baffled prowling beast” (106) and

finds himself in the company of a prostitute, someone to sin with. The experience is

intoxicating to him, “tears of joy and relief shone in his delighted eyes…In her arms he

felt that he had suddenly become strong and fearless and sure of himself” (107), but

offers no permanent solace or liberation. This same pattern is echoed in an experience in

school. After Stephen’s encounter with the rector, his schoolmates hail him as a hero, and

Stephen is elated but quickly realizes that their recognition isn’t what he really wants; he

wants to be alone to revel in his victory. “They made a cradle of their locked hands and

hoisted him up among them and carried him along till he struggled to get free. And when

he had escaped from them they broke away in all directions…he was alone. He was

happy and free.” (60) Stephen also finds brief consolation in his confession to the priest,

“till that moment he had not known how beautiful and peaceful life could be” (157), but

that eventually fades as well. Stephen’s relationship with the Catholic church, with

religion twists and turns like a maze, and he goes many different directions: backwards,

forwards, sideways, but eventually ends up with a complete realization of his own actual

beliefs. The novel itself is a reflection of a labyrinth. Stephen’s life is full of paths laid

out by others, paths such as religion, family, nationality, and language. They are dead

ends, constraints that imprison him, but eventually he realizes his own destiny as an artist

and is able to escape from the figurative maze.

 Stephen’s soul is that of the artist, and the Daedalus myth connections only

emphasize and support the ideal. Stephen gains freedom and flight from this realization,

something he has been aching for and searching for his entire life. Stephen himself

recognizes the importance the Greek myth holds for him, a reflection of his own life,

goals, and individuality.

Joyce, James, and Seamus Deane. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin
Classics). New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.