Minos exacted a yearly tribute from Athens (perhaps because Daedalus was a native of that city) of 14 Athenians (seven youths and seven maidens). These young people were sent to Crete, imprisoned in the Labyrinth, and devoured by the Minotaur. One year Theseus, prince of Athens, volunteered to be one of the sacrifices.
Minos’s daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus, and she begged Daedalus to help her save him from being killed by the Minotaur. Daedalus gave her a ball of thread and told her that Theseus should tie one end to the entrance of the Labyrinth and unwind the thread as he moved through the passages. Ariadne passed on the thread and the instructions to Theseus, who did as he was told. When he found the sleeping Minotaur, he killed it, either with his bare fists or with a sword given to him by Ariadne. He then found his way back to the entrance by winding up the thread.
For helping Ariadne, Minos imprisoned both Daedalus and Daedalus’s son, Icarus. Some accounts say that they were locked in the Labyrinth, others that they were held in
Above: The Fall of Icarus by Carlo Saraceni (c. 1580—1620) is one of many depictions by artists of the moment when Icarus ignored his father’s warnings, flew too close to the sun, and plunged to his death.
A tower. Escape was impossible by land or sea, so Daedalus made two pairs of wings ITom bird feathers held together with wax: his plan was to fly to safety. Just before Daedalus and Icarus launched themselves into the air, the father warned his son not to fly too close to the sun’s heat or the sea’s dampness, but to follow him closely on a middle course. However, Icarus, intoxicated with the freedom and power of flight, flew higher and higher. Daedalus cried out and warned him, but the boy paid no attention. Icarus soared too close to the sun and the wax melted; his wings disintegrated, and he plunged to his death in the sea.
World History
