Daedalus - the Architect and Inventor - Greek mythology

 Daedalus - the Architect and Inventor

Long, long ago, there lived in the court of king Minos of Crete, a brilliant architect inventor called Daedalus  . His invention changed the lives of the common people. He invented the first saw and the first potter's wheel; he made the first sails and taught people how to use the power of their wind to drive their ships, instead of the power of their own muscles. Daedalus was helped in his work by his young son, Icarus. Together, they designed and built many amazing buildings, but the most wonderful of them all was a labyrinth or maze, which had so many winding passages inside it that anyone who entered the building was unable to find the way out.

king Minos of Crete had specially ordered Daedalus to build this maze as a prison for his son. You may wonder why the king needed a prison for his own son. Many years ago, king Minos and Queen Pasiphae had become the proud parents of a son. But , for some reason, the gods were angry with the king and had put a curse on him. When the child was born, it turned out to be a monster, with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The king called this unfortunate child the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a man-eater from the moment of birth, with a taste for human flesh. As the king wanted to protect his subjects from the monster, he kept the Minotaur imprisoned inside the maze built  by Daedalus, so that the people of Crete could live in safety. But the king also loved his son and did not want him to go without food. So he waged war with the neighbouring kingdom of Athens. Minos won the war and Athens came under his rule. king Minos ordered that seven young and women from Athens should be sent to Crete every year. They would then be put into the maze so that Minotaur could satisfy his hunger.

The king of Athens had no choice but to agree. This went on for a few years until Theseus, the prince of Athens, who had grown up into a brave human and fearless young man, decided that these human sacrifices to the Minotaur had to be stopped. He volunteered to go to Crete, hoping that he would be able to kill the monster and put an end to the sacrifice of young Athenian lives.

When Theseus arrived in Crete, Ariadne, Minos' daughter, saw him and fell in love with him. She made up her mind to save him from Minotaur. She knew that once Theseus entered the labyrinth, he would not be able to find his way out and would be devoured by the monster. Ariadne knew also that Daedalus alone knew the secret of the amazing labyrinth as he had designed it. She lost no time in meeting Daedalus and asked him to tell her how one could escape from the labyrinth.

''Why do you want to know?" asked Daedalus to Ariadne.

"Because the prince of Athens is going to be sacrificed to the Minotaur today and his life must be saved at any cost,'' replied Ariadne. Daedalus felt sorry for her and gave her a reel of thread so that Theseus could tie one end of the thread to the entrance of the labyrinth when he entered it and keep the reel in his hand. The thread would unwind and enable him to find his way back to the entrance after he had killed the monster.

Ariadne rushed back with the reel of thread and gave it secretly to Theseus. Theseus not only succeeded in killing the Minotaur, but also escaped from the labyrinth with the help of the thread. He immediately sought out Ariadne to thank her for her father found out what had happened.

''I shall not leave Crete unless you come with me.'' said Theseus firmly, because he knew that the cruel Minos would not hesitate to kill his own daughter once he realised that it was she who had helped him to escape. Ariadne happily agreed and both of them escaped to Athens before anyone could find out that they were missing.

But the truth could not be kept hidden for long! Soon, Minos realised that his daughter had run away with Theseus, and his son, the monster, had been killed. He also guessed that Daedalus had helped  her by telling her how to escape from the labyrinth. Minos was furious. He was angry with his daughter for running away, but most of all, he was angry with Daedalus for giving out the secret of the labyrinth. He felt that he had been deceived by both. Minos shut Daedalus and his son Icarus inside the labyrinth and looked the doors so that they could never escape.

Icarus was greatly upset at being made a prisoner inside the labyrinth which his father and he had built. 

''Do not worry, my son,'' said Daedalus, "I shall think of a way by which we can escape.''

"But how can we, father?'' asked Icarus. ''All the doors are looked."

"This labyrinth has an open terrace on the roof," said Daedalus. ''We will be able to escape from there,''

But the roof was so high that they would not be able to climb down the steep walls and escape.

''Never mind,'' Daedalus said, when Icarus pointed this out to him. ''I have a plan.''

Many birds had built their nests inside the labyrinth and their feathers were scattered all over the place. Daedalus and Icarus spent the next few days collecting all the feathers they could find. Daedalus used these feathers to fashion two huge pairs of wings and stuck them together with wax. The wings could be fixed to their shoulders and made to beat up and down, like the wings of an eagle, when they moved their arms. Daedalus had invented the first flying machine!

When it was morning. Daedalus and Icarus made their way to the roof. The wings were fixed in place.

''You first, Icarus. I will follow,'' Daedalus said. 

With his arms outstretched, so that the wings were extended, Icarus ran across the open terrace like an aircraft about to take off! Faster and faster he ran, until he came to the end of the terrace. The open sea lay stretched out beneath him. He took a great leap and was thrilled to find that he was soaring up into the air. He moved his arms up and down and found himself gaining height. he lowered his left arm and raised his right arm, and swung around in a graceful curve, just like an eagle. He was flying! He could go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wished. He was the master of the wind; no one could stop him!

Daedalus, who had followed him into the air, was flying a few feet below Icarus.

''Take care, son, do not fly too low over the sea, or your wings will get wet,'' warned Daedalus.

''No, father,'' said Icarus, thrilled by his new power. 

''Do not fly too high either,'' cried Daedalus.

But Icarus was already out of hearing and was flying into the clouds. He was so excited with this new experience that he did not feel the heat of the sun. He flew higher and higher. But the sun's light was too strong. It melted the wax that held his wings together. The   wings came apart and he fell right into the sea.

Daedalus tried to save him but could not get near enough. There was nothing he could do.

Daedalus flew to Greece where he spent the rest of his life inventing useful things that would help the people. But often, he would gaze at the sea sadly and think of his dear son, Icarus.

The part of the Mediterranean Sea where Icarus drowned came to be known as the Icarian Sea, in memory  of the young boy who so tragically lost his life.