Daedalus fathered Icarus with Naucrate, a slave at Minos's court, according to Apollodorus. He crafted wings for himself and his son to escape Crete, but Icarus flew too close to the sun and fell to his death.
⚠ Apollodorus names Naucrate, a slave of Minos, as Icarus's mother. Other sources (Hyginus, Diodorus) leave her unnamed.
Daedalus was born of the Athenian royal line through his father Metion, son of Erechtheus, inheriting the divine craftsman's blood that made him the greatest artisan of his age.
⚠ Apollodorus 3.15.8 in some recensions inserts Eupalamus between Metion and Daedalus, making Daedalus Metion's grandson rather than son.
Cocalus sheltered Daedalus in Sicily after the craftsman's escape from Crete. In return, Daedalus built marvels for the king — a treasury, a fortress, and a steam bath — and Cocalus's daughters killed Minos to protect the craftsman.
Minos imprisoned Daedalus after discovering the craftsman helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth. Daedalus fled Crete on wax wings and later engineered Minos's death in Sicily through the scalding pipes in Cocalus's bathhouse.
Daedalus engineered King Minos's death in Sicily by installing hidden pipes in King Cocalus's bathhouse. Cocalus's daughters poured boiling water through the pipes, killing the Cretan king who had pursued Daedalus across the Mediterranean.
Daedalus hurled his nephew Perdix from the Acropolis out of jealousy when the boy's inventions threatened to surpass his own. Athena saved Perdix by transforming him into a partridge.
⚠ Apollodorus names the nephew Talos, while Ovid calls him Perdix. Ovid has Athena transform him into a partridge mid-fall; Apollodorus says he died and Daedalus was tried at the Areopagus.
Daedalus designed and built the Labyrinth at Knossos on the orders of King Minos to imprison the Minotaur, creating a maze so complex that even its architect barely escaped.
Daedalus crafted the Wings of Icarus from feathers and wax while imprisoned on Crete, creating two pairs that enabled his and Icarus's aerial escape.
Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus within the Labyrinth after discovering that the architect had helped Ariadne devise the thread that saved Theseus, forcing Daedalus to craft wings of wax and feathers for their aerial escape.
Daedalus gave Ariadne the ball of thread that allowed Theseus to navigate the Labyrinth and escape after slaying the Minotaur.
Athena was patron of Daedalus and taught him the arts of craftsmanship, making him the greatest artisan in Athens before his exile for the attempted murder of his nephew Perdix.
Daedalus fashioned wings of feathers and wax for himself and Icarus to escape Crete, warning his son to fly neither too high nor too low. Icarus soared toward the sun, the wax melted, and he plunged into the sea that forever bore his name.
Daedalus built a hollow wooden cow for Pasiphae so she could satisfy the desire Poseidon had cursed her with for the Cretan Bull, resulting in the birth of the Minotaur.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and improve your experience. Learn more