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.
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 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.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses 8, a partridge — the transformed Perdix — watches from a branch as Daedalus buries Icarus, clapping its wings in triumph at the poetic justice of the father's grief.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and improve your experience. Learn more