+ Cycladia Travel Guides | Mythology



Daedalus & Knossos Palace

According to Greek mythology, Daedalus was a famous architect, sculptor, craftsman and inventor in ancient Athens. He was exiled by the highest court because he murdered his apprentice and nephew Talos, whom he envied for his ingenuity. In search of a refuge, the king of Crete Minos, son of Zeus and Europa, welcomed him with the task to build the Palace of Knossos. This is how the labyrinth was constructed. The Palace of Knossos is a huge building with almost 1300 rooms, courtyards and store rooms.

However, according to a version of the myth, Daedalus fell in the disfavour of the king because he gave his daughter, Ariadni, a thread, which she gave to Theseus, to help him get out of the labyrinth, after killing the mythical Minotaur creature. Another version mentions that Daedalus helped Passifae, the king’s wife, after she begged him, to mate with a bull (this is how Minotaur was born).

Other myths support that Daedalus and his son Icarus were restricted into a high tower, so as not to reveal the secrets of the labyrinth. Daedalus thought that the only way of escaping was by air. He constructed wings made of feathers, tied together with string and glued with wax. After they managed to escape, Icarus neglected his father’s advice not to fly too high. Therefore the sun caused the wax to melt and Icarus with dismantled wings fell into the sea and drowned.


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