Dedalus, a prominent Greek inventor, settled in Crete among King Minos’ court. Queen Pasiphaë, who had an all-consuming passion for a white bull, called upon his services. Dedalus found a way to allow Pasiphaë to mate with the bull, and Minos locked Daedalus and his son, Icarus, away for their betrayal. Dedalus found a way to escape – but his method put his own son’s life in peril.
Even though his father had warned him not to do so, Icarus flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax on his wings. Yet, what kind of father would make a pair of wings for his son and challenge him to rival the flight of birds? Daedalus was a skilled inventor who had learned his skill from Athena herself. He was also a brilliant architect, a sculptor, an artist. His art was so very perfect that it was said that they had to be chained. His sculpture of Heracles was so very perfect that Heracles destroyed it. But Daedalus had one fault. He could not bear the thought of anyone’s being more talented than he. The nephew of Daedalus invented a saw. He had been inspired by a fish bone.
the name ‘Perdix’ is the name ‘Perdix’ is sometimes given to the boy’s mother, while he is himself called ‘Talos’.
The story of Europa and Cadmus is found in Greek mythology. They were the children of the king of a land called Phoenicia, which is modern day Lebanon. The God Zeus fell in love with Europa and wanted to take her away from her family to live with him. One day while Europa was wandering amongst her father’s herds of cattle she saw a white bull. She was not aware that Zeus had turned himself into the bull in order to trick her. After she climbed on his back he quickly jumped into the sea and carried her away from her homeland. Europa’s father was heartbroken and sent her brother Cadmus to find her and bring her home. Cadmus sailed over the sea and eventually arrived in Greece. He never did find his sister but it was Cadmus who brought the alphabet to the Greeks. The continent of Europe got its name from the princess Europa.
Europa’s earliest literary reference is in the Iliad, which is commonly dated to the 8th century BC.[2] Another early reference to her is in a fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, discovered at Oxyrhynchus.[3] The earliest vase-painting securely identifiable as Europa dates from the mid-7th century BC.[4]
Zeus carried him on his bull back, from tyre to crete, and Eruopa had3 sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.
She was left there single, but the Prince Asterion married her. She prospered on Crete and married the Cretan king, Asterion; Europa becoming the first Queen of Crete. Asperiod adopted 3 sons. When Asperion died, Minos claimed the throne. He claimed that the gods would grant him any of his wishes and that they agreed he was rightful heir to the throne.
Minos dedicated a temple to Poseidon and asked the god of the sea to send a bull out of the waves. Minos was crowned king. Minos had promised Poseidon that he would slaughter the Poseidon bull and offer it as a sacrifice. But Minos thought that the bull was too beautiful to kill. He decided to slaughter another and hide the Poseidon bull amongst his own flock.
Poseidon plotted his revenge.
King Minos took a wife. According to legend, Minos was a mighty king and a great warrior, rumoured to be a son of the Greek god Zeus and the mortal woman Europa. He had a wife, Pasiphae, and three children: Androgeus, Ariadne and Phaedra. His splendid labyrinthine palace at Knossos was built for him by the great genius Daedalus. He was a strong character, but he was also very harsh, and not well liked. As the ruler of one of the most powerful nations of the ancient world, he was greatly feared and respected by all the neighbouring kingdoms.
Pasiphae was the daughter of the sun god Helios and Crete?
She was said to be immortal and also a magician. But Poseidon was out for revenge,
He snuck into Pasiphae’s bedroom one night and whispered things to her. The next morning Pasipahe was madly in love with the white bull.
Pasiphae went to see Daedalus. She forced him to find a way to unite pasiphae and the white buill
He built a bull on wheels and inside that bull, pasiphae rode into the pasture and mated with the bull.
Minotaur was born.
Minos ordered Daedallus to build a labyrinth from which the bull could never escape.
Meanwhile, one of Minos’s sons was killed in Athens, and he held King Aegeus responsible wore broke out.
f the death of Androgeus, Minos’ son, whilst in Athens. The common story told of the death of Androgeus has the son of Minos murdered by competitors of the Panathenaic Games after Androgeus had bested them in each competition held. Some say though he was murdered on the orders of King Aegeus, for he feared that Androgeus was becoming involved in a plot to overthrow him.
Minos sieged Athens, and the people in the city were starving. King Aegeus said that he would agree to any terms to end the war. Minos demanded 7 boys and 7 girls each year–to feed the minotaur. One year, Theseus, heir to Aegeus throne said that he would be one of the sacrifices. He wanted to defeat the minotaur. When Princess Ariadne saw him, she fell in love with him.
Ariadne begged Daedalus to help her devise a plan so that Theseus would not get lost in the labyrinth. Daedalus gave Ariadne a ball of thread to give Theseus. Theseus succeeded in killing the minotaur, and he retraced his steps via the thread. Theseus carried Ariadne with him back to Athens,
Minos threw Daedalus and Icarus into the labyrinth, and they couldn’t escape. Daedalus concocted a plan. The sky was th
e path to freedom. He would build wings like birds for him and his son. He told son, “We will leave by the sky.”
But Icarus pushed too far.
That sea has been named for Icarus. It is the Icarian Sea.