Dædalus

Family: Greek myth · Role: craftsman · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 21

In Book 1, Chapter 21, Dædalus murdered Calus, his sister’s son and art-pupil, then fled to Crete; Endœus, his pupil, accompanied him. He later escaped to Sicily, to the court of Cocalus. In Book 7, Chapter 4, the account says he became a voluntary exile after killing his sister’s son, made works for Minos and his daughters in Crete, and was imprisoned with his son after being condemned for treason against Minos before escaping to Cocalus at Inycus.

His works included a wooden statue of Hercules, a dancing-ground for Ariadne, and statues attributed to him across several accounts. In Book 9, Chapter 40, Ariadne received his statue of Aphrodite and carried it away with her; many years later, Antiphemus carried one of Dædalus’s statues from Omphace to Gela.

Relationship record

Life events

• Dædalus murdered Calus, his sister’s son and art-pupil.(Book 1 · Chapter 21)
  • With: Calus
  • “This Calus, his sister’s son and art-pupil, Dædalus murdered”
• Dædalus escaped into Sicily to Cocalus.(Book 1 · Chapter 21 · 📍 Sicily)
  • With: Cocalus
  • “and afterwards escaped into Sicily to Cocalus”
• Dædalus flees to Crete after murdering Calus.(Book 1 · Chapter 26 · 📍 Crete)
  • With: Calus
  • “accompanied Dædalus to Crete, when he fled there on account of his murder of Calus.”
• Dædalus killed his sister’s son and became a voluntary exile.(Book 7 · Chapter 4)
  • “For having killed his sister’s son, and knowing the vengeance that awaited him in his country, he became a voluntary exile”
• Dædalus escaped imprisonment in Crete and fled to Cocalus at Inycus.(Book 7 · Chapter 4 · 📍 Inycus)
  • With: Minos Cocalus
  • “But being condemned for treason against Minos, and thrown into prison with his son, he escaped from Crete and went to Inycus, a city of Sicily, to the court of Cocalus”
• Dædalus made a wooden statue of Hercules on the borders of Messenia and Arcadia.(Book 8 · Chapter 35 · 📍 Hermæum)
  • “the wooden statue of Hercules made by Dædalus on the borders of Messenia and Arcadia once stood here.”
• Antiphemus sacked Omphace and carried Dædalus’s statue to Gela.(Book 8 · Chapter 46 · 📍 Omphace)
  • With: Antiphemus
  • “Antiphemus, the founder of Gela, sacked Omphace a town of the Sicani, and carried from thence to Gela a statue made by Dædalus”
• Ariadne received Dædalus's statue of Aphrodite and carried it away with her.(Book 9 · Chapter 40 · 📍 Delos)
  • With: Ariadne
  • “I believe Ariadne received this from Dædalus, and when she accompanied Theseus took the statue off with her.”