The downfall of Daedalus began with the arrival of the Athenian hero, Theseus. Minos was so pleased with Daedalus’ work that his status and position began to grow as he went from a slave to a valued member of Minos’ Kingdom. To solve this issue, he enlisted the help of Daedalus, a master craftsman who had previously arrived in Crete after being exiled from Athens.ĭaedalus was instructed to create a large labyrinth that was capable of holding the Minotaur. Minos had the problem of where he would house the Minotaur as he ran rampant through his kingdom. The story takes us to the island of Crete during the rule of King Minos. Today, we’ll be going over the story of Icarus and his father, Daedalus, as we attempt to understand why the story has become so popular and what exactly it means. It’s likely that even if your knowledge of Greek mythology is limited, you would have heard the story of Icarus or at least know the name. Icarus has quite a minor role in Greek mythology’s grander scale, but there’s no doubt that he’s become an iconic figure and his stories still told and retold to this day. In the area that I grew up in, Greek mythology was never something that featured in schools, but the first story I was taught, was that of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the Sun. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus built from feathers and wax. Icarus was the son of the famous craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth of Crete, where the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature lived, and the hallow wooden bull Pasiphae used to mate the Cretan Bull. The Morals of the Story of Icarus Who was Icarus in Greek Mythology?.

Icarus mythology