What was Daedalus the god of in Greek myths famous for?

Answer 1

Firstly your question makes no sense, secondly Daedalus was not a god, he was a person and thirdly; i hope this passage might have some of the answers to whatever question you are asking somewhere in it:

Daedalus and Icarus

There are many different versions of the Greek myth or story of the inventor, architect and craftsman Daedalus and his son Icarus on their escape from Crete. This is a general version of the myth, originally passed by word of mouth and then written down in Latin:

Daedalus was a famous master inventor and craftsman. He had fled to the island of Crete and started work for King Minos, during around 1325 BC . He created many objects for the King, that appear in various myths and legends.

One of his creations was the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. Locked away inside the Labyrinth, a gigantic underground maze of misleading and seemingly endless tunnels, was a horrific monster. It was the Minotaur, a half man - half bull, bloodthirsty creature. It was the son of the kings wife, Queen Pasiphae. Daedalus had constructed a wooden cow for the queen to hide in to satisfy her love for a white bull sent by Poseidon. From this she became pregnant with the Minotaur. When the Minotaur was born, Daedalus built the Labyrinth to imprison the monster inside. The monster was always hungry for flesh, so King Minos demanded that seven men and seven women were sent to him each year. They were sent one by one into the labyrinth to be served to the Minotaur All got lost and were eaten by the Minotaur, no-one escaped. Some people lasted only hours, but some took days to find their way through the pitch black tunnels to the Minotaur

This all continued for about twenty years until one brave hero, named Theseus, asked to be one of the seven men sent to the labyrinth; as he believed that he could boldly slay the beast within the maze and escape successfully, sparing the lives of fourteen innocent people each year. When Theseus set foot on the island of Crete he was introduced to the king's daughter, princess Ariadne, they instantly fell in love with each other. Ariadne gave Theseus a sword to slay the Minotaur and a large ball of string to tie to the door of the labyrinth and unroll as he journeyed through the tunnels, then follow to find his way out with. Theseus successfully slayed the monster and escaped the labyrinth, he then fled the lands of Minos with Ariadne by his side.

King Minos was furious, not only had Theseus survived, but he had killed the Minotaur and stolen his daughter from him. Minos blamed the outcome on Daedalus for badly creating the labyrinth, so he decided to lock Daedalus and his son Icarus away in the labyrinth (and in some versions a tall tower).

Daedalus had built the labyrinth so he therefor knew his way around. His son and him ventured through the tunnels, engulfed in darkness and thick silence. They made there way out and hid in temporary safety.

Daedalus knew that they had to run away from King Minos and his kingdom. But they could only get as far as the edge of the island where they would have to cross raging, guarded waters. Daedalus was a great inventor and had seen birds flying; this inspired him to construct two pairs of wings, one pair for him and the other pair for his son. He tied feathers together, from smallest to largest. The larger ones he secured with thread and the smaller with wax. He gave the whole wing a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird. He next equipped his son and himself with the wings, they tied them to their bodies with string. They practiced flying and soon became very fluent at it.

Soon enough the day when they knew that they were ready to go had came. Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sea as this may dampen his wings and he could fall in and drown or too near to the sun god named Helios, Apollo, Titan or Hyperion, as this would melt his wings and cause him to fall out the sky to his death. As Daedalus gave Icarus what would be his final kiss tears filled his eyes at the prospect of what would follow and the high possibilities of the death of his son that he loved with all his heart.

They set off, flapping their wings with their arms. They were successfully flying over the sea surrounding Crete, they were going to make it! Icarus was celebrating with joy. He excitedly flew up in the air with the giddiness of flying (or in some versions to reach the heavens). He flew higher and higher, ignoring his fathers warnings. Daedalus realised what was happening as he seen a single feather float down before him, followed by many more. Icarus noticed that the wax was melting and his wings were disappearing. He flapped his arms as hard as he could, trying to escape the heat of the sun, but it was too late; he was only flapping his bare arms. Icarus plummeted into the sea screaming, "help me father, HELP ME"! His dad chased after him, gawping in Horror as his son disappeared below the crashing waves of the sea named the Icarian sea in commemoration of his death. His father searched for his body, but he felt his heart sink in sorrow and he mourned with anguish as he seen feathers float to the surface of the sea. Daedalus flew higher; away from the sea to safety, where he escaped King Minos, without his son."

This story is a famous Greek legend, but it is only a fictional story. Greek legends were told within the people of Greece as a pass-time. Greek people believed in many gods who lived at the summit of mount Olympus. They had a god for almost everything, as a way of explaining everyday happenings that were beyond their knowledge. These gods hated humans. This formed a good base for their stories. There were many parts of these myths that contained forms of fantasy. It is now well known that humans cannot fly with just the power of their bodies and a crazy machine, let alone a pair of wings formed from wax, string and feathers.

Daedalus also featured in many other greek tales and myths. In ancient Greek; Daedalus means "Cunning Worker" and so he was, Daedalus was a well known craftsman and inventor,. All statues had their arms stuck stiffly to their sides until Daedalus made statues with their bodies in natural positions and, some people say he even gave them the power of being able to move, it was said that they were so realistic that if they werent chained up then they would run away! Daedalus claimed to be the inventor of the saw. Credit for this went to his nephew instead. Daedalus murdered him in jealousy. Because of this, he fled to Athens to work for King Minos on the island of Crete.

By Jamie Gerrard Lievesley