Build of Labyrinth and Where
As cited earlier, the story of Icarus and his father Daedalus involves around a labyrinth. In fact, many important turn of event occurs within this labyrinth. This structure situated in Crete was built to accommodate the Minotaur – the half man, half bull son creature. Looking back into the historical background of Daedalus, we will learn that he once used to reside in Athens. Out of professional jealousy, he murdered his own nephew and this ultimately paved the way to the permanent banishment from Athens. Daedalus decided to move to Crete where he began to work for the reigning king Minos.
Even from an early stage, the king as well as the queen recognized the inherent talents of Daedalus. The latter even commissioned Daedalus to build a wooden structure so that she may satisfy her lust with a white bull send occasionally by Poseidon. The Minotaur was born out of this relationship. King Minos decided to house the creature in a labyrinth – so that the offspring may never leave it and be seen outside. According to various other sources, the king used Minotaur for various other nefarious purposes too – such as leading unsuspecting enemies to the labyrinth so that his son may feast on them.
Theseus of Athens came to know about this so-called mythical creature that dwelled in the labyrinth. Many may wonder why Theseus decided to kill the Minotaur once and for all. During acute food shortages, Minos would feed his son with passing travellers. In order to put an end to this gruesome ritual, Theseus decided to pay a “cordial” visit to the labyrinth. To help him on his quest, Daedalus gave him an outline of the possible places (within the labyrinth) where there would be high possibility to meet the Minotaur. Adding to the woe, the daughter of Minos, Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and decided to elope with him upon the completion of the quest.
As the story goes, Theseus was able to slay the Minotaur inside the labyrinth very easily because he had help from external sources (Icarus, Daedalus and Ariadne). This greatly enraged the king and it was he who decided that Icarus and his father Daedalus must spend the rest of their lives within the confines of the same labyrinth where his son was slain. In order to prevent the escape of the prisoners, the king commissioned elaborate measures outside the labyrinth.
The story is riddled with many twists and turns which would keep the readers on the edge of their seats. As the legend goes on, they may find that Daedalus and his son Icarus ultimately found a method to escape from the labyrinth forever. However, the pride generated within Icarus led him to an untimely death – all of which will be covered in detail in the succeeding sections. Of course, there are a couple of variations to this tale – we will be looking into those sections too.