Daedalus Research Paper

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The myth of Daedalus is one of the more universally known myths today. The story of his invention of the cow for King Minos’ queen Pasiphae that led to the creation of the labyrinth and the death of his son has been used as an influence for many modern authors and inventors. Daedalus is the epitome of architectural and artistic genius, which is why James Joyce incorporates his legend in his novel The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The protagonist, Stephen, faces trials in his life similar to the characters in the Daedalus myth, which is why it is such a useful source. Stephen begins his major more adult-like troubles with his insatiable lust, which leads to his academic epiphany and artistic awakening, and finally to his flight from …show more content…
When his student Perdix, his nephew, began to show greater skill than he possessed in his invention of the saw, Daedalus threw the boy off of a cliff. Athena changed the boy into a partridge and, accused of manslaughter, Daedalus was exiled from his homeland. This exile drove Daedalus to Crete and the service of King Minos, who created problems for himself by offending Neptune with his refusal of a beautiful prize bull. In result, the god instills insatiable lust in Queen Pasiphae towards the beautiful bull, which she is able to mate with thanks to the creative Daedalus and his hollow bull. This results in the birth of the Minotaur and Daedalus’ best known creation (his sort of artistic awakening), the labyrinth. King Minos has him and his son imprisoned inside the maze, but they escape using wings created by the inventor. Icarus, Daedalus’ son, does not heed his father’s caution and flies too close to the sun, causing the binding of the feathers to melt and the boy to fall to his …show more content…
After his religious revival, Stephen was able to embrace his intellectual abilities and artistic tendencies. He throws himself into education and ignores even his senses and human urges so that he may come closer to his full potential. Just as Daedalus was locked away in the labyrinth, Stephen is locked away in his religion. Finally, he breaks away from his religious obsession and begins to write poetry for another girl he becomes infatuated with. His attempt at beautiful, lyrical poetry is a little more than mediocre, but it gets the job done, as did Daedalus’ mediocre invention. Everything begins to slip away from Stephen soon after his poetic inspiration. His girl flirts with another man, another student surpasses him in educational prestige, which angers him greatly, and his relationship with Catholicism completely crumbles. This second downward spiral affects his relationship with his family and even his country, which alludes to the secondary story of Daedalus and his origins, as his relationship with his country is severed by his displeasure with another talented individual. Eventually, Stephen leaves Ireland and invokes Daedalus, asking him to make his trip an artistic and creatively prosperous one. Myth is an important source that many authors draw from. Ovid makes this usage that much easier with his vagueness concerning

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