D2ED'ALUS, in fabulous history, the great-grandson of Erechtheus king of Athens, is celebrated as the most ancient statuary, architect, and mechanist of Greece To him is ascribed the inven tion of the saw, the axe, the plummet, and many other tools and instruments; and to such a degree did he excel in sculpture, that his statues are fabled to have been endowed with life. For the alleged murder of his nephew he was obliged to quit Athens, whence he re paired to Crete, then under the sway of Minos, by whom he was favorably re ceived. Here lie constructed the famous labyrinth, on the model of the still more famous one of Egypt ; but having assist ed the wife of M inns in an intrigue with Taurus, he was, by a strange fatality, confined to this very labyrinth along with his son Icarus. By means, however, of wings, which he formed of linen or feath ers and wax, Daedalus and his son con trived to make their escape. The former pursued his aerial journey, and arrived safely in Sicily; but the latter having soared too near the sun, in consequence of which the wax that fastened the wing was melted, dropped into and was drown ed in the sea (thence called the Icarian.)
In Sicily Daedalus continued to prosecute his ingenious labors, and lived long enough to enrich that island with various works of art.. From the plastic powers of Dlndalus, the ancient poets used to re gard his name as synonymous with in genious, as in the phrase Mwialcuot opus; and in a somewhat similar sense Lucretius applies it to the earth, in or der to describe its vernal vegetation. A few years ago the name of Daedalus, which had been appropriated by various artists in the history of Grecian art, was assumed by the constructors of some in genious automata, in memory of the grand impressions which the works of Daedalus had produced.