Daedalus

In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful architect, inventor, and master craftsman. Daedalus was the father of Icarus and uncle of Talos.

Daedalus, embarrassed and frustrated by his clumsy son, took on Talos, his nephew, as an apprentice. Talos displayed a skill and intellect that rivaled his Daedalus's. When Daedalus feared that the boy would surpass him in talent, he murdered the boy by tossing him from the roof.

Daedalus, and his son, fled to the island of Crete, where he found himself in the court of King Minos. There he constructed the Labyrinth to contain the monstrous Minotaur. Minos cast Daedalus and Icarus into the Labyrinth.

Daedalus managed to get out of the Labyrinth - after all, he had built it. Daedalus decided that he and his son had to flee Crete and get away from Minos. However, Minos controlled the sea around Crete and there was no route of escape there. Daedalus realized that the only way out was by air.

To escape, Daedalus built wings for himself and Icarus, fashioned with feathers held together with beeswax. Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt his wings, and not too close to the sea, as the sea spray would dampen them and weigh him down.

They successfully flew from Crete, but Icarus soon flew too close to the sun. The wax holding the feathers melted and he fell to his death, drowning in the sea (which was afterwards named after him - The Icarian Sea) Daedalus lamented his dead son and blaiming himself for the tragedy.

Soon Daedalus found himself in the court of Cocalus. There he continued his craft and skills of inventing and building. But soon King Minos, in pursuit of Daedalus, came to the court. Minos offered a reward to whoever could lead a thread through a spiral seashell. Cocalus' daughters knew that Daedalus' talents could solve the puzzle, and gave the shell to him. Daedalus tied the string to an ant, and using honey as a reward made the ant to walk through the spiral chambers until it came out the other end.

When Minos saw that someone had solved the puzzle, he demanded that Cocalus surrender Daedalus. Daedalus quickly persuaded Minos to relax take a bath before taking him away to be killed. Minos agreed, and was consequently murdered by Daedalus - who used his knowledge of the plumbing system to fill Minos' bath with boiling water.