Daedalus was a genius inventor who served King Minos of Crete. After Poseidon cursed the Queen, Paisiphae, to fall in love with the sacraficial bull, it was Daedalus who was made to make her a fake bull so she could seduce the bull. After she gave birth to it'ss child, the Minotaur, it was again Daedalus who was looked to, this time by the King. Minos ordered Daedalus to create a place to hide the abomination of a child, and so Daedalus made the Labyrinth. Not just any maze, the Labyrinth was nearly impossible to escape from, and was thus a perfect place to lock away the Minotaur. Eventually, a young hero, Theseus, decided to try to kill the monster, and Minos and Paisiphae's daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him. She begged Daedalus to tell her the secret to the Labyrinth so that Theseus might find his way out again, and eventually he caved and helped her. When Theseus returned from killing the Minotaur, the King was furious with Daedalus for helping him, and locked him away with his son, Icarus. Daedalus, clever inventor he was, crafted wings for each of them from bird feathers and wax. He warned Icarus he must be careful when flying with them, as if he flew too high, the suns heat would melt the wax, and he would plummet into the ocean below, but if he flew too low, he would be weighed down by the sea spray, and would be dragged in. Icarus payed no heed to this warning, and soared far higher than he was supposed to, and soon crashed and drowned. Daedalus could do nothing, and flew on to Camicus, where he was allowed to remain under the protection of King Cocalus.
See also The Minotaur