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Daedalus

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Legendary Athenian artisan famed for constructing the Labyrinth for King Minos and crafting wings of wax and feathers.

Detailed Definition
Daedalus was a brilliant Athenian inventor who constructed the Labyrinth for the Minotaur and later crafted wings to escape Crete with his son Icarus. He embodies human ingenuity and the double-edged nature of creation. Poets reference Daedalus to explore artistry, exile, and the consequences of innovation.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Ovid’s "Metamorphoses," Daedalus crafts wings for escape, symbolizing human ingenuity and its limits; In W.H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” Daedalus’s creation is background to Icarus’s fall; In William Carlos Williams’ “The Fall of Icarus,” Daedalus represents paternal ambition; In Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” Daedalus is a metaphor for the artist’s craft; In modern poetry, Daedalus often signifies the engineer of both liberation and disaster; In Tracy K. Smith’s “My God, It’s Full of Stars,” Daedalus’s labyrinth echoes cosmic complexity.
Additional Notes
Daedalus, the master craftsman who built the Labyrinth and wings for escape, symbolizes ingenuity, artistic creation, and the dangers of overreaching; poets contrast him with Icarus to explore the balance between ambition and prudence—his name evokes the labyrinthine structure of poetry itself, and his exile reflects the artist’s alienation or the ethical limits of invention.
Also Known As
Cunning Artificer Labyrinth-Maker Father of Icarus
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