I love Greek Mythology so here is my chance to inform my readers about Daedalus, the namesake of a fund raising organization in Ashland.
We attended the “Daedalus Concert” a few days ago with locals Larry and Debra. Why the connection between this Greek and a fund raiser for AIDS I do not know, but the name is classy anyway.
Daedalus was a very talented Athenian artisan descendent from the royal family of Cecrops, the mythical first king of Athens. He was known for his skill as an architect, sculpture, and inventor, and he produced many famous works. Despite his self-confidence, Daedalus once committed a crime of envy against Talus, his nephew and apprentice.
Talus, who seemed destined to become as great an artisan as his uncle Daedalus, was inspired one day to invent the saw after having seen the way a snake used its jaws. Daedalus, momentarily stricken with jealousy,got a little crazy and threw Talus off of the Acropolis.
For this crime, Daedalus was exiled to Crete and placed in the service of King Minos, where he eventually had a son, Icarus, with the beautiful Naucrate, a mistress-slave of the King. Minos called on Daedalus to build the famous Labyrinth in order to imprison the dreaded Minotaur. The Minotaur was a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. He was the son of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a bull that Poseidon had sent to Minos as a gift. Minos was shamed by the birth of this horrible creature and resolved to imprison the Minotaur in the Labyrinth where it fed on humans, which were taken as "tribute" by Minos and sacrificed to the Minotaur in memory of his fallen son Androgenos.
Theseus, the heroic King of Athens, volunteered himself to be sent to the Minotaur in the hopes of killing the beast and ending the "human tribute" that his city was forced to pay Minos. When Theseus arrived to Crete, Ariadne, Minos's daughter, fell in love with him and wished to help him survive the Minotaur. Daedalus revealed the mystery of the Labyrinth to Ariadne who in turn advised Theseus, thus enabling him to slay the Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth. When Minos found out what Daedalus had done he was not exactly overjoyed, in fact he was so pissed that he imprisoned Daedalus & Icarus in the Labyrinth themselves.
But Daedalus was no fool and conceived to escape from the Labyrinth with son Icarus by constructing wings and then flying to safety. He built the wings from feathers and wax, and before the two set off he warned Icarus not to fly so low that his wings would touch the waves and get wet, and not too high so the sun would melt the wax. But the young Icarus, overwhelmed by the thrill of flying, did not heed his father's warning, and flew too close to the sun , melted the wax and he fell into the sea. Daedalus fared better in his flight plan and escaped to Sicily where the Corleone family took him in..(I made up that last part). Icarus' body was eventually carried ashore by the current to an island then without a name. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where today there still stands a small rock promontory jutting out into the Aegean Sea, and naming the island and the sea around it after the fallen Icarus.
As for the Ashland Daedalus Project, it has been around for over twenty years and each year it seems to raise more money for worthy local causes. The big event is the annual concert in the Elizabethan Theater where the OSF Actors and Staff get to let their hair down and perform their own version of Saturday Night Live. There is hardly an empty seat and a great time is had by all, especially the actors. The intermission highlight is the actors underwear parade, where you get to “stuff” their outfits with $$ bills. Some attract more attention and $$ than others for obvious reasons. On a serious note, the evening ends with many on stage with lit candles remembering and naming loved ones who have been lost to AIDS related illnesses.
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