THE MYTH OF DAEDALUS

Author(s): Alberto Pérez-Gómez

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THE MYTH OF DAEDALUS
Alberto Perez-Gomez

itruvius' De architecture the only theoretical treatise to sur? tecture in the Western tradition, carries with it a propensity for
vive from classical antiquity, despite its age, represents a mathemata and instrumentalization. Architects, nevertheless, depended
? codification and reduction of architecture. According to for two thousand years on ritual, the original mimesis, to insure the
Vitruvius, the meaning and beauty of architecture were dependent on effectiveness of their architecture as cosmic place, founded on a belief
rational order ? the mathematical order of the cosmos as discerned in in the cosmos as the source of the transcendental order of formal
the motions of the heavenly bodies and the proportions of the human relationships.
body. Vitruvius failed to deal with the essential rituals which constituted After Plato's techne, the craftsman's (and the architect's) original
the meaning of 'cosmic place', but public participation in these rituals technique becomes a doxa (opinion), as opposed to true science, episteme
was to survive for many centuries in Western cities, to be finally (knowledge).4 It is seen to participate in true knowledge only in so far
excluded from the framework of human existence in the late eighteenth as its operations are guided by weight, measure or calculation. Since
century. the sixth century bc, it seems, it has been possible to solve technical
In spite of the seeming liberation of techne from its magical con? problems theoretically. Herodotus describes the work of the archi?
notations by the Sophists, Western thought was dominated by a tect Eupalinos of Megara, who used triangulation to build an under?
dynamic and vitalistic conception of nature that made any form of ground aqueduct at Samos.5 Both Plato and Aristotle use the term
purely instrumental rational theory impossible before the Cartesian 'architect' to designate one who guides craftsmen by performing
mechanization of the world during the seventeenth century.1 The operations ruled by mathematics. The architect's task is already
techne of the Sophists' logos concerned rhetoric and power over society, regarded as being in opposition to that of the craftsman. It is paradoxi?
not power over nature.2 For many centuries machines and buildings cal that Greece was a 'civilization of craftsmen' during the fourth and
were regarded as thaumata, built to produce wonder rather than to fifth centuries,6 whereas the ideology of the ruling class, as expressed
dominate nature. That nature was not conceived of as a machine by Plato, denied the importance of the craftsman.
precluded the possibility of its domination. Despite the existence of an If we examine the pre-classical meaning of the word techne, the nature
early treatise on architecture, the discipline was in fact never regarded as of the transformation starts to become clear. In Homer techne, par?
an applied science, until Durand's work in the early nineteenth century. ticularly metalsmithing, carpentry and weaving, is the know-how of the
Technique in classical Greece did not promote recipes to the rank of demiourgoij and it is not differentiated from the act of magic which,
science; it simply codified traditional practical applications. like Prometheus, taps the power of the gods. Controlling, often
Man has a need for order. The city, his primary dwelling, must dangerously, the order of the world, the demiurge creates wondrous
respond to the transcendental aims of ritual, regardless of the potential objects or magical effects. Technical action depends upon the same kind
separation of art and ritual which originated in classical Greece. External of intelligence as metis (magic), a propitiatory power or cleverness in
reality, perceived zsphysis (being alive), was profoundly respected until overcoming disorder.
the Industrial Revolution. The very possibility of reducing architecture The figure of the pre-classical architect is perhaps best represented by
to a material imitation, however, indicates a radical transformation of Daedalus, builder of the labyrinth at Knossos, who was an artist and
the mythical conception of architecture. This change, which is clearly technician possessed of metis. His story has been brilliantly recon?
exhibited in Vitruvius, can probably be traced back to Plato, who structed by Fran^oise Frontisi-Ducroux from fragmentary late-classical
explains in a famous passage of the Republic that Art is the imitation of sources.8 There are lexical precedents for the word daidalos, designating
natural objects which, in turn, are but shadows of ideas or higher the representative of art and technique, in a series of verbs, nouns and
realities.3 The artist is therefore condemned to copy a copy, or at best ? adjectives belonging to the same family as the proper noun Daidalos
as was the case in much of Renaissance and Baroque art ? to approx? (Daedalus). These ancient terms occur mainly in the texts of Homer and
imate the 'ideal'. Hesiod, and their meanings are clearly related to works of art.9 They
Plato makes a distinction between techne understood as a purely fell out of use in classical times but reappeared in later Hellenistic
human activity, and poiesis, the artistic creation of the poet, which is still writings. Significantly, it was precisely at the time that the myth of
related to divine creation but founded on intellect rather than manual Daedalus was being popularized by fifth-century tragedy that the terms
dexterity. This techne, which is the technique of Vitruvius and of archi stopped being used.

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 The word daidala appears in archaic literature as a complement of the
verbs to make, to manufacture, to forge, to weave, to place on, and to
see. It refers to objects such as gold, helmet, belt and other defensive
weapons of Homeric warriors, and to furniture and ships. It is also
related in context to words denoting light, luminosity or brilliance. Its
functions are related to fear and admiration as well as to deception and
illusion.10 The objects denoted by the term daidala can be categorized
according to material: metal, wood and cloth. Among the metal objects
are defensive arms, jewellery and furniture. The most notable wooden
object is Paris' ship built by Pherecles, son of Tecton. There is an impor?
tant similarity among the techniques used to make these apparently
dissimilar objects. Fabrics are the product of a more or less complex
weaving of threads of diverse colours. In the case of wooden daidala ?
ships and chariots ? the technique is that of the carpenter and cabinet?
maker. The manufacture of daidala was the result of bronze-age metal
lurgic techniques. There are linguistic associations between the oper?
ations of metalsmithing and those of cabinet-making. Metal daidala
were, in fact, the product of a combination of carpentry and metal
plating, using a method of hammering and moulding the metal called
sphyrelation,11 which was used for architecture and for the manufacture
of arms, chariots and statues ? it was fundamentally an 'inter?
disciplinary' technique for the making of daidala. Different techniques
thus seem to have responded to the same intellectual model.12 Regard?
less of the material, the emphasis is on the relationship between the parts
and the whole. A thousand years later Vitruvius would cite this relation?
ship as fundamental to the meaning of architecture, reducing it to
numerical proportions among the parts of the building and between the
parts and the whole.
The daidala in Homer seem to possess mysterious powers. They are
luminous ? they reveal the reality they represent. It is a metaphysical
'light', of diverse and often bizarre qualities, evoking fear and admir?
ation. Daidala, particularly jewels, are endowed with charis (charisma)
and thus with kalos (beauty) and amalga (festive religious exaltation).
Charis is a product of techne, but it is also a god-given grace. This
mysterious emanation, whether artificially created or given by the gods,
has the power of seduction.13 Daidala are therefore capable of creating
dangerous illusions. The brilliant fictions of poets can lead to deception
at the level of apate (appearance). The ethical condition of techne (and of
architecture with it), that of subverting the order of the gods, was thus
clearly ambiguous from the time of its earliest articulation. In the Bible
it is Cain whom God designates as the builder of cities.14
Daidala, or art objects, can appear to be what they are not, and the
metal plates give a value to the objects that they would not otherwise
have. The principal value of daidala is that of enabling inanimate matter
to become magically alive, of reproducing life rather than representing it.
Hence the word also designates thaumata, marvellous animated
machines with brilliant suits of armor and scintillating eyes. The more
primitive Homeric texts emphasize the ability of the daidalos to seem
alive. In the later Theogony of Hesiod the daidala become more precisely
figurative, until the fifth century, when the daidalon has become merely
an image, an eikon of another reality.
In a parallel fashion, metaphoric references also evolved in architec?
ture as it developed from archaic to classical times. Many apparent
contradictions in the manner in which temples were decorated (or struc?
tural systems were translated from one material into another) are
resolved by an analysis of the mythical origins of architecture. Architec?
ture reproduced the specific qualities of the womb or the mountain. Like
ritual, it was the imitation of a transcendental emotion rather than a
material object. The ritual of building was the architecture. By the fifth
century, however, architecture had become an 'image' of the cosmos,
with columns 'representing' human beings and domes the vault of
heavens, that is, the mimetic conceptualization of Plato and Vitruvius.
Thereafter, the connection between the ritual or meaningful situation

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V x Pi xxi and the building that 'framed' it became increasingly amb
The connection between the meaning of daidala and that
or Daedalus, as the mythical architect has come to be know
All the sources agree that he was an Athenian, son or
Metion, a man who had been endowed with metis, a kind
intelligence and ingenuity which could be deployed in ma
was mostly associated with the wisdom of craftsmanship in
ian tradition.15 Daedalus had obviously inherited metis, an
a fundamental aspect of his personality and work.
While in Athens, Daedalus worked as a sculptor. He was t
inventor of agalmata, statues of the gods which had o
moveable limbs, a compelling manifestation of the myste
(the verb 'to see' was reciprocal in Greek: whoever saw w
and the blind were invisible.) These statues were so lifelik
remarked upon their amazing and disconcerting mobility,1
accomplished with techniques that are clearly those of
daidala. Daedalus was also an inventor. Pliny enum
instruments that he invented while in Athens, including
axe, glue and, more significant for architecture, the plumb
orperpendiculum).17
Having killed his nephew Talos out of professional jealou
was forced to leave Athens.18 He went to Crete, where he
court of King Minos at Knossos. Among his amazing a
there was the construction of a daidalon, a lifelike wooden
with leather in which Queen Pasiphae hid in order to sedu
icent bull (a gift from Poseidon to the Minoan King) with
fallen in love. Dedalus' success with this task confirmed o
skill as a demiurge. When, after seducing the bull, the que
to the Minotaur, Daedalus was asked to design a structure t
monster. The Minotaur was a symbol of both the architec
ability and his power to subvert the order of the world; ha
human, he had to be hidden, but also to be found. Applyin
this purpose, Daedalus designed the labyrinth, his mo
creation as an architect.
The physical existence of a labyrinth in Knossos has bee
Theatrical machinery, from Diderot's Encyclopedic (1713-84).
questioned. This is, however, irrelevant to the present ar
Daedalus' creation is a paradigm of order, the primordial ide
ture. The labyrinth has occupied a privileged place as a sy
order of the city in Western tradition, and even outside
Minoan times to Renaissance, and even, in the devalued fo
mazes, until the end of the eighteenth century. It is easy t
could happen. The labyrinth is a metaphor of human exis
changing, full of surprise, uncertain, conveying the impr
order, a gap (chaos understood in the etymological sense)
only two certain points that it possesses, birth (entrance)
centre). When the architect reveals the idea of the labyrin
the apparent gap or disorder is revealed as order. This idea of
order could thereafter be regarded as the essence of cities
which are apparently remote in form from that of a labyr
How was the idea generated? It is not merely a clever str
myth, a problem to be solved, again with the help of Dae
uity, by Theseus using Ariadne's thread. Although a r
labyrinth as a metaphor of knowledge and the overcoming
is perfectly legitimate,19 more significant is the archaic
between this primordial idea of architecture and ritual, p
dance. It is no coincidence that another work at Knossos
be by Daedalus was a choros dedicated to Ariadne. Like th
the choros represents a gap, and it is related to the recepta
becoming. In Plato's Timaeus, choros (space), 'which is ete
destructible', is identified with chaos. The choros was a p
dromenon (ritual) in archaic times, a place where only in
ticipation would produce the magical effects desired, that
spiritual security in the world. Eventually, in classical ti

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cboros, or orchestra with a theatron added, would become the place for the theoros, the citizen who participated, through his mere presence and
drama, for tragedy, for the re-presentation of the order of the world without speaking, in the agora of a friendly polis.
with the same effect on the spectators of metaphysical orientation. Man no longer believes that the meaning of existence depends upon
Thereafter, the spectator of the work of art would be expected to par? his personal participation in public rituals. The city as polis seems to
ticipate only intellectually, through contemplation. This evolution of have lost its public realm, the very reason for its existence, and a univer?
the ritual and of its material container would have tremendous con? sal global village, with living-rooms linked by televisions and word pro?
sequences for the development (and misunderstanding) of Western art cessors, seems to have become the substitute. Is this our future?
and architecture, particularly in the objectification of reality and its If it is, architecture in the traditional sense has come to an end. In tra?
reduction to a system of formal relationships. ditional architecture choros, or space, derived its qualities from mimesis,
In archaic times, the dance was the architecture. The space of architec? like a mirror.24 It was, in fact, primarily topos, a qualitative 'place' that
ture was the space of ritual and not an objective, geometrical entity. The was oriented, finite and endowed with meaning. In primitive ritual,
connection between the idea of the labyrinth and the ritual dance was mimesis was the emotionally charged representation of a propitiatory
further emphasized in the myth. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus act which engaged man with his world, as in a rain-dance. Mimetic at
escaped with Ariadne to Delos. Plutarch describes how, after sacrificing first, and later deploying additional layers of order, ritual dance, gesture,
to the gods and dedicating a statue, he engaged a dance with a group of motion, music and poetic rhythm were collective revelations of the
youngsters 'whose figures imitated the meanders of a labyrinth'.20 The world and of being. It is the collective, transcendental aspect of human
connection between this image and the Trojan Games described by actions which today cannot be taken for granted. Modern myths are
Virgil in the Aeneid has often been observed,21 as have the possible either private, poetic license or collective delusions. I have explained
relationships between these ritual dances and the rituals of the found? elsewhere how a modern banquet cannot be the equivalent of the com?
ation of cities in Roman times,22 in which an essentially invisible ritual munion of initiation in the prytaneum.25 Whilst in traditional cities the
created an invisible wall which made the city secure; the ritual was so duality of sacred and profane space retained at least a connection that
important, in fact, that it had to be re-enacted periodically. was tapped by architecture, after the early nineteenth century the spaces
Although this is not the place to examine in great detail the final of the city became exclusively profane. From the unified field of sacred
episode of Daedalus' life, it should be noted that his activities in Sicily space in archaic architecture to the unified field of profane space in our
were the practical counterpart of his intellectual achievements in Crete. own time, the cycle has been closed. For the modern architect, making
Using the famous wings of his own invention, Daedalus fled Crete and is the ritual, in the sense that it is a form of self-knowledge. He seems to
was pursued by King Minos, but, using his knowledge of hydraulics, he have no other option, whether he is performing a pantomimic dance
managed to kill the king by boiling him in a steam bath. In Sicily he was (surrealism) or whether he believes himself to have created an
involved in the building of many works of architecture and engineering. autonomous system of gestures (abstraction).
Daedalus is thus an architect-craftsman of ambiguous character. He
opened the statues' eyes to reveal the divinity of the gods, but he also Notes
concealed a monster within a labyrinth and a deceptive woman in a
machine of leather and wood.23 The craftsman creates form and beauty, 1. J. P. Vernant, Mythe etpensee chez les Grecs, 2 vols, vol. 11, pp. 44ff.
but also illusions. In giving form and meaning to matter, art is also in 2. Vernant, Mythe, vol. 11, pp. 63-4.
danger of falsifying the divine truth. This ambiguity, which is a part of 3. Plato, Republic, x, 596-9.
4. Plato, Philebus 55c, and Theelete 176E.
the human condition, is as prevalent now as it was then. In order to per?
5. Herodotus, 111,60.
form his fundamentally demiurgic function, still zpoiesis, Daedalus was 6. P. Vidal-Naquet, 'Grece', in Encyclopedia Universalis, p. 1017.
possessed of metis, an intelligence from which it is impossible to 7. Vernant, Mythe, 11, p. 44
dissociate manual dexterity, which in fact is manifested only through 8. Particularly Diodorus Paulsanias and Plutarch. See Francoise Frontisi-Ducroux,
the act of creation. Dedale (Paris, 1975), pp. 89ff.
9. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, pp. 25-6.
As indicated at the beginning of this article, the figure of the architect
10. Ibid. pp. 39-43.
was already transformed in Plato's time. The evolution of an aristocratic 11. Ibid. p. 60.
society into a democracy had profound repercussions, from the found? 12. Ibid. p. 61.
ation of the polis around the 'empty' agora, to the implementation of the 13. Ibid. pp. 72-3.

logos in early Milesian philosophy. The ritual components of the cosmic 14. J. Ellul, SansFeu ni Lieu.
15. F. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, p. 90.
place, that is, the agora as zprytaneum (an association of citizens), with
16. Plato, Menon, ^yd.
its hestia koine (the hearth or altar, navel or cosmic centre) marking the 17. Pliny, H.M. vn, 198, in F. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, p. 121.
vertical connection between the city and the heavens, the place for com? 18. He threw the young Talos from the heights of the Acropolis. For further details of this
munion and rites of initiation, continued to be important. Furthermore, episode and its implications as an allegory of the introduction of the methods of lost
the architect was seldom in charge of major undertakings in Greece. In? wax for casting bronze statues (associated with Talos) vis-a-vis the traditional sphy
relation techniques of Daedalus, see F. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, pp. 121-34.
stead he was usually involved in cutting important pieces of stone, mak?
19. See, for example, Mircea Eliade, Naissances Mystiques (Pans, 1959), p. 119, and the
ing templates and supervising. Even in classical and Hellenistic times, analyses of Karoly Kereny on the problems of the labyrinth, Labyrinthen Studien
the oracle dominated important decisions with regard to temple (Zurich, 1950).
building or the foundation of cities. (There were exceptions, however, 20. F. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, p. 145.
such as the famous planning of Miletus by Hippodamus.) The gradual 21. Ibid. p. 146. See also the famous oinochoe of Tragliatella and J. Rykwert, The Idea of a
Town.
divergence between a divine order and a human order was irreversible.
22. See Hermann Kern, 'Labyrinth-Cities, City-Labyrinths', Daidalos, 3 (1982).
The city had become a dual structure composed of distinct sacred and 23. F. Frontisi-Ducroux, Dedale, p. 191.
profane spaces, the acropolis and the agora. The choros of the ritual dance 24. Dalibor Vesely, 'Prolegomena to Architecture' (unpublished manuscript).
became the orchestra of the theatre, the place that revealed, through the 25. Alberto Perez-Gomez, 'Abstraction in Modern Architecture', Via, 9 (University
performance of tragedy, the order of reality ? the will of the gods as dike of Pennsylvania, 1976).

(human justice). The transformation of the dromenon of Dionysus

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