ABSTRACT
For the most part, the literary tradition has reduced the story of Daedalus to the Cretan episode and has focused on only three of his many inventions, which have enjoyed varying degrees of popularity over the centuries. In the centre of the ruined labyrinth of Amiens Cathedral, were depicted, by way of signatures, the figures the bishop who had sponsored its construction and the three architects responsible for the cathedral design, while, in a fourteenth-century document, the Labyrinth is described as the house of Daedalus. The theme of Daedalus, which was virtually absent from Greek literature, enjoyed a remarkable degree of success in Latin literature, where it also underwent a shift of emphasis. Particularly in the works of Ovid, the craftsman and sculptor was pushed into the background by the image of the man with wings symbolizing Man's dream of flight.
