Daedalus, Virgil and the End of Art

Putting Dido on the Map: Genre and Geography in Vergil's Underworld

“…What is more, the populos who provide the direct object for this verb are geographic as well as political entities: regions were often referred to simply by the name of the people who inhabited them. The idea that the creation of Roman order should be a procedure equivalent to mapping, the imposition of a measure or pattern upon the world, emerges again in the second infinitive clause that defines or amplifies regere, pacique imponere morem-to impose either the habit of peace, or a habit 6 For the Daedalus episode see especially Fitzgerald 1984and Putnam 1987. Fitzgerald, in particular, connects Daedalus' solving of the labyrinth, the transformation of "pattern into path" (1984.58), with his creation of an artistic representation of the past.…”

Horace's Mythological Lexicon: Repeated Myths and Meaning in Odes 1-3

“…In Vergil's description of the doors of the temple of Cumae which Daedalus fashioned, Icarus is mentioned only to say that Daedalus' grief prevented him from depicting his son (Aen. 4.31-33; see Putnam [1987] 178, Miller [2009 137). Putnam (1987) 177-182 sees in this a moral for Daedalus rather than Icarus: "In his role as father Daedalus is a double artistic failure, first incapable of completely imitating nature, then unable to mime the disastrous results of this inadequacy" (178).…”

“…4.31-33; see Putnam [1987] 178, Miller [2009 137). Putnam (1987) 177-182 sees in this a moral for Daedalus rather than Icarus: "In his role as father Daedalus is a double artistic failure, first incapable of completely imitating nature, then unable to mime the disastrous results of this inadequacy" (178). 51 That is, the boy Icarus, not the island Icaria, sometimes called Icaros (e.g., Homeric Hymn 1.1), or the Icarian Sea (e.g., Il.…”