The Death of Minos
Minos pursues the escaped Daedalus to Sicily, but his attempt to recover the inventor ends with the Cretan king's own death.
The Story
Daedalus escaped from Crete.
Minos was determined to find him.
The king travelled from place to place carrying a puzzle designed to expose the craftsman wherever he was hiding.
Minos presented a spiral shell and challenged rulers to thread a cord through it.
The problem seemed impossible.
But Daedalus had a solution.
He attached the thread to an ant and allowed the creature to travel through the winding shell.
When the puzzle was solved in Sicily, Minos realised that Daedalus must be nearby.
He demanded that King Cocalus surrender the inventor.
Instead, Minos was killed.
A famous tradition says that the daughters of Cocalus helped Daedalus and arranged for Minos to die while bathing, using extremely hot water.
The king who had imprisoned Daedalus and controlled the Labyrinth had followed the inventor too far.
Minos' death ended his mortal kingship.
Yet Greek tradition did not forget his reputation as a lawgiver and ruler.
Later myths placed Minos among the judges of the dead in the Underworld.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
The death of Minos completes his conflict with Daedalus and provides a transition from Minos the Cretan king to the later tradition of Minos as an Underworld judge.
Traditions & Variations
Ancient traditions differ over the precise method of Minos' death and the role played by Cocalus and his daughters.