Daedalus and Portrait

A detailed Summary of Daedalus and Portrait

The Daedalus Myth: Its Role in A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST...

James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of complex themes developed

through frequent allusions to classical mythology. The myth of Daedalus and Icarus serves as a

structuring element in the novel, uniting the central themes of individual rebellion and discovery,

producing a work of literature that illuminates the motivations of an artist, and the development of his

James Joyce chose the name Stephen Dedalus to link his hero with the mythical Greek hero,

Daedalus. In Greek myth, Daedalus was an architect, inventor, and artisan. By request of King

Minos, Daedalus built a labyrinth on Crete to contain a monster called the Minotaur, half bull and

half man. Later, for displeasing the king, Daedalus and his son Icarus were both confined in this

labyrinth, which was so complex that even its creator could not find his way out. Instead, Daedalus

fashioned wings of wax and feathers so that he and his son could escape. When Icarus flew too high

-- too near the sun -- in spite of his father's warnings, his wings melted, and he fell into the sea and

drowned. His more cautious father flew to safety (World Bo

son who, if he does not heed his father's advice, may die for his stubborn pride (Litz 71). At the end

The Daedalus myth gives a basic structure to Portrait of the Artist. From the beginning, Stephen,

At first, Stephen does not understand the significance of his unusual name. He comes to realize, by

memory the same humiliation until he began to wonder whether it might not really be that there was

Approximate Word count = 1040
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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