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Les Misérables vocabulary

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mythology

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Daedalus: tags: [mythology]

► definition

Definition:

an architect and mechanician in the Greek mythology; inventor and constructor of the Labyrinth of Crete, in which the Minotaur was confined, and in which he was also imprisoned himself by order of Minos, a confinement from which he escaped by means of wings fastened on with wax; was regarded as the inventor of the mechanic arts.

Rev. James Wood. The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907)
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Although more well-known for making wings for Icarus, Daedalus also built a portable wooden cow so Pasiphaë could hide within and satiate her desire to be mounted by a bull.

photo of fresco by WolfgangRieger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_-_Casa_dei_Vettii_-_Pasiphae.jpg

► uses

Uses:

Daedalus: [unseen, yelling from below] Icarus, don't fly too close to the sun!

Icarus: Yea, whatever Daedalus! [wings catch fire] Whahooooooo! [parachute opens] Icarus forever motherfuckers!

Cartoon Network. Robot Chicken: Jew No. 1 Opens a Treasure Chest (June 25, 2018)

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One could no more find one’s bearings in the sewer than one could understand one’s position in the city; above the unintelligible, below the inextricable; beneath the confusion of tongues there reigned the confusion of caverns; Dædalus backed up Babel.

Sometimes the Paris sewer took a notion to overflow, as though this misunderstood Nile were suddenly seized with a fit of rage.

Victor Hugo. Les Misérables

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—What is your name?

Stephen had answered: Stephen Dedalus.*

Then Nasty Roche had said:

—What kind of a name is that?

James Joyce. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

^{*one of the main character's last names, and Joyce chose this name for a reason...}