Daedalus Daedalus, and he to Hephaestus, son of Zeus." This suggests that Daedalus was related to Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, and therefore to Zeus himself. Daedalus is first mentioned by Homer as the creator of a wide dancing-ground for Ariadne. He also created the Labyrinth on Crete, in which the Minotaur (part man, part bull) was kept. In the story of the labyrinth as told by the Hellenes, the Athenian hero Theseus is challenged to kill the Minotaur, finding his way with the help of Ariadne's thread. Daedalus' appearance in Homer is in an extended metaphor, "plainly not Homer's invention",
The Minotaur (opera) recounts the circumstances surrounding the birth of her half-brother, the Minotaur: her mother's union with a white bull from the sea, which was either sent by Poseidon, or was the sea god himself in disguise. "Scene 5: The Labyrinth" The Innocents reach the heart of the labyrinth. The Minotaur is taunted by the chorus for his monstrous form and inability to speak. His first victim, a young woman, appears and the Minotaur gores and rapes her. Keres feed upon the body and sing of destruction. "Scene 6: The Minotaur Dreams" The Minotaur acquires the power of speech in his dreams.