D is for Daedalus

For 'D', I decided I wanted to write about something I knew little or nothing about, to use the Pagan Blog Project as a learning experience. From the moment I made that decision I have had one name echo around my mind.
Daedalus.
As usual when the Gods put something in my mind, I feel quite a connection and sympathy with Daedalus. Although I am by no means a master craftsman, I am a maker, and sell some of my own humble creations in my Etsy shop. Though they are not inventions in league with those of Daedalus, they are all my own designs. I also have a son who doesn't listen to a word I say!
Anyway, enough about me, here's some info on Daedalus:

Daedalus Attaching Wings to Icarus, by Pyotr Ivanovich Sokolov

Daedalus, which in Ancient Greek means "clever worker" was a highly skilled craftsman and artisan. However, each of the main legends about him involve his great skills ending tragically.
The first legend is that of the Wooden Bull. The story is that Poseidon gave a white bull to King Minos to use as a sacrifice, but being a rather selfish and ungrateful creature, King Minos decided to keep it for himself. Poseidon was pretty hacked off at this and in revenge made the King's wife Pasiphae lust after the bull. Enter Daedalus, who built a hollow wooden bull so that the Queen could indulge in her lust. (This certainly conjures up an image you weren't expecting!) As a result the Queen gave birth to a son ~ the Minotaur.
So I'm betting you've guessed the second legend now? Yes, King Minos obviously wasn't happy with having an illegitimate bull-headed kid hanging around, and ordered Daedalus to build a Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur. This in turn leads to the third legend. The ever-ungrateful King then decided that he didn't want Daedalus wandering around with the knowledge of how to escape the labyrinth, so he locked him and his young son Icarus away.
So now we come to the most famous legend. Daedalus built wings for himself and his son, fixing feathers to a wooden frame using wax and string. Daedalus repeatedly cautioned his son to take care not to fly too high, as the heat of the sun would melt the wax, or too low, as the sea foam would soak the feathers. But Icarus, enraptured by the sensation of flight, soared ever higher until, just as his father had warned, the sun softened the wax and he plummeted to his death.

Daedalus's story is quite tragic. In each case he is using his prodigious skills in a positive way, to help someone, and yet the results are always negative. What can poor Daedalus have done to deserve such rotten luck? Well, funny you should ask. Because before Daedalus moved to Crete and the court of King Minos he lived in Athens. His nephew Perdix was apprenticed to him, but he was a skilled and ingenious student and in a jealous rage Daedalus pushed him off the Acropolis. Although none of the accounts I have read have directly attributed his subsequent misfortune to this act of murder, it doesn't take much of a leap to make the connection.

Even though I'm hoping fervently that none of you readers have murdered anyone (!) I still feel there are lessons for us here. No matter how good our intentions, we can never be sure our actions will have the positive results we hope for. Like Daedalus, I don't think that should stop us at all, but we should definitely think about how our actions could pan out or affect others.

What lessons do you take from the life of Daedalus?