During the years when Jesus was passing his childhood in Palestine, the Latin poet, Ovid, was writing a collection of poems titled Metamorphoses. Included in this retelling of classical myths of the ancient Greeks is the familiar story of Daedalus and his son Icarus (Book VIII, lines 182-239). Daedalus had been exiled to the island of Crete, where his marvelous inventions had so ingratiated him to King Minos that the king refused to let him leave. Convinced that Minos would block any exit by land or sea, Daedalus decided that the only way of escape was through the air.
