Michael Ayrton (1) (1921–1975)

I have mixed feelings about this one. Ayrton doesn't do anything contrary to the surviving myths, but he adds a lot of filling that does not ring true to me. There is a lot about the mother goddess; Ayrton was clearly heavily influenced by Robert Graves. Apollo is portrayed as a rather petulant cad. The theme of labyrinths is expanded to be a leitmotiv throughout Daedalus' life. Daedalus' introspections and his relationships with Icarus and others are very mid-twentieth century. Ayrton can't show more seem to make up his mind about what to accept and what to rationalize. His Daedalus clearly accepts the Greek gods as such, but indulges in a lot of wink-wink, nudge-nudge rationalizations of some of the traditional stories about Daedalus, Minos, and others.

Ayrton was a sculptor as well as a writer; he was fascinated by the Daedalus myth and made a number of bronzes based on it. He spends a lot of time on the minutiae of Daedalus' craft and technique. If you are into that sort of thing, fine. I found it rather tedious. show less

A novel with a mythological foundation that recounts the tale of Daedalus, the maze-builder. Reminiscent of Mary Renault's classical Greek novels, this book winds through a tale of creative power.

The premise and acclaim just make me want to pick this up and read it, right now.

A minor demon who collected verbiage whose job has grown over the years...