Daedalus in Crete
Daedalus in Crete is a play by the Greek lyric poet and playwright Angelos Sikelianos entirely written and published at the journal Nea Estia, during the Axis occupation of Greece. This event may be linked to trump the planned and announced project - not completed - on behalf of Sikelianos, to write the tragedies "Daedalus in Sicily" and "Ariadne".
Plot
The dramatis personae and the plot of this play come from the - rich in mythical material - era of Minoan Crete. King Minos, Queen Pasiphae, the craftsman from Athens Daedalus and his son, Icarus, are the protagonists of this play.Minos, a representative-symbol of the emerging patriarchal religion and oppression of his subjects tries to sideline the existing matriarchal cult of Mother-Goddess and kill – as a tribute - the envoys sent from Athens, being himself now transformed into a bestial Minotaur.
Finally, the technician Daedalus will organize a mutiny to prevent the suffering while Theseus will release the captives and will cancel the plans of Minos.
The final scene is equally dramatical with a tragedy, Daedalus and his son Icarus will escape flying with artificial wings.
This play has diverse multifaceted connections with ancient tragedy - especially those written by Aeschylus – in terms of structure, motifs, form, always modified and used according to the theatrical and conceptual targeting and aspirations of Sikelianos. For example, the presentation of all the leading dramatis personae as masks of the archetype "Dionysos" and their gradual integration into this archetypal figure through a process of initiation, the motif of tragic silence and the apollonian – initially – chorus that completes the drama, breaking the straight course of Time and making the return to the Earth and Life, the identification of Pasiphae with Moon on a symbolic level. A prominent role in the play`s motifs play the "three nights", which are the key stages in the spiritual evolution of Daedalus.
A major issue that researchers were focused on is the relationship with the novel by Merezhkovsky "The Birth of Gods. Tutankhamen in Crete", which moves in the same environment and mythical world. In summary, apart from any common symbols and motifs, the Merezhkovsky addresses the core of the play with religious thought and willingness to compromise the historical and philosophical-spiritual disputes arising from the clash of the primitive matriarchal with the patriarchal element via a sequence that leads to the spirit of Christianity, non-relating, and thus linking with the historical -and political - significations of Sikelianos, powered by the timeless social injustice, the domination of the authoritarian element and updating of the myth in the contemporary historical context.