8-21 FLYING MACHINES. "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I flee away and be at rest."-King David. ""Tis easier sport than the balloon."-Heywood. HE earliest mention of flying seems to be That Dedalus, a figure in Greek mytho logy who personified the beginning of the Arts of Sculpture and Architecture. He was of the old Athenian royal race of the Erechtheidæ. Having killed his nephew and pupil in envy at his growing skill, he had to flee to Crete, where he made the well-known cow for Queen Pasiphaë. The romantic tradition concerning Dædalus is as follows:-Having committed this great crime, he fled from Athens to Crete, taking with him his son Icarus. He there constructed for Minos, King of that island, the famous labyrinth, with which every one is familiar; but, having incurred the King's displeasure, he was himself confined therein. In order to effect his escape he made wings of feathers and wax for himself A |