History shows us that to escape from prison you need, most of all, courage and luck. A fork, a rope twisted from bed sheets, or a raft made of raincoats might also come in handy.

One of the most spectacular prison breaks was portrayed in Greek mythology. Its protagonist was the innovator and inventor, Daedalus. Wanted for murder in his native Athens, he travelled to Crete where he entertained King Minos’ court and family with his ‘wandering statues’. His good fortune came to an end when Queen Pasiphaë, blinded by desire towards a bull, requested that Daedalus invent a device that would allow her to fulfil her erotic yearnings. Obediently, the inventor constructed a wooden, hollowed-out figure of a cow that the queen could enter and use for intercourse. When she later gave birth to a half-man, half-bull – the Minotaur – the secret was out, and the ingenious craftsman landed in prison. A less fantastical, more tamed version of events suggests that Pasiphaë had an affair with a general named Taurus, rather than a bull. Knowing all about it, the discreet Daedalus kept her secret from Minos. Either way, he was punished and imprisoned in the labyrinth he designed, alongside the Minotaur/Taurus and his son, Icarus. Together, the father and son planned their unlikely escape.

The flight of Daedalus

First, the loyal Pasiphaë helped them exit the labyrinth. Then, they both attempted to outsmart Minos’ potential chase and fly away from Crete. We all know how this ended. Daedalus fabricated wings from feathers, thread and wax, but during their flight over the sea Icarus flew too close to the sun. The wax melted and the boy fell into the sea and drowned. Daedalus safely reached Sicily. However, that wasn’t the end of his great escape – Minos was still after him.

The clever