Daedalidae or Daidalidai () was a
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...
of
ancient Attica
The regions of ancient Greece were sub-divisions of the Hellenic world as conceived by the ancient Greeks, shown by their presence in the works of ancient historians and geographers or in surviving legends and myths.
Conceptually, there is no cl ...
, located north of
Alopece
Alopece (), also spelt as Alopecae, was an asty-deme of the city of Athens, but located exterior to the city wall of Athens. Alopece belonged to the tribal group (''phyle'') of Antiochis. It was situated only eleven or twelve stadia from the c ...
, southeast of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. The name "Daedalidae" was often used to refer to the most skilled sculptors an allusion to
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin language, Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan language, Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. H ...
, the labyrinth builder of
Knossos
Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...
.
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
, in two dialogues of
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, claims to descend from Daedalus, most likely exploiting this allusion, in which his ancestors would have been sculptors. In Daedalidae, therefore, a craftsman named Daedalus could have been revered as an eponymous hero, which was most probably not the same as the Daedalus of mythology. Some sources note the presence of a sanctuary called Dedaleion.
The site of Daedalidae is located north of
Alopeke.
References
*
*
Populated places in ancient Attica
Former populated places in Greece
Demoi
{{AncientAttica-geo-stub