Since ancient times, labyrinths have had an important symbolism in two ways: the labyrinth with a single path, which symbolises the “straight” path, the path of purity, perfection and knowledge; and the labyrinth with multiple paths, symbol of becoming, of unwritten destiny… symbol, in the end, of the path of life. And it is precisely this last type of labyrinth that we can see in the illustration The Sorrow Of Daedalus by Peri Helio.
In the course of life we are forced to choose countless paths that fork, criss-cross, move away from each other, become confused. Paths that can lead us towards knowledge, to resolve our searches, or that can, instead, lead us away from them towards the most alien places.
In this search, in this passage through the labyrinth, the bird-men seem to have lost their way. They have left aside their search for purity and have abandoned themselves to an uncertain wandering that leads them away from true knowledge. From true essence.
Blinded by greed they have disregarded the guardian of the labyrinth, they have escaped from their animal condition, losing sight of Ariadne‘s thread that will lead them back to the path they should never have abandoned.
