:''
Cocalus :'' Cocalus is also a genus of jumping spiders''.
In Greek mythology, Cocalus ( grc, Κώκαλος) was a king of Camicus ( grc, Κᾰμῑκός) in Sicily, according to Diodorus Siculus (book iv).
Myth
After the escape of Daedalus and his ...
is also a genus of
jumping spiders
Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae. As of 2019, this family contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species. Jumping ...
''.
In
Greek mythology, Cocalus ( grc, Κώκαλος) was a
king of
Camicus ( grc, Κᾰμῑκός) in
Sicily, according to
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
(book iv).
Myth
After the escape of
Daedalus and
his son Icarus from King
Minos
In Greek mythology, Minos (; grc-gre, Μίνως, ) was a King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten ...
's imprisonment, and the subsequent death of Icarus, Daedalus arrived in Sicily, where he was welcomed by Cocalus. Minos was, however, determined to find Daedalus, and he travelled from city to city offering a challenge: he presented a spiral
seashell
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...
and asked for it to be strung all the way through. When he reached Kamikos, Cocalus, knowing that Daedalus would be able to solve the puzzle, showed it to him. Daedalus tied the thread to an ant, which walked through the seashell, stringing it all the way through.
Minos then knew Daedalus was sheltering in the court of Cocalus, and demanded that he be handed over. Cocalus managed to convince him to take a bath first, and Cocalus' daughters then killed Minos.
[Apollod. ''Epit.'' 1.13-15. Ovid. '' Metamorphoses''. Book VIII, 261; Herodotus (vii.169 merely states "For the story goes that Minos, having come to Sicania, which is now called Sicily, in search of Daidalos, died there by a violent death," as a preamble to the story of the unsuccessful siege of Kamikos by a league of Cretan cities, supposedly in retaliation. ]
In literature
* The myth of how Cocalus orchestrated Minos' death is shown in the fourth book of the ''
Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series, ''
The Battle of the Labyrinth'', via a
dream.
References
{{Greek-myth-stub
Kings of Sicily
Kings in Greek mythology
Sicilian characters in Greek mythology
Cretan mythology