Daedalus (Daidalos) was originally an Athenian master craftsman and inventor. Daedalus was the son of Eupalamus and the great grandson of King Erechtheus of Athens. Daedalus was also brother of a sister, named Perdix.
Daedalus was exiled from Athens when he killed his own nephew, Talus, the son of Perdix. Talus became a pupil or an apprentice to Daedalus, when he was twelve. Talus was so gifted that he invented the saw, from observing the backbone of a fish, and a compass to draw circle. Jealous of his nephew's talent and fearing that he would soon surpass him, Daedalus flung his nephew from the top of the Acropolis.
According to the poet Ovid, Talus was turned into a low-flying bird, because it fear to fly too high. Daedalus was caught trying to hide his nephew's body, by burying it. Depending on the sources, he either fled or was banished from Athens, after he was found guilty in a trial at Areopagus.