Source Verification: Daedalus and the Labyrinth

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

Why did Daedalus design the Labyrinth?

Minos commanded it, to hold the Minotaur. Apollodorus says the king shut the monster up in the Labyrinth in compliance with certain oracles, and Ovid says Minos wished to hide his disgrace. Daedalus had already helped bring about the Minotaur's birth, so the maze finished a job he had begun.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.1.4

Was Daedalus stuck in the Labyrinth?

In Apollodorus, yes. Once Minos learned Theseus had escaped, he shut Daedalus and Icarus up in the labyrinth. Ovid gives no cell: his Daedalus is in a long exile on a sea-girt island, and it is the sea and the land routes that Minos has closed.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12

Why did Minos imprison Daedalus in the Labyrinth?

Apollodorus says it was for the flight of Theseus, which Daedalus had helped by telling Ariadne the way out. Other writers give other reasons. Diodorus says Minos was threatening him over the cow, and Pausanias says only that he was condemned on some charge and jailed with his son.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 1.8-1.9

How did Daedalus escape the Labyrinth?

By air, in Apollodorus and Ovid: he made wings for himself and Icarus. Diodorus has a rationalised version in which Pasiphae provides a ship, and Icarus drowns while landing. The flight itself, and Icarus's death, are told on the Fall of Icarus page.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12

Did the Minotaur escape the Labyrinth?

No. In Ovid the Minotaur is hidden in the maze and eats the Athenian tribute until Theseus kills it and retraces his way by Ariadne's thread. Nothing in the sources has it leaving. The killing is told on the Theseus and the Minotaur page.

Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.152-182

Where Accounts Differ

name-of-the-murdered-nephew
how-the-murder-was-found-out
why-minos-imprisoned-daedalus
who-gave-ariadne-the-thread
where-daedalus-was-held
how-daedalus-left-crete
how-minos-died
the-shell-and-the-ant

The murdered nephew's name differs. Apollodorus, Library 3.15.8, calls him Talos and makes Perdix his mother. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183-259, calls him Perdix and turns him into a partridge. Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.21.4, calls him Calos.
How the crime was found out differs. Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.76, has Daedalus caught burying the body with the words 'I am inhuming a snake'. Ovid says he spread the rumour of an accident. Apollodorus says only that the corpse was discovered.
Why Minos imprisoned Daedalus differs. Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12, says it was the flight of Theseus. Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.77, says it was the affair of the cow. Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.4.6, says only that he was condemned on some charge.
Who gave Ariadne the thread differs. Apollodorus, Epitome 1.8-1.9, has Daedalus suggest it. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.152-182, credits the thread to Ariadne with no mention of Daedalus.
Where Daedalus was held differs. Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12, has him shut in the labyrinth. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183-235, describes exile on the island and no cell.
How he escaped Crete differs. Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12, and Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183-235, give wings. Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.77, gives a ship provided by Pasiphae, and preserves the wing version separately as a myth.
How Minos died differs. Apollodorus, Epitome 1.14-1.15, gives the shell trick and death after a bath at the hands of the daughters of Cocalus, or by boiling water. Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.79, has Cocalus scald him in the bath after a conference, with no shell. Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.4.6, has the daughters plot his death after Cocalus refuses to give Daedalus up. Herodotus, Histories 7.170, says only that Minos died a violent death in Sicania.
Only Apollodorus, Epitome 1.14-1.15, has the shell and the ant. Diodorus, Pausanias and Herodotus do not mention them.

Sources

Primary sources

Apollodorus, Library 3.1.4
Apollodorus, Library 3.15.8
Apollodorus, Epitome 1.8-1.9
Apollodorus, Epitome 1.12
Apollodorus, Epitome 1.14-1.15
Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.152-182
Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183-235
Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183-259
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 4.76-79
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.21.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.4.6
Herodotus, Histories 7.170