Daedalus

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In Canto XXIX of the Inferno, Daedalus is mentioned indirectly by Albero da Siena, who confesses to Dante that he did not make the bishop of Siena able to fly «like Daedalus». According to the critical note to the verse, the expression is uttered with irony and with contempt for Albero's lack of foresight, and it recalls the Greek myth of the craftsman who, together with his son Icarus, managed to fly through the air. The note also recalls an analogous mention of the myth in Inferno XVII (vv. 109-111), where Daedalus is remembered for the feat of flight. Daedalus is not a damned soul present in the scene, but merely a mythical term of comparison used by the speaker to describe the art of rising into the air, which the note to verse 113 connects to the phenomenon of levitation typical of magic.