All that can be asserted of such images is that they were of unknown antiquity, and that local patriotism claimed for them a heroic origin.

Much the same may be said of Daedalus.

It need not be discussed here whether an actual artist of this name ever existed.
The information we have as to Daedalus is of two kinds; on the one hand, we find tales of a mythical craftsman and magician, to whose invention many of the most typical improvements in early Greek sculpture are attributed; on the other hand, we have records of many statues of the gods, extant in historical times in various shrines of Greece, which were attributed to him.

Such attributions are not really of greater historical value than the traditions of dedication in the heroic age which we find elsewhere.

The name of Daedalus having once become famous in this connection, it was natural that many statues of primitive style and unrecorded origin should be attributed to him.