A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce. The story describes the formative years of the life of Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of Joyce and an allusion to the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology, Daedalus. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce. The story describes the formative years of the life of Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of Joyce and an allusion to the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology, Daedalus. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce. The story describes the formative years of the life of Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of Joyce and an allusion to the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology, Daedalus. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce. The story describes the formative years of the life of Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of Joyce and an allusion to the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology, Daedalus.