icarus
icarusin Greek mythology, son of the inventor Daedalus who perished flying too close to the Sun on wings of wax.
a young man named icarus takes center stage in a highly memorable tale from ancient Greek mythology.
Photo Pixabay
Even today, some people relate this story as a warning of caution. Overconfidence sometimes produces disastrous results!
The Son of a Famous Craftsman
Icarus became well known in legends mainly because of his father, Daedalus, a master craftsman and skilled craftsman. The grandson of an ancient Athenian leader, Erecteus, DAEDALUS developed a reputation as an ingenious builder.
During Icarus’s early childhood, his family resided in the city of Athens, a very beautiful place. The Athenians enjoyed a rich cultural life.
Magnificent buildings, beautiful works of art, and a variety of attractive handmade products enabled many people in Athens to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. Daedalus and his family prospered there.
life as exiles
Daedalus had already gained fame as a skilled inventor, when one of his nephews joined his house.
The young man, known as «Talos» (or «Perdix»), also held great promise as a craftsman. He apparently possessed more talent than Icarus.
At first, Daedalus was proud of his nephew’s achievements. However, as more people began to appreciate Talos’ abilities, Daedalus slowly grew jealous. Perhaps he feared that his niece would one day surpass him as an inventor.
The Daedalus finally committed a terrible act: he pushed the young man from a great height, killing him. As a result of this crime, Daedalus had to leave Athens and flee into exile. His son Icarus accompanied him.
a maze
The couple set out on a boat and sailed through the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. They received an invitation to join the court of King Minos of Crete. The ruler lived in a splendid palace on the beautiful island of Crete.
King Minos welcomed Icarus and his father into his kingdom. Daedalus had made a name for himself as a builder. King Minos asked him to build an elaborate labyrinth under his palace.
A «maze» is basically a maze of passageways and tunnels. The structure built by Daedalus was so complex that anyone who entered it would have a very difficult time finding a way out.
a dark secret
King Minos required the labyrinth for a sinister reason. The king used the labyrinth as a prison for the Minotaur, a fearsome creature.
The MINOTAUR had the head of a bull and the body of a man. Queen Pasiphae of Crete had given birth to the Minotaur after her husband, King Minos, offended the sea god Poseidon.
Tormented by guilt and fear, King Minos wanted to keep the Minotaur hidden within the labyrinth and out of public view.
The Minotaur would have a huge impact on the lives of Daedalus and Icarus. Events unfolded unexpectedly. The father and son would eventually find themselves running for their lives!
A love story
At seven year intervals, the people of Crete would send fourteen captives from Athens to the Labyrinth for the Minotaur to eat. Finally, an Athenian hero named Theseus volunteered to join the group of victims, hoping to destroy the Minotaur.
When the brave young man arrived in Crete, the daughter of King Minos, Ariadne, fell madly in love with him. She begged Daedalus to help her find a way to save Theseus from certain death in the labyrinth.
The Daedalus came up with an ingenious idea. He gave ARIADNE A BALL OF STRING to give to Theseus.
As the young man walked through the maze, he unwound the rope behind him. He fought and killed the Minotaur and made it back alive through the confusing Labyrinth by following the trail of the ropes.
escape from a prison
King Minos felt that Daedalus had betrayed his trust. He ordered his guards to imprison Daedalus and Icarus in a high tower above the palace. Daedalus feared for their lives. He devised a plan to escape with Icarus. He wanted to leave Crete and travel to the distant island of Sicily.
An ingenious craftsman, Daedalus built two sets of wings, one for himself and one for his son. He made them with feathers and wax.
When he put the wings on Icarus, he ordered the young man to fly carefully next to him. He warned her that the heat would melt the wax, so they should not travel near the sun.
A Hubris Story
The ancient Greeks called foolish arrogance or overconfidence «HUBRIS». Unfortunately, Icarus became a model for this character flaw.
The father and son took off from the tower and began to fly over the sea towards Sicily on their artificial wings.
Despite Daedalus’s warning, Icarus rose higher and higher. Apparently, he believed that his wings gave him divine powers.
The wax inevitably melted. The fool Icarus rushed into the sea. He drowned and never made it to Sicily.
Was Daedalus real?
As in so many legends, the deeds of many people seem to have been attributed to a single character at the time the stories began to be written.
It is possible that Daedalus was a name given by the last Greeks to the inventors and creators of the wonders that remained from the Mycenaean era.
Daedalus’ name meant «witty». (However, some of the inventions, like the axe, had been invented thousands of years before even the Mycenaean era – stone axes are found at 100,000-year-old sites in East Africa.)
However, Daedalus is also famous for his adventures and his misfortunes. Throughout the stories told about him, his ingenuity is both a blessing and a curse, well illustrated by the stories of his imprisonment in the labyrinth he had designed and his escape from Crete with his son. of the.
There may be a moral about eventually paying for your misdeeds, but his story also embodies many themes found in other myths and legends: statues that seem to come to life, headlong flights, murder, and, of course, man’s constant desire for power. fly.
What about Icarus?
Unlike his father, we know little about Icarus. He was born in Crete, his mother being one of the king’s servants.
The character of Icarus seems to serve mostly as a warning to children, to take into account the advice of parents and elders or else they too can end up in a lot of trouble!
When was the story first written?
The stories of Daedalus are told by Apollodorus, (born around 180 BC, died after 120 BC) a Greek polymath, historian and grammarian, Ovid (43 BC – AD 17), a Roman poet, Diodorus of Sicily (1st century BC). ) a Greek historian, and Pausanias (2nd century AD) a Greek traveler and geographer and Virgil (70 BC – 19 BC) a Roman poet.
The myth of Icarus – Various interpretations
The didactic nature of the Icarus myth is obvious: the recklessness and thoughtlessness of young people who ignore the advice and experiences of their parents, and their older and better ones in general, can have catastrophic effects on their lives.
Furthermore, there must be measure in all our lives. Neither too high near the sun, nor too low near the sea, Daedalus advised, but Icarus paid no attention and his excessiveness cost him his life.
Marie Delcourt, on the other hand, argues that flying symbolizes the pinnacle of Daedalus’ achievement in acquiring such a high level of technical knowledge.
Finally, according to another interpretation of the myth, the flight could symbolize the great speed of a sailboat, also considered an invention of the Daedalus.
This interpretation is supported by a different version of the myth, in which Daedalus and Icarus escaped from Crete by sailing ship, and Icarus’s ship was wrecked off Samos.
After the loss of his son Icarus, Daedalus managed to reach Sicily.
the story of icarus
On the island of Crete, during the time of King Minos, lived a man named Daedalus and his young son Icarus. Daedalus was an ordinary man, except for one special talent: he was an inventor of weird and wonderful mechanical creations.
Now this was a long time ago, and in this ancient age there were no televisions, no cars, no clocks. Instead of television, people learned what was new on earth by listening to the gossip at the local inn.
The place of cars, people went from one place to another on foot or, if they were rich, riding on horseback or in a carriage. Instead of watches, people kept track of time with sundials.
And so the little mechanical bird that sang when the sun rose – given by Daedalus to the newborn princess to celebrate her birth – became the talk of everyone in the country.
King Minos approached Daedalus to ask if he could invent something less pretty but more useful, and Daedalus did not disappoint.
A few months later he submitted plans for a gigantic labyrinth to hold the half-man, half-bull monster known as the Minotaur prisoner.
King Minos was very happy. Unfortunately, King Minos was also very greedy.
He wanted Daedalus to work only for him, so he had his Royal Guards take Daedalus and his son Icarus and lock them up in a cave at the top of the sea.
The only entrances to the cave were through the labyrinth guarded by the King’s soldiers (not to mention the Minotaur) and an entrance overlooking the sea on top of a cliff.
The Daedalus did not mind his imprisonment at first. Anything Daedalus needed King Minos would provide without a doubt—food, drink, tools of all shapes, rare metals, leather, parchment, and even candles so he could work late into the night.
Daedalus lived happily for many years working on an endless variety of wonderful inventions. And young Icarus, although sometimes bored, used to be very happy helping his father and playing with the mechanical toys that Daedalus made for him.
It wasn’t until Icarus was a teenager that Daedalus began to wonder if being locked up was best for his son. And Icarus, tired of the cold and damp cave, began to complain that he had no hope of having a life of his own.
On his sixteenth birthday, Icarus raged: «But father, I want an adventure, maybe even to meet a girl and have a child of my own! I can’t ask a wife to come live with me in this lonely cave on the sea. Hate this cave. I hate the King. And I hate you!»
Of course, Icarus later apologized for saying such bad things to his father, but he insisted that he couldn’t take being locked up in the cave anymore.
The next time King Minos visited him, Daedalus nervously approached him: «Your Majesty, surely you will see that Icarus is growing into a young man. You cannot keep him locked up for life. Please, sir, let him join you.» your Royal Guard and seek a life at your service».
The King raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtfully at the opening of the cave, “I will consider your request. Now please show me your…