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Daedalus and Icarus:
Examining Three Versions
MAKE UP
We watched a film version of Icarus and Daedalus. To make this up you will read
the version below for questions 2 and 3.
For questions 5, 6, and 7, you need to read the version on page 2 of this handout. Use
separate paper to respond to these questions. This assignment is worth 25 points.
Remember that you are communicating with your reader—ME! Be complete in your responses and use specific detail.
1. What do you think a young person would do with its first set of roller blades or its first chemistry set or its first
internet connection?
Here is another version of the myth you have already read in Edith Hamilton. Read it and answer the next question.
This is a story about the first materials scientist. In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a wonderful smith, having been instructed by the
goddess Athena herself. His richest customer detained Daedalus on the island of Crete so that the one patron alone would enjoy the
products of Daedalus' invention. This patron (perhaps a king) provided him with comfortable living and working conditions, and even
marriage to a local maiden. Daedalus was not happy.
However, Daedalus wanted to escape with his son Icarus, but all the ships were controlled by his tyrant patron, so that escape by land
or water was impossible. "But Daedalus made a pair of wings for himself, and another for Icarus," says this story from Greek oral
tradition "the quill feathers of which were threaded together, but the smaller ones held in place by wax. Having tied on Icarus's pair
for him, he said with tears in his eyes: 'My son, be warned! Neither soar too high, lest the sun melt the wax; nor swoop too low, lest
the feathers be wetted by the sea.' Then he slipped his arms into his own pair of wings and they flew off. 'Follow me closely,' he
cried, 'do not set your own course.' …
2. In a couple of sentences tell me how this myth ends according to Edith Hamilton’s version.
3. What might this myth be a warning of in a more general sense (not literal)
4. Explain two major differences from the version on the bottom of this page to the other two you have
previously read?
6. Do you think most young people today would "follow its father closely, and not set its own course?"
Give reasons for your answer, whatever your answer is.
The Myth of Deadalus & Icarus: Daedalus was a highly respected and talented Athenian artisan descendent from the royal family of Cecrops,
the mythical first king of Athens. He was known for his skill as an architect, sculpture, and inventor, and he produced many famous works.
Despite his self-confidence, Daedalus once committed a crime of envy against Talus, his nephew and apprentice. Talus, who seemed destined to
become as great an artisan as his uncle Daedalus, was inspired one day to invent the saw after having seen the way a snake used its jaws.
Daedalus, momentarily stricken with jealousy, threw Talus off of the Acropolis. For this crime, Daedalus was exiled to Crete and placed in the
service of King Minos, where he eventually had a son, Icarus, with the beautiful Naucrate, a mistress-slave of the King.
Minos called on Daedalus to build the famous Labyrinth in order to imprison the dreaded Minotaur. The Minotaur was a monster with the head
of a bull and the body of a man. He was the son of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a bull that Poseidon had sent to Minos as a gift. Minos was
shamed by the birth of this horrible creature and resolved to imprison the Minotaur in the Labyrinth where it fed on humans, which were taken
as "tribute" by Minos and sacrificed to the Minotaur in memory of his fallen son Androgenos. Theseus, the heroic King of Athens, volunteered
himself to be sent to the Minotaur in the hopes of killing the beast and ending the "human tribute" that his city was forced to pay Minos. When
Theseus arrived to Crete, Ariadne, Minos's daughter, fell in love with him and wished to help him survive the Minotaur. Daedalus revealed the
mystery of the Labyrinth to Ariadne who in turn advised Theseus, thus enabling him to slay the Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth. When
Minos found out what Daedalus had done he was so enraged that he imprisoned Daedalus & Icarus in the Labyrinth themselves.
Daedalus conceived to escape from the Labyrinth with Icarus from Crete by constructing wings and then flying to safety. He built the wings
from feathers and wax, and before the two set off he warned Icarus not to fly too low lest his wings touch the waves and get wet, and not too
high lest the sun melt the wax. But the young Icarus, overwhelmed by the thrill of flying, did not heed his father's warning, and flew too close to
the sun whereupon the wax in his wings melted and he fell into the sea. Daedalus escaped to Sicily and Icarus' body was carried ashore by the
current to an island then without a name. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where today there still stands a
small rock promontory jutting out into the Aegean Sea, and naming the island and the sea around it after the fallen Icarus.
Credits: From: "http://www.island-ikaria.com/culture/myth.asp".