Gabrielle Miller
7 November 2017
English 111
Daedalus and Icarus
What happened to Daedalus and Icarus?
The myth of Icarus and Daedalus is one that many people know. Over the years, there have been many different versions of this myth that have been told. The myth of Icarus and Daedalus is one like no other. Daedalus was a skilled worker, which means that he was a craftsman. Daedalus created many things and most of these things were for his good friend King Minos. Over the years their friendship took a turn for the worse. King Minos accused Daedalus of giving Theseus way out of the Labyrinth after he killed the half man half bull. King Minos was so furious that he imprisons Daedalus and his son Icarus inside the labyrinth. Daedalus realized that they couldn’t stay inside the Labyrinth and starting thinking of ways that they could escape. Since King Minos controlled the sea and the surrounding land, Daedalus decided that the only way out was to fly (Myth Man’s Greek Mythology). He created two set of wings, one for each of them, and took off on their journey. The wings were made of wax and feathers so he advised his son to stay away from the sun and sea for it he got to close the sun would melt them and the sea would make them wet and hard to fly (Myth Man’s Greek Mythology). Icarus didn’t listen and flew way to close to the sun which caused his set of wings to melt off. Once they melted away, Icarus fell into the sea where he would drown. Daedalus couldn’t do anything to save him so he continued to the destination heart broken. Daedalus finally made it and made a home for himself, and that is where King Minos found him and demanded to know how he got out. Daedalus was under the protection of Cocalus and once Minos realized that he demanded that Daedalus be surrender to him. Cocalus agreed and asked Minos to stay for a while. Later that night, Cocalus’s daughters killed Minos because they didn’t want anything to happen to Daedalus (Myth Man’s Greek Mythology). Daedalus continued his life and ended up going to a group led by Iolaus.
In moral of the myth Daedalus and Icarus, has to do with hubris. Daedalus was a human who thought he could do god- like -things which would include flying. For Daedalus and Icarus to escape Labyrinth they had to fly and no human should be able to do that. Since flying is something that only gods should be able to do and a human did so, it disrespected the gods which led to it being hubris. Campbell once said, “One man’s myth, is another man’s religion,” and that can be true for the painting done by Brueghel. In most religions, the world ends the same way, but in a few religions the world ends up covered by water. In Brueghel’s painting, in the distance you can see buildings and island covered by water, and slowly the water will grow until there is nothing left in the world. It is already happening today, with all the icebergs melting from global warming.
“Landscape with the fall of Icarus”
By William Carlos Williams
According to Brueghel, when Icarus fell, it was spring. A farmer was plowing his field. The whole pageantry of the year was awake tingling near the edge of the sea, concerned with itself, sweating in the sun that melted the wings’ wax. Unsignificantly, off the coast, there was a splash, quite unnoticed. This was Icarus drowning.
Works Cited
“Icarus & Daedalus A Tragic Story.” Myth Man’s Greek Mythology Today, N.D, http://thanasis.com/icarus02.html. Accessed 9 Nov. 2017