The Fall of Icarus
Icarus is the son of Daedalus, who once worked under king Minos of Crete to imprison the Minotaur by building the famous Labyrinth. When the Labyrinth is completed, Daedalus wanted to leave Crete with his son, but king Minos thought that he would reveal his secrets to others. So, the king imprisoned the two of them in a high tower on the Crete Island. With the thought of escaping, Daedalus came up with a great plan to create two pairs of wings by using wax from the candles and feathers from the pillows. Then he said, “The king controls the land and sea, but not the air.” Then they flew, seeking the freedom…
“Fly by the middle path, Icarus. If you fly too low, the sea’s mist will weigh down your wings. If you fly too high, the sun’s heat will melt the wax. Obey my words, and we shall be free.”
The flight of this father and son was a magnificent sight for the people of Crete, their wings glowed like birds flying in the golden light of dawn. Icarus never felt so free, he laughed with joy. But Icarus forgot his father’s warning about flying too close to the sun. he was so thrilled by the flight, which filled his heart with pride and daring. He was attracted to the light of gods and he flew toward the sun. the sun’s heat started to melt the wax, then one by one the feathers loosened. Icarus cried for his father, but the wind grabbed him. He fell into the sea and he drowned, and then on that sea known as the Icarian Sea. Then Daedalus made a temple for Apollo in Delphi, to remember his son’s flight to sun by offering his wings.
This story about Icarus represents human behaviors toward excessive pride, or the hubris, where people become overconfident, believing that they can rise as high as they wish against the laws of nature. Just as this fall of Icarus Greek myth represents, consequences of his arrogance actions have led him to fall into the sea. According to the Greek mythologies and culture, hubris was one of greatest moral failings. In present, also this hubris or arrogance of humans are a reason for the downfall of society. People tend to gain power and pride without thinking about the consequences of them, world wars are the greatest example for that. While leaders focus on gaining power and wealth, they forgot about the most precious treasure which is humanity.
However, modern poets and artists reimagined this Greek myth with a more symbolic and romantic tone, where this story represents a deeper emotional concept rather than the myth. According to that Icarus represents a mortal who is attracted to the light and warmth of sun or Apollo, which represents a dream or a someone he loves. Each beat of his wings was a heartbeat closer to the sun or that dream. That means the flight toward the sun becomes a metaphor for desire and love, reaching for someone or dreams even it leads to the destruction of Icarus. Also, the melting wings symbolizes how the need of reaching that someone can transform the human soul. Modern artists see this as a passion or desire of a human not as a punishment received by the nature. They say that Icarus was happy and smiling even when he was falling to the sea. That means humans do unbelievable things to reach that dream or someone they love, while knowing that they could not be successful and it can even lead to their destruction.
At the end, the fall of Icarus is not just a Greek myth about pride or punishment, it represents the human nature. We all have dreams which made out of wax and feathers, and we tend to fly high to reach something that brighter than us, even that bright can bring our downfall. Even Icarus fell because of arrogance or even because of love, this story reminds us that even in failure there is beauty just like the flight of Icarus. This story is not just a warning for humans, it is a tale of endless desire to reach for the sun, even it melts us down.
