The myth of Icarus and Daedalus - Amy Adkins

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In mythological ancient Greece, Icarus flew above Crete on wings made from wax and feathers, defying the laws of man and nature. To witnesses on the ground, he looked like a god, and he felt like one too. But, in his society, the line that separated god from man was absolute, and the punishment for mortals who attempted to cross it was severe. Amy Adkins explains the myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

Lesson by Amy Adkins, animation by TED-Ed.

In mythological ancient Greece,

soaring above Crete on wings made
from wax and feathers,

Icarus, the son of Daedalus,
defied the laws of both man and nature.

Ignoring the warnings of his father,
he rose higher and higher.

To witnesses on the ground,
he looked like a god,

and as he peered down from above,
he felt like one, too.

But, in mythological ancient Greece,

the line that separated god from man
was absolute

and the punishment for mortals
who attempted to cross it was severe.

Such was the case for Icarus and Daedalus.

Years before Icarus was born,

his father Daedalus was highly regarded
as a genius inventor,

craftsman,

and sculptor in his homeland of Athens.

He invented carpentry
and all the tools used for it.

He designed the first bathhouse

and the first dance floor.

He made sculptures so lifelike
that Hercules mistook them for actual men.

Though skilled and celebrated,
Daedalus was egotistical and jealous.

Worried that his nephew
was a more skillful craftsman,

Daedalus murdered him.

As punishment, Daedalus was banished
from Athens and made his way to Crete.

Preceded by his storied reputation,

Daedalus was welcomed
with open arms by Crete's King Minos.

There, acting as the palace
technical advisor,

Daedalus continued to push the boundaries.

For the king's children,

he made mechanically animated toys
that seemed alive.

He invented the ship's sail and mast,
which gave humans control over the wind.

With every creation, Daedalus challenged
human limitations

that had so far kept mortals
separate from gods,

until finally, he broke right through.

King Minos's wife, Pasiphaë,
had been cursed by the god Poseidon

to fall in love
with the king's prized bull.

Under this spell, she asked Daedalus
to help her seduce it.

With characteristic audacity, he agreed.

Daedalus constructed a hollow
wooden cow

so realistic that it fooled the bull.

With Pasiphaë hiding inside
Daedalus's creation,

she conceived and gave birth
to the half-human half-bull minotaur.

This, of course, enraged the king

who blamed Daedalus for enabling
such a horrible perversion of natural law.

As punishment, Daedalus was forced
to construct an inescapable labyrinth

beneath the palace for the minotaur.

When it was finished, Minos then
imprisoned Daedalus

and his only son Icarus

within the top of the tallest tower
on the island

where they were to remain
for the rest of their lives.

But Daedalus was still a genius inventor.

While observing the birds
that circled his prison,

the means for escape became clear.

He and Icarus would fly away
from their prison

as only birds or gods could do.

Using feathers from the flocks
that perched on the tower,

and the wax from candles,

Daedalus constructed two pairs
of giant wings.

As he strapped the wings
to his son Icarus,

he gave a warning:

flying too near the ocean
would dampen the wings

and make them too heavy to use.

Flying too near the sun,

the heat would melt the wax
and the wings would disintegrate.

In either case, they surely would die.

Therefore, the key to their escape
would be in keeping to the middle.

With the instructions clear,
both men leapt from the tower.

They were the first mortals ever to fly.

While Daedalus stayed carefully
to the midway course,

Icarus was overwhelmed
with the ecstasy of flight

and overcome with the feeling of
divine power that came with it.

Daedalus could only watch in horror
as Icarus ascended higher and higher,

powerless to change his son's dire fate.

When the heat from the sun melted
the wax on his wings,

Icarus fell from the sky.

Just as Daedalus had many times ignored

the consequences of defying
the natural laws of mortal men

in the service of his ego,

Icarus was also carried away
by his own hubris.

In the end,

both men paid for their departure
from the path of moderation dearly,

Icarus with his life

and Daedalus with his regret.