We all know beautiful the story of Icarus, which flew high towards the sun and, falling from high altitude, crashed near the coastal rocks. Many writers and artists have devoted themselves to this image for centuries. symbolic meaning, which consists in courage, in a person’s desire for freedom and dreams. However ancient greek myth, on the basis of which the beautiful legend was invented, speaks of something completely different.
Ancient Greek myth about Icarus and Daedalus.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/00-ikar-012.jpg" alt=""Icarus and Daedalus." title=""Icarus and Daedalus." border="0" vspace="5">!}
The main character of this ancient Greek legend is Icarus’s father, Daedalus, who made him wings. And yet he was the most skillful man of his time, the greatest master, the inventor of carpentry tools, a most skilled architect and sculptor, his fantastic sculptures were as if they were alive.
However, the legendary Greek craftsman had to flee from Athens, where, in a fit of envy and anger, he committed a crime: he threw his nephew Talos, who surpassed him in talent and skill, from the roof of the acropolis.
A 12-year-old boy, despite such a young age, invented a carpenter's saw based on the model and likeness of the spinal ridge of a fish, designed a potter's wheel, and came up with a lathe and a compass. Daedalus was so frightened by the superiority of the young genius that he once pushed him off the roof of the Athenian Acropolis.
Having killed his nephew, Delal tried to hide traces of the crime, but was caught red-handed and sentenced to death. But he managed to escape to the island of Crete, where he asked for protection from King Minos. And already living at the ruler’s court, Delal had to maneuver between two fires.
As it says ancient greek legend: at first he helped Queen Pasiphae cuckold her husband, who cheated on him with a bull, in the most literal sense of the word; then he helped Minos hide the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man, who was born by Pasiphae, from prying eyes, by building the famous labyrinth. And a few years later he helped the enemy of the Cretan king Theseus kill the bull-headed Minotaur. It was Daedalus who figured out how not to get lost in the labyrinth using a thread and told Ariadne about this, who gave this thread to Theseus.
But this is a story from another myth, when greek hero Theseus went to the island of Crete in order to destroy the Minotaur, to whom the Athenians were obliged to send seven young men and seven beautiful girls to be torn to pieces.
The angry king Minos, having heard about the complicity, imprisoned both Daedalus himself and his son Icarus, who was already born on the island from the slave Navkarta, in the labyrinth. By the way, the master’s son was a mirror copy of his murdered cousin Talos and at that time they were also the same age. But in fairness, it should be noted that, unlike Talos, Icarus had absolutely no talents or hobbies.
Pasiphae secretly freed the prisoners from the labyrinth. And in order to escape from the island, the brilliant master made four huge wings from feathers for himself and his son. With tireless diligence, Daedalus tied together all kinds of bird feathers, starting with the shortest and gradually ending with longer ones, fastening them with wax. And when the wings were ready, he, tying them with straps to his son’s shoulders, gave instructions that he should fly without rising too high, so that the wax would not melt from the sun’s rays.
The careless young man did not listen to his father and approached too close to the Sun, whose rays melted the fastenings. Icarus fell and drowned not far from the island of Samos in the sea, which in this part received the name of the Icarian Sea.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/219411451.jpg" alt=" “The Lamentation of Icarus” (1898). Author: Herbert James Draper." title=""Lamentation of Icarus" (1898).
The essence of this myth is the idea of punishing Daedalus, the lack of talent and death of Icarus is also retribution to his father for the crime committed. The goddesses of vengeance needed to arrange everything so that the young man would die in exactly the same way as his father killed Talos: that is why he falls from a height. And there is no need to look for heroism and courage here, this is just the cruel revenge of the gods for the sin of the father.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/219414814.jpg" alt=""Icarus and Daedalus." Jacob Peter Govi." title=""Icarus and Daedalus." Jacob Peter Govi." border="0" vspace="5">!}
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/00-ikar-011.jpg" alt=""Icarus and Daedalus."
We now call a myth something fantastic, fictitious, something that did not exist in real historical reality. Our word "myth" comes from the ancient Greek word "mythos". Among the Hellenes, as they called themselves, this translated meant “word, speech or conversation, intention, proverbs, rumor, statement, stories, translation, tale, content of the story.” Therefore, the word had more meanings than the modern "myth". When we want to say that in fact something did not happen in documented history, we use the adjective “mythical”. For example, the famous Hercules (or Hercules, as the Romans called him) is a mythical figure, the hero of many ancient Greek myths. There is also the word “mythology” (also of Greek origin). We call it both the totality of myths of a particular people, and the branch of knowledge, the science that studies myths.
Attitude to myths in Ancient Greece
Almost every nation since ancient times has kept traditions in which the historical is intertwined with the fictional, reality with fantasy. In these legends, not only people act, but also amazing creatures - the fruits of creativity. This immortal gods and demigods, unprecedented creatures. Amazing miracles happen. In ancient times, people perceived myths as reliable stories about what happened before. But centuries passed, and they gradually turned into ordinary old wives' tales. Only small children believed in their reality. The legends began to be interpreted not literally, but in figuratively. Myths were the embodiment of human dreams. For example, the work “Daedalus and Icarus” clearly reflects the desire to fly. However, there is also a moral here. The myth “Daedalus and Icarus” teaches that even from unattainable heights one can be thrown down.
Myths as the basis of ancient Greek culture
IN Ancient Greece(or Hellas) myths were the basis of sculpture, literature, painting, theatrical arts. They took shape long before writing, the Greek alphabet, spread there. The same legend about some god or hero could exist in various options and interpretations: local, temporary (arising in different time) and copyright (everything depended on who came up with or retold). The work “Daedalus and Icarus” was no exception. Different tribes and peoples had similar myths. The point here is not only that one tribe could borrow this or that legend from another. Most often this happened when different peoples stood at a similar stage of development, lived in similar conditions. Sometimes the similarity of the myths of different tribes is explained by the original kinship, the common origin of these communities, for example, the Greeks, Romans, Celts, Germans, Slavs, Iranians, Indians. The ancient Greek legend “Daedalus and Icarus” is very interesting. Pictures and sculptures dedicated to him, as well as summary it can be found in this article.
Ancient Greek Pantheon
A terrible ten-year war took place between the younger gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter and others) and the older ones - the Titans. Finally, the first with the help of those released from underworld The hundred-armed men and the Cyclops defeated the latter and settled on Olympus. There were a lot of myths about the deeds of the gods - useful, and sometimes destructive for mortal people. They are like people with their strengths and weaknesses.
Mythical creatures
Often in myths there are fantastic creatures - monsters. For example, the ancient Greek myth “Daedalus and Icarus” tells, along with the main storyline, and about the terrible Minotaur - the beast The fantasy of the ancient Greeks created centaurs - half-humans, half-horses, formidable Gorgons with snakes instead of hair, the seven-headed hydra of the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guarded underground kingdom Aida, etc.
Myths and astronomy
The names of almost all constellations are in one way or another connected with ancient Greek myths. evokes in our memory the legend of Perseus, and he himself also gave a name to a cluster of stars, like Andromeda’s parents - Kepheus and Cassiopeia. Pegasus is the winged horse on which the hero Bellerophon rode against the chimeras. Ursa Major is the nymph Callisto (mother of Arkad, the ancestor of the Arcadians), Ursa Minor is the nymph Kinosura. Aries is the ram on which Phrixus and Hella flew to Colchis. Hercules also turned into Orion - the hunter who was the companion of Artemis. Lyre is the cithara of Orpheus, etc. Even the planets solar system owe their names to myths. Next will be told the legend of Daedalus and Icarus. This is a cautionary tale.
"Daedalus and Icarus": summary. The beginning of events
Once upon a time, in ancient times, there lived in Athens talented artist, carver and builder Daedalus is a scion of the royal family. It was believed that Athena herself taught him various crafts. Daedalus built large palaces and temples that amazed everyone with their harmony. For them, he himself carved figures of immortal gods from wood, so beautiful that people then carefully preserved them for centuries.
His nephew Tal, still a teenager, became Daedalus' student. One day a guy looked at a fish bone, looked closely at it and soon made a saw - a new thing for people. He invented it to make it easier to sculpt dishes. Tal also invented the compass.
Death of Tal and exile
The Athenians learned about the extraordinary ability of Daedalus's student and rightly believed that the latter would soon surpass his teacher. And how terribly Athens was struck by the news that Tal, while walking with Daedalus along the Acropolis, tripped and fell from a height. The Athenians blamed the teacher for his death and sentenced the artist to exile. Daedalus sailed to Crete, where Minos reigned. There he got married. He had a son, Icarus. However, Daedalus was very homesick for his native land. Then the king got into trouble. His wife gave birth to a monster instead of a son - the Minotaur. The master built a labyrinth for the monster to hide it from the eyes of people.
Daedalus and Icarus (exposition): the road home
Years have passed. Daedalus and Icarus were going to Athens. However, Minos did not let the master go. Daedalus came out of this situation and made wings for himself and his son, like birds, in order to fly across the sky, if the sea was closed to them. The master taught his son to fly and warned him not to fly too high, otherwise the sun would melt the wax (a component of the wing structure). It was also not ordered to soar low over the sea, so that the water would not wet the flying device. The master taught his son to stick to the golden mean. However, they were never found mutual language Daedalus and Icarus (pictures with wings can be seen in this article).
Death of Icarus
The next day they took pictures in the cloudless azure. No one in the ruler's palace saw this. Only the plowmen in the field observed the flight; the shepherd who was driving the flock was seen by the fisherman. They all thought that it was the immortal gods hovering. At first, Icarus obediently followed his father. However, the feeling of flight, unknown and amazing, filled him with inexpressible joy. After all, it is a great happiness to flap your big wings like a huge bird and feel that they are carrying you even higher.
In indescribable delight, Icarus forgot his parent’s warning and rose very high - to the golden sun. Suddenly, with great horror, he began to feel that the wings were no longer holding him as tightly as before. The hot rays of the sun melted their wax, and the feathers fell down. Now in vain the young man tried to wave his wingless arms. He called his father for help, but Daedalus did not hear him. Then he searched long and desperately for his son. But I found only feathers on the waves. Realizing what had happened, he went mad with grief. The body of Icarus was buried by Hercules, and the sea into which he fell was called Icarian.
Daedalus himself spent a long time in Sicily, and then moved to Athens, where he became the founder of the Daedalid family of artists.
On Crete, Daedalus, on behalf of Minos, built a labyrinth for the monstrous Minotaur, born of Minos' wife Pasiphae from a bull. He arranged a dance floor for Ariadne. Daedalus helped Ariadne free from Theseus's labyrinth: find a way out with the help of a ball of thread. Having learned of his complicity in the escape of Theseus and his companions, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a labyrinth, from where Pasiphae freed them. Having made wings, Daedalus and his son flew away from the island. Icarus, having risen too high, fell into the sea, because the heat of the sun melted the wax. Having mourned his son, Daedalus reached the Sicilian city of Kamik to see King Kokal. Minos, pursuing Daedalus, arrived at the court of Cocalus and decided to lure Daedalus out by cunning. He showed the king a shell into which he had to thread a thread. Kokal asked D. to do this, he tied the thread to the ant, who, climbing inside, pulled the thread behind him into the spiral of the shell.
Minos guessed that Daedalus was with Kokal and demanded that the master be handed over. Kokal promised to do this, but suggested that Minos take a bath; there he was killed by Kokal's daughters, who doused him with boiling water. Daedalus spent the rest of his life in Sicily. The myth of Daedalus is characteristic of the period of late classical mythology, when heroes emerge who assert themselves not by force and weapons, but by resourcefulness and skill.
Icarus, in Greek mythology son of Daedalus. Icarus died when he hoped to fly to the Sun on the wings that Daedalus made for him.
Even in ancient times, people dreamed of mastering the sky. The legend created by the ancient Greeks reflected this dream.
The greatest artist, sculptor and architect of Athens was Daedalus. He carved such marvelous statues from snow-white marble that they seemed alive. Daedalus invented many tools for his work, such as a drill and an axe.
Daedalus lived with King Minos, and Minos did not want his master to work for others. Daedalus thought for a long time about how to escape from Crete, and finally came up with an idea.
He collected feathers. I fastened them with linen threads and wax to make wings from them. Daedalus worked, and his son Icarus played near his father. Finally Daedalus finished his work. He tied the wings to his back, threaded his hands into the loops that were attached to the wings, waved them and smoothly rose into the air. Icarus looked in amazement at his father, who was soaring in the air like a bird.
And the body of Icarus rushed for a long time on the waves of the sea, which has since become known as Icarian.
Daedalus continued his flight and flew to Sicily.
Daedalus and Icarus
Fleeing from death, Daedalus fled to Crete to the powerful king Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa. Minos willingly accepted the great artist of Greece under his protection. Daedalus made many wonderful works of art for the king of Crete. He also built for him the famous Labyrinth Palace, with such intricate passages that once entering it, it was impossible to find a way out. In this palace, Minos imprisoned the son of his wife Pasiphae, the terrible Minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
Daedalus descended to earth and said to his son: “Listen, Icarus, now we will fly away from Crete. Be careful while flying. Don't go too close to the sea so that the salty spray can't wet your wings. Do not rise too high, too close to the sun, so that the heat does not melt the wax, then all the feathers will fly away. Fly with me, don’t lag behind me.”
Father and son put on wings and easily rose into the air. Daedalus often turned around to watch his son fly. The fast flight amused Icarus; he flapped his wings more and more boldly. Icarus forgot his father's instructions. Flapping his wings forcefully, he flew high, right into the sky, to get closer to the sun. The scorching rays of the sun melted the wax that held the feathers of the wings together, the feathers fell out and scattered far into the air, driven by the wind. Icarus waved his hands, but there were no wings on them. He fell from a terrible height into the sea and died in its waves.
Daedalus turned around and looked around. No Icarus. He began to call his son loudly: “Icarus! Icarus! Where are you? Respond!” No answer. Daedalus saw feathers in the sea waves and understood what had happened. How he hated his art and the day when he decided to escape from Crete by air!
Death of Icarus
Before the flight, Daedalus explained to his son Icarus how to fly. He warned that if you get too close to the sea, the water will wet the feathers and make them heavier. On the other hand, if you fly too close to the sun, it will melt the wax and the wings will be destroyed.
Icarus listened to his father, but was so carried away by the flight that, contrary to his father's instructions, he flew high into the sky, so high that the sun melted the wax, he fell into the sea and drowned.
Icarus fell near Samos. and his body was thrown onto a nearby island, which was named after him - Ikaria and the sea around the island was called Ikario Pelagos.
The instructive nature of the myth is obvious: the stupidity and frivolity of young people who ignore the advice and experience of their parents, and elders in general, have irreversible consequences for their lives.
In everything you need to stick to the middle ground. Not too high near the Sun and not too close to the sea, Daedalus advised, but Icarus disobeyed him and lost his life.
Sources: mifologija.dljavseh.ru, naexamen.ru, teremok.in, www.litrasoch.ru, www.grekomania.ru
Iliad and Odysseus
Return of Odysseus
Death of the Giant Zipakna
Sodom and Gomorrah
Rules for serving drinks
No feast is complete without serving drinks, so it is extremely useful to have an idea of the rules for serving them. If it's...
Electric airplane
Today you can see the Airbus A320, equipped with a joint development of Safran and Honeywell. We are talking about the EGTS system, which allows aircraft...
Lemuria and the giants
Lemuria is considered an ancient lost continent-state, which, like the disappeared Atlantis, perished in a cataclysm on a planetary scale. There is every reason to believe that...
Creating a mailing list - why is it necessary?
One of the most powerful ways attracting interest in your own products or services from Internet users is to create a newsletter. ...
How to fit everything you need in a small hallway
It rarely happens that the hallway is given a lot of space from the apartment. After all, the hallway should perform a minimum of functions: this is the first room...
Based on Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses"
Jacob Peter Govey. “The Fall of Icarus”
The greatest artist, sculptor and architect of Athens was Daedalus, a descendant of Erechtheus. It was said about him that he carved such marvelous statues from snow-white marble that they seemed alive; the statues of Daedalus seemed to be looking and moving. Daedalus invented many tools for his work; he invented the ax and the drill. The fame of Daedalus spread far and wide.
This great artist had a nephew Tal, the son of his sister Perdika. Tal was his uncle's student. Already in his early youth he amazed everyone with his talent and ingenuity. It was foreseeable that Tal would far surpass his teacher. Daedalus was jealous of his nephew and decided to kill him. One day Daedalus stood with his nephew on the high Acropolis of Athens at the very edge of the cliff. There was no one visible around. Seeing that they were alone, Daedalus pushed his nephew off the cliff. The artist was sure that his crime would go unpunished. Tal fell to his death from a cliff. Daedalus hastily descended from the Acropolis, picked up Tal's body and wanted to secretly bury it in the ground, but the Athenians caught Daedalus when he was digging a grave. The crime of Daedalus was revealed. The Areopagus sentenced him to death.
Fleeing from death, Daedalus fled to Crete to the powerful king Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa. Minos willingly accepted the great artist of Greece under his protection. Daedalus made many wonderful works of art for the king of Crete. He also built for him the famous Labyrinth Palace, with such intricate passages that once entering it, it was impossible to find a way out. In this palace, Minos imprisoned the son of his wife Pasiphae, the terrible Minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
Daedalus lived with Minos for many years. The king did not want to let him go from Crete; only he wanted to use the art of the great artist. Minos held Daedalus as a prisoner in Crete. Daedalus thought for a long time about how to escape, and finally found a way to free himself from Cretan captivity.
If I cannot, - exclaimed Daedalus, - escape from the power of Minos either by land or by sea, then the sky is open for escape! This is my way! Minos owns everything, only he does not own the air!
Daedalus set to work. He collected feathers, fastened them with linen threads and wax, and began to make four large wings from them. While Daedalus was working, his son Icarus played near his father: either he caught fluff that flew up from the breeze, or he crumpled wax in his hands. The boy frolicked carelessly, amused by his father’s work. Finally, Daedalus finished his work; the wings were ready.
Daedalus and Icarus
Lord Frederick Leighton.Icarus and Daedalus.1869
Charles Paul Landon.:Icarus and Daedalus.1769
Daedalus tied the wings behind his back, threaded his hands into the loops attached to the wings, waved them and smoothly rose into the air. Icarus looked in amazement at his father, who was soaring in the air like a huge bird. Daedalus descended to earth and said to his son:
Daedalus and Icarus by Anthony van Dyck. (Toronto).1630
Listen, Icarus, now we are leaving Crete. Be careful while flying. Don't go too low to the sea so that the salty spray of the waves doesn't wet your wings. Don't get too close to the sun: the heat can melt the wax and the feathers will fly away. Fly with me, don't lag behind me.
Maso da San Friano.Caída de Icaro, Studiolo de Francesco I, Palazzo Vecchio (Florencia).1570
Bol, Hans - Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.
Father and son put wings on their hands and easily flew away. Those who saw their flight high above the earth thought that these were two gods rushing across the azure sky. Daedalus often turned around to watch his son fly. They have already passed the islands of Delos and Paros and are flying further and further.
The fast flight amuses Icarus; he flaps his wings more and more boldly. Icarus forgot his father's instructions; he no longer flies after him. Flapping his wings forcefully, he flew high into the sky, closer to the radiant sun. The scorching rays melted the wax that held the feathers of the wings together, the feathers fell out and scattered far through the air, driven by the wind. Icarus waved his hands, but there were no more wings on them. He fell headlong from a terrible height into the sea and died in its waves.
Daedalus turned around and looked around. No Icarus. He began to call his son loudly:
Icarus! Icarus! Where are you? Respond!
Lucílio de Albuquerque - Despertar de Ícaro
Herbert James Draper.Lament for Icarus.1898
No answer. Daedalus saw feathers from the wings of Icarus on the sea waves and understood what had happened. How Daedalus hated his art, how he hated the day when he decided to escape from Crete by air!
And the body of Icarus rushed for a long time on the waves of the sea, which began to be called after the name of the deceased Ikarian. Finally the waves washed him to the shore of the island; Hercules found him there and buried him.
Ceiling of a room in the Louvre museum.
Daedalus continued his flight and finally arrived in Sicily. There he settled with King Kokal. Minos found out where the artist had hidden, went with a large army to Sicily and demanded that Kokal give him Daedalus.
Fall of Icarus Blondel decoration Louvre
Kokal's daughters did not want to lose an artist like Daedalus. They came up with a trick. They persuaded the father to agree to Minos’ demands and accept him as a guest in the palace. While Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Cocalus poured a cauldron of boiling water on his head; Minos died in terrible agony. Daedalus lived in Sicily for a long time. He spent the last years of his life at home, in Athens; there he became the ancestor of the Daedalids, a glorious family of Athenian artists.
Once upon a time there lived the most skilled man of his time - a wonderful artist, builder, sculptor, stone carver, inventor. His name was Daedalus.
His paintings, statues, houses, palaces decorated Athens and other cities of Ancient Greece. He made amazing tools for various crafts. Daedalus had a nephew who, already in his youth, showed the makings of an even more skilled craftsman. The young man could eclipse the glory of Daedalus, and he pushed his young rival off a cliff, for which he was expelled from Athens.
Minos held Daedalus in Crete as a prisoner. And Daedalus was very homesick and decided to return. The king was sure that he would not allow Minos to leave the island by sea. And then Daedalus thought that Minos could not control the air and decided to subjugate the air.
Secretly from Minos, he made wings for himself and his son. When the wings were ready, Daedalus attached them to his back and rose into the air. He taught Icarus to fly.
It was possible to take a long flight. But before setting off on a long journey, he gave his son an instruction: once in the sky, Icarus should not fly too low, otherwise his wings will get wet in sea water, and he may fall into the waves, but he should not fly too high, since the rays the sun can melt the wax that holds the wings together.
Daedalus flew ahead, followed by Icarus. The fast flight seemed to intoxicate him. Icarus floated in the air, enjoying freedom. He forgot about his father's order and rose higher and higher. Icarus got too close to the sun, and its hot rays melted the wax that held his wings together. The disintegrated wings hung powerlessly on the boy’s shoulders, and he fell into the sea.
Daedalus called his son in vain; no one responded. And the wings of Icarus swayed on the waves.
Later, people began to contrast the reckless courage of Icarus with cowardly and joyless prudence.
And here is what is said about these events in the poem of the ancient Roman poet Ovid “Metamlrphoses”.
Retelling by Georg Stoll
Descendant of Erechtheus Daedalus, greatest artist antiquity, became famous for his wonderful works. Rumors spread far and wide about the many beautiful temples and other buildings he had built, about his statues, which were so alive that they spoke of them as if they moved and saw. The statues of previous artists had the appearance of mummies: the legs were brought closer to one another, the arms were tightly attached to the torso, the eyes were closed. Daedalus opened the eyes of his statues, gave them movement and untied their hands. The same artist invented many tools useful for his art, such as: an ax, a drill, a spirit level. Daedalus had a nephew and student Tal, who promised to surpass his uncle with his ingenuity and genius; While still a boy, without the help of a teacher, he invented a saw, the idea of which was suggested to him by a fish bone; then he invented a compass, a chisel, a potter's wheel and much more. With all this, he aroused hatred and envy in his uncle, and Daedalus killed his student, throwing him from the Athenian cliff of the Acropolis. The case became public, and in order to avoid execution, Daedalus had to flee his homeland. He fled to the island of Crete, to the king of the city of Kloss Minos, who received him with open arms and entrusted him with many artistic works. By the way, Daedalus built a huge building, with many winding and intricate passages, in which the terrible Minotaur was kept.
Although Minos treated the artist in a friendly manner, Daedalus soon noticed that the king looked at him as his captive and, wanting to derive as much benefit as possible from his art, did not want to ever let him go home. As soon as Daedalus saw that they were watching him and guarding him, the bitter fate of an exile became even more painful for him, love for his homeland awoke in him with double strength; he decided to escape by any means.
“Even though the water and dry routes are closed to me,” thought Daedalus, “the sky is in front of me, the air route is in my hands. Minos can take possession of everything, but not the sky.” So Daedalus thought and began to think about a hitherto unknown subject. He skillfully began to fit pen to pen, starting with the smallest ones; in the middle he tied them with threads, and at the bottom he molded them with wax and gave the wings formed in this way a slight bend.
While Daedalus was busy with his work, his son Icarus stood next to him and interfered with his work in every possible way. Either, laughing, he ran after the feathers flying in the air, then he crushed the yellow wax with which the artist stuck the feathers to one another. Having made the wings, Daedalus put them on himself and, flapping them, rose into the air. He also made a pair of small wings for his son Icarus and, handing them over, gave him the following instruction: “Stay in the middle, my son; if you go too low, the waves will wet your wings, and if you rise too high, the sun will scorch them. Between the sun and the sea, choose the middle path, follow me.” And so he attached wings to his son’s shoulders and taught him to rise above the ground.
Giving these instructions to Icarus, the elder could not help but cry; his hands were shaking. Touched, he hugged last time son, kissed him and flew, and his son followed him. Like a bird that has flown out of the nest with its baby for the first time, Daedalus fearfully looks back at his companion; encourages him, shows him how to use his wings. They soon rose high above the sea, and at first everything went well. Many people marveled at these aerial swimmers. The fisherman, throwing his flexible fishing rod, the shepherd, leaning on his staff, the farmer - on the handle of the plow, looked at them and wondered if these were the gods floating through the ether. Already behind them lay a wide sea, on the left were the islands: Samos, Patnos and Delos, on the right - Lebintus and Kalimna. Encouraged by good luck, Icarus began to fly more boldly; left his leader and rose high to the sky to wash his chest in pure ether. But near the sun, the wax that blinded the wings melted, and they fell apart. The unfortunate youth in despair stretches out his hands to his father, but the air no longer holds him, and Icarus falls into the deep sea. In fear, he barely had time to shout his father’s name before the greedy waves had already swallowed him up. The father, frightened by his desperate cry, looks around in vain, waits for his son in vain - his son lies down with him. “Icarus, Icarus,” he shouts, “where are you, where should I look for you?” But then he saw feathers carried by the waves, and everything became clear to him. In despair, Daedalus descends to the nearest island and there, cursing his art, he wanders until the waves wash up Icarus’s corpse on the shore. He buried the boy here, and from then on the island began to be called Ikaria, and the sea that swallowed him up - Icarian.
From Icaria, Daedalus headed his way to the island of Sicily. There he was warmly received by King Kokal, and he performed many artistic works for this king and for his daughters.
Minos found out where the artist settled, and with a large military fleet arrived in Sicily to claim the fugitive. But the daughters of Cocalus, who loved Daedalus for his art, treacherously killed Minos: they prepared a warm bath for him and, while he was sitting in it, heated the water so that Minos did not come out of it. Daedalus died in Sicily or, if you believe the Athenians, in his homeland, Athens, where the glorious Daedalid family considers him their ancestor.