Icarus

The story of Icarus

The story of Icarus is one of those Greek myths that fascinates audiences because of his desire to go beyond human boundaries and the tragic consequences this brought about Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, who was best known for his work at the palace of King Minos of Crete.

Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, had fallen in love with the Cretan bull and given birth to the notorious Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. To house this creature, Daedalus was commissioned to build a labyrinth, a maze-like structure.

When Theseus came to Crete and killed the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, he did so using a claw
that Daedalus had given to her. King Minos, outraged with Daedalus for helping Theseus escape from the labyrinth, refused to let Daedalus and his son, Icarus, leave and imprisoned them in a tower above his palace in Knossos.

Icarus was a very adventurous young man and he quickly became restless. So, the crafty and brilliant Daedalus came up with a plan to escape; he managed to create two sets of wings for himself and his son that were made of feathers glued together with wax.

He taught Icarus how to fly and decided that the best way to escape from the palace was to fly away.

However, he warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, which would cause the wax to melt, or too low, which would cause the feathers to get wet.

Unfortunately, Icarus soon forgot his father’s warnings and started flying higher and higher, until the wax started melting under the scorching sun. His wings dissolved and he fell into the sea and drowned.

That spot was named Icarian Sea, so that everyone will be reminded of Icarus’ youth and boldness, yet the results of lack of self-control.

Some really beautiful islands are placed in the Icarian Sea, like Icaria, Samos, Kos, Astipalea and Fournoi.