In my previous post, I alluded to Icarus a lot. But, who was he and what did he do to find mention in so many places? Lets explore this wondrous myth and fantastic tale.
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, one of the greatest inventors of all time, who was employed at the court of the great King Minos of Crete. Over the years, Daedalus became a valued and trusted advisor and confidant of King Minos and his wife, Queen Pasiphae.
At the beginning of his reign, King Minos prayed to Poseidon, the God of the Sea, Storms, Earthquakes and Horses, seeking the most majestic bull in all creation. Poseidon obliged by sending the bull with the caveat that the bull be sacrificed in honour of Poseidon by the sea shore, once King Minos was done with it. Although King Minos intended to effectuate Poseidon conditions, he was so enthralled and enraptured by the bull that he replaced it with a bull from the royal stables and sacrificed that bull instead.
King Minos hoped that Poseidon would not notice the swap and would be satisfied with the sacrifice of the bull in his honour. Unfortunately for him, The Earthshaker (another name for Poseidon) has witnessed the deception from the heights of Mount Olympus. Enraged at what he considered was an insult to him by King Minos, Poseidon requested Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and asked her to inflame Queen Pasiphae with lust for the animal as punishment. Thus, was born the Minotaur (Greek for "the bull of Minos) who, on reaching maturity fed on human flesh, and was therefore imprisoned in the centre of the Labyrinth, a cleverly designed maze constructed by Daedalus near Minos' palace in Knossos. Subsequently, King Minos and Queen Pasiphae were blessed with eight children; four daughters - Acalle, Xenodice, Ariadne & Phaedra and four sons - Catreus, Deucalion, Glaucus & Androgeus.
Androgeus, a prodigious athlete, visited Athens to participate in in the Panathenaic Games which were held every four years in Athens and consisted of religious festivals, athletic competitions and cultural events. Androgeus won all the athletic events and was on his way to Thebes to participate in another competition when he was ambushed and killed by the men of King Aegeus of Athens. The Athenian king harboured a belief that the young Cretan Prince was a supporter of the rebels that were causing him immense grief. This resulted in the gargantuan war between Athens and Crete.
King Minos of Crete defeated the Athenian King Aegeus in this war and they reached an understanding that, in order for King Aegeus to retain his kingdom and rule Athens, he would have to send seven of the most courageous young men and seven of the most beautiful young women every nine years (some say seven years and others say every year) to Crete as compensation, to be fed to the Minotaur. One day, the Athenian Prince, Theseus, announced that he was a volunteer to be sent to Crete. As the Athenian ship docked at the harbour, King Minos, along with his wife, Queen Pasiphae and daughter, Princess Ariadne went to inspect the ship. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus the moment she saw him. She was determined to see him safely through the maze. She sought Daedalus' advice and he told her to give Theseus a ball of string which he could unravel in the maze and thus, find his way out. Ariadne did this and Theseus entered the maze, killed the Minotaur and led the rest of the Athenians out of the maze to safety. Ariadne eloped with Theseus, however, on his way back to Athens, he abandoned her at the island of Naxos.
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When King Minos heard the news, he was livid. In his rage, he blamed Daedalus for the debacle and as punishment for his treachery (for helping Ariadne and Theseus by telling them about the ball of string), he imprisoned Daedalus and his son, Icarus in a tower at the centre of the maze.
Daedalus tried to figure a way out of this prison. He saw that a large number of bird feathers had come in through the window of his prison. He also had, in his possession, some wax tablets for writing. He fashioned a pair of wings each for his son Icarus and himself and they escaped their prison. Icarus and Daedalus flew over many islands, searching for a place where they would be safe from the wrath of King Minos.
Before their flight, Daedalus had warned Icarus to neither fly too close to the sun nor fly too close to the sea as the heat of the sun would melt the wax that held the wings together and wet feathers would make it impossible for them to fly. In his excitement at the wondrous freedom the wings afforded him, Icarus forgot his father's warning and soared high into the sky, flying close to the sun. The heat melted the wax, his wings disintegrated and Icarus plummeted to his death. When Daedalus searched for Icarus, all he could see was a heap of feathers floating on the surface of the sea. He surmised what had transpired and mourned the loss of his son. He named the place where his son had died Icaria. Some time later, the goddess Athena visited Daedalus and gave him wings, telling him to fly like a god. Daedalus flew further west to Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo, the Sun God, and hung up his wings, an offering to Apollo.
That, my friends, is the tale of Icarus!
Well written!! I really enjoyed this!!
Very Interesting and succinctly put forward!!
Well written 👍