ens came as a tribute from Athens. These young people were locked in the labyrinth for the Minotaur to feast upon.When the Greek hero Theseus reached Athens, he learned of the Minotaur and the sacrifices, and wanted to end this. He volunteered to go to Crete as one of the victims of the sacrifice. Upon his arrival in Crete, he met Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, who fell in love with Theseus. She promised she would provide the means to escape from the maze if he agreed to marry her. Ariadne asked Daedalus to help her. Daedalus gave her a flaxen thread for Theseus to tie to the door of the labyrinth as he entered, and by which he could find his way out after killing the Minotaur. Theseus succeeded, and escaped Crete with Ariadne. Minos, enraged at the loss of his daughter, shut Daedalus and his son Icarus into the labyrinth. Daedalus knew that Minos controlled any escape routes by land or sea, by Minos could not prevent an escape by flight. So Daedalus used his skills to build wings for himself and Icarus. He used wax and string to fasten feathers to reeds of varying lengths to imitate the curves of birds’ wings.When their wings were ready, Daedalus warned Icarus to fly at medium altitude. If he flew to high, the sun could melt the wax of his wings and the sea could dampen the feathers if he flew too low.Once they escaped Crete, Icarus became exhilarated by flight. Ignoring his father’s warning, he flew higher and higher. The sun melted the wax holding his wings together, and Icarus fell into the water and drowned. Daedalus looked down to see the feathers floating in the waves, and realized what had happened. He buried his son on an island, which would be called Icarius, and the sea into which Icarus had fallen would ever after be called the Icarian Sea. Daedalus, after burying his son, continued on his way to Sicily.What a fantastic Greek tragedy. I do not know if a movie was ever made about the flight of Icarus, but I thin...
