Icarus (mythology)

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"Íkaros" redirects here. For other uses, see Ikaros.

In Greek mythology, Icarus (Latin, Greek – Íkaros, Etruscan – Vicare, German – Ikarus) was son of Daedalus, famous for his death by falling into the sea when he flew too close to the sun, melting the wax holding his artificial wings together.

Contents 1 Story of Icarus 2 Icarus in modern culture 2.1 Modern musical references 2.2 Modern dramatic and cinematic references 2.3 Computer game references 2.4 Fictional Literature References 3 External links

[edit] Story of Icarus

The following is an account of the Fall of Icarus as told by Thomas Bulfinch: Icarus was imprisoned, with his father, in a tower on Crete, by the king Minos. Daedalus contrived to make his escape from the prison he was in, but could not leave the island by sea, as the king kept strict watch on all the vessels, and permitted none to sail without being carefully searched. "Minos may control the land and sea," said Daedalus, "but not the regions of the air. I will try that way." So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself and his young son Icarus. He wrought feathers together beginning with the smallest and adding larger, so as to form an increasing surface. The larger ones he secured with thread and the smaller with wax, and gave the whole a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird. Icarus, the boy, stood and looked on, sometimes running to gather up the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then handling the wax and working it over with his fingers, by his play impeding his father in his labors.

By then at last the work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upward and hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son in the same manner, and taught him how to fly, as a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air. When all was prepared for flight, he said, "Icarus, my son, I charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe." While he gave him these instructions and fitted the wings to his shoulders, the face of the father was wet with tears, and his hands trembled. He kissed the boy, not knowing that it was for the last time. Then rising on his wings he flew off, encouraging him to follow, and looked back from his own flight to see how his son managed his wings. As they flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the shepherd leaned on his staff and watched them, astonished at the sight, and thinking they were gods who could thus cleave the air.

They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the right, then the boy, exulting in his career, began to leave the guidance of his companion and soar upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the blazing sun softened the wax which held the feathers together, and they came off. He fluttered with his arms, but no feathers remained to hold the air. While his mouth uttered cries to his father, it was submerged in the blue waters of the sea, which thenceforth was called by his name. His father cried, "Icarus, Icarus, where are you?" At last he saw the feathers floating on the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he buried the body and called the land Icaria in memory of his child. Daedalus arrived safe in Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo, and hung up his wings, an offering to the god.

[edit] Icarus in modern culture

Icarus continues to be cited as a moral lesson about the danger of hubris, suggesting that someone who dares to fly too close to the realm of the gods will suffer for it. Icarus may be regarded as a metaphor for a social fall, and this is taken to its full extreme in Walter Tevis' novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. Both it and the subsequent film reference Icarus, and the hero, a slowly corrupted and disillusioned extraterrestrial, has Brueghel's painting The Fall of Icarus (illustration, right) on his wall. This painting is a pivotal modern reference, serving as a reference and backdrop for other literary uses.

In his poem Musée des Beaux-Arts, W. H. Auden saw Brueghel's figures— so oblivious to the tragic plunge— as part of the blind continuity of daily life, its innocent callousness:

how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone

As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green

Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen

Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,

had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on. [1]

William Carlos Williams saw Brueghel's landscape and wrote the poem, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus:

"According to Brueghel

when Icarus fell

it was spring

a farmer was ploughing

his field

the whole pageantry

of the year was

awake tingling

near

the edge of the sea

concerned

with itself

sweating in the sun

that melted

the wings' wax

unsignificantly

off the coast

there was

a splash quite unnoticed

this was

Icarus drowning"

Georges Bataille's essay the "Rotten Sun" makes a reference to the myth of Icarus. Bataille writing against the Cartesian privileging of vision says: "The myth of Icarus is particularly expressive from this point of view- it clearly splits the sun into two...the one that was shining at the moment of Icarus's elevation, and the one that melted the wax, causing failure and a screaming fall when Icarus got too close."

[edit] Modern musical references

• Enter the Haggis has a song called "Icarus", about the mythological figure and his fall.
• U2 references Icarus in their song "Even Better Than the Real Thing" with this line: "We're free to fly the crimson sky; the sun won't melt our wings tonight."
• Queen's song "No One But You" makes a reference to the myth of Icarus - especially in the chorus with the line "they're only flying too close to the sun"
• The song "Cut The Curtains" by Billy Talent mentions Icarus's situation in the lyrics "Now here seems our wax wings have melted away;And we've only been here for one day;My faith fades away"
• Welsh band mclusky wrote a song entitled "Icarus Smicarus" featured on their 2004 LP The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire, which also refers to the myth in question.
• The Iron Maiden album, Piece of Mind features a song entitled "Flight of Icarus," based on the myth with some significant differences. As they are upon a hill above a crowd of people. [2]
• Savatage released the song "Alone You Breathe" on their 1994 release Handful of Rain. The song, a tribute to frontman Jon Oliva's brother (and Savatage guitarist) Criss, who died in a fatal car accident, mentions Icarus in one line, suggesting that Icarus was striving to reach his potential and met an unfair fate.
• The song "Too Close To The Sun" from the 1996 Alan Parsons release On Air relates the escape of Daedalus and Icarus from the labyrinth of the minotaur.
• The Paul Winter Consort recorded an instrumental song called Icarus, written by Ralph Towner, which appears on the album of the same name.
• Rock band Thrice recorded a song called The Melting Point Of Wax about Icarus, which can be found on their 2003 album The Artist In The Ambulance.
• The song Just a man by the band Faith No More features a reference to the myth of Icarus.
• The rock band Kansas has recorded three songs referencing Icarus. Their 1975 album Masque contains a song "Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel)" which relates the story of the flight of Icarus to a desire to leave the world for good and "come down no more." In 2000 they recorded a song called "Icarus II" on their Somewhere to Elsewhere album; this song recounts the thoughts of a wartime pilot who is scrambled early one morning, and when the battle goes badly, ultimately he gives his life to save his friends in his bomber (probably a B-17). Their well-known song Carry On Wayward Son, is also about Icarus, told from both Daedalus' and Icarus' point of view.
• In composer Adam Guettel's song cycle Myths and Hymns, there is a song about the rise and fall of Icarus, and references to it in other songs in the cycle.
• Jazz/rock group Ohm, fronted by former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland recorded an instrumental song "Icarus Falls" for their 2005 album Amino Acid Flashback.
• The Rush song "Bravado" mentions Icarus in the line "If we burn our wings flying too close to the sun"
• The Hopesfall song "Icarus" on their 2004 release A Types describes this tale in the chorus, which goes "Oh Icarus tempting fate again, altitude sickness setting in. Tradewinds bury fire from broken wings, into arms below the ocean."
• On the album 'Only Just Beginning' by Jason Webley, his song "Icarus" refers to this mythological story: "I bang my head for days against the walls inside this maze, I've never been too good at this kind of thing. I'm in here with my father, I'm just pacing but he's smarter; he's been building a fantastic set of wings. And like that I'm up and flying with the Labyrinth behind me, but I go too high, the sun is melting through the wax. It burns! It hurts! I tumble to the earth, and as I fall I feel myself relax."
• On the album Evolve by Ani DiFranco, her song "Icarus" uses the mythological story in the line "just like Icarus ascending, never intending to look back, nature's law and your tragic flaw, are vying to send you flying into the arms of another Venus fly trap". This is used to exemplify the tragedy one could face if they try to escape their problems instead of finding the strength to face them.
• Emperor's "An Elegy of Icaros," off of IX Equilibrium, is, as its title suggests, an elegy for Icarus.
• Trance producer Flutlicht created a song called "The Fall," documenting the death of Icarus
• The song Wax by The One AM Radio makes reference to the story of Icarus
• The song "Lacrimosa" by Regina Spektor briefly references Icarus
• The song "Austin to El Paso" by Ghost Mice has a stanza referencing the fall of Icarus
• On Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force album, there was an instrumental track called "Icarus' Dream Suite"
• In 1974 Led Zeppelin launched their own record label known as "Swan Song" the label of the record logo was an image of the Greek God Apollo, but it often misinterpreted and referred to as 'Icarus'
• Liam Lynch makes reference to Icarus in "Wax Wings" from his album "EEL"
• "Blinded" by Third Eye Blind mentions Icarus in the last verse; "Icarus is a not a t-shirt, nor a swan song, no, he is born again..."
• Goth Band "The Crüxshadows" has an unlyricised song "Daedelus Flight...Icarus Falls"
• Jars Of Clay refers to Icarus in their song "Worlds Apart"-- "Soaring on the wings of selfish pride, I flew too high and like Icarus I collide with a world I try so hard to leave behind"
• Argentine band Soda Stereo makes reference to Icarus in their song "En la ciudad de la furia"
• The song "Icarus Decimated" by metal band Eyes of the Betrayer uses Icarus and his life as a metaphor pertaining to how modern-day teenagers rebel from their parents, and how it can tend to bring disastrous consequences.
• The Perfect Machines have a song named after the Mythological Character "Icarus"
• Angra have a song entitled "Metal Icarus", which seems to be based strongly upon the myth.
• Marillion's "The Great Escape" a song off the 1994 album Brave refers to Icarus in the lyric "A bridge is not a high place, The fifty-second floor, Icarus would know, A mountain isn't far to fall."
• It Dies Today has a song entitled "A Romance by the Wings Of Icarus". It can be found on their EP, Forever Scorned
• Nine Inch Nails alludes to this myth in the song "Somewhat Damaged" within the lyric "so impressed with all you do, tried so hard to be like you, flew too high and burnt the wing, lost my faith in everything."
• In Hot Chip's 2006 single "Boy From School"'s video clip, an art project scene is created, appearing to have a grecian/roman mythological basis (including some kind of Titan or monster). Whilst the scene does not depict the Icarus story per se, it does contain a winged person flying towards the sun.
• Rock band Alesana has released an album entitled On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax, referencing Icarus. The first track on the album is titled "Icarus". The only lyrics are as follows: "...black engulfs the dying light as he falls on frail wings of vanity and wax.."
• Composer Eugene Kurtz wrote a solo flute work for Craig Goodman, "Icare", published by Les Editions Jobert, Paris.
• Post hardcore band Thrice have a song entitled "The Melting Point of Wax" which strongly alludes to the story of Icarus
• Goth project black tape for a blue girl has a song entitled "For You Will Burn Your Wings upon the Sun" on their 1996 album remnants of a deeper purity.
• Japanese rock band Pierrot sings about the legend of Icarus in their song Ikarossu, released on the album Finale.
• Rock band from Maryland by the name of Clutch mentions Daedalus and speaks of Icarus in their song Mercury. "Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling."

[edit] Modern dramatic and cinematic references

• In the film Apt Pupil (film), there is a graduation speech which references the story of Icarus: we are given wings and we should fly in a noble direction with those wings instead of taking them for granted.
• Books by Sara Douglass feature a race with wings, known as the Icarii (plural for Icarus).
• Actor and playwright Sam Shepard titled a one-act play "Icarus's Mother", with thematic content of a plane crashing for an unknown reason and a group of picnic-goers witnessing the event before a fireworks show.
• In the film 24 Hour Party People, Tony Wilson (as played by Steve Coogan) suggests that his story is akin to the story of Icarus, characteristically adding "If you know who that is, that's great; if not it doesn't matter...but you should probably read more."
• In an episode of The Monkees, Peter Tork tries to dissuade Davy Jones's grandfather from taking him back to England, as they approach their waiting airplane. Dressed in a quasi-Greek costume with feathers, Tork flaps his arms and declares "Don't fly! Don't fly! If you fly too close to the sun, your wings'll melt!"
• In the James Bond movie Die Another Day, Gustav Graves's superweapon is named the Icarus Satellite. It is a huge articifial satellite capable of harnessing solar energy and focusing it on any part of the world he wished.
• In the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, the Icarus is the ship on which the astronauts who are protagonists in the film begin their journey, the ship's name foreshadowing the fate of the crew.
• In the television series Babylon 5, the Icarus is a ship sent on an archaeological dig to a planet in the previously unexplored galactic rim by the Earth corporation InterPlanetary Expeditions. The crew of the ship, seeking advanced alien technologies, awaken a malevolent alien race instead.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation's second season saw an episode entitled The Icarus Factor; the main story involved Commander William T. Riker being briefed by his estranged father on a possible deep space command.
• In the anime and manga Fullmetal Alchemist, the protagonist Edward Elric makes a reference to Icarus while talking about bringing humans back to life.
• In Marvel Comics Icarus is a mutant of the New Mutants, Vol. 2/New X-Men: Academy X.
• The Man Who Fell To Earth, a 1976 (sci-fi/drama), became a cult classic. David Bowie plays an alien disguised as a human who is put on earth to find a way to ship water back to his dying planet.
• Poet Jack Gilbert wrote a poem about the end of a marriage using the story of Icarus as a metaphor for the triumph of the relationship before it died. The poem is called "Failing and Flying". Read the poem on www.poets.org.
• Varekai, a Cirque du Soleil show, currently touring, is about Icarus, and what would have happened if he had fallen into a forest instead of the ocean.
• In the television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, Daedalus is the name of one of Earth's ships - often used as a transport between Stargate Command on Earth and the Atlantis outpost in the Pagasus galaxy.
• In the television series Seinfeld, George alludes to Icarus after failing to combine sexual activity with eating food and television viewing, saying that "he flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami."
• In the television series The Cosby Show, Theo discovers his dyslexia after his poor perfomance on a test on the story of Icarus. When his parents say he is overconfident, Theo says as he exits, "Icarus's father didn't support him either. He just let Icarus's wax wings melt and let Icarus fall right in the ocean."
• Thrice's 'The Artist In The Ambulance' features a song called 'The Melting Point Of Wax' based on the Icarus myth. The overall concept is a metaphor for following ones dreams - 'How can I/ Know limits from lies/If I never try?'
• Daydreams & Nightmares, a theatrical aerial production company in Baltimore Maryland, produced an experimental aerial theatre work based on the myth of Icarus, his wings, and an active volcano. Kel Millionie designed and performed the Icarus role with ensomble cast by Pete Pegulise, Mandy Tenly, John Flannery, and Eric Robinson.
• In the episode "3.02 Cane and Able" of House, Dr. James Wilson tells Dr. Gregory House that he withheld the knowledge that House's wild guess in the first episode cured the patient. He cited his reasoning because he "was worried [House's] wings would melt." A metaphor implying that Wilson is Daedalus and House is Icarus.
• On the Elevator of Death, Levitation Machine episode of MythBusters, when Adam's thrust mechanism for his hovercraft failed, he tried using pizza boxes as wings and dejectedly commented "We're at the Icarus part of the evening: I think you know what happened to Icarus". Indeed, the plan failed.
• On the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the plot of the episode "High and Low," tenth episode of the third season, parallels the story of Icarus; a young man (with a tattoo of Icarus, called "The Chosen One") is killed after falling from his aerofoil because of his arrogant oneupmanship with another young man bearing a tattoo of the Three Furies.
• In the film by Daren Afronofsky π (film), It is Sol Robeson's pet fish who he introduces as being the "renegade" just like his pupil Max (Star Character).
• In Suzan-Lori Parks' 1986 play Imperceptible Mutabilities, the character Mr. Sergeant Smith and others reference the "boy fallin out thuh sky. On fire. ...They say he was flyin too close to thuh sun" (The America Play and Other Works 71).

[edit] Computer game references

• In Deus Ex, a video game released in 2000, Icarus is the name of an antagonistic AI entity. The game also has AI entities named Daedalus and Helios.
• In Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, Icarus is one of the "Boss" characters
• In Kid Icarus, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, you control a character based on Icarus named Pit.
• In Toe Jam and Earl III: Mission to Earth, there is a power up called "Icarus Wings." They allow the player character to fly. It first appeared in the original Toe Jam and Earl as a present.
• In Quake II Icarus are a kind of airborn Strogg.
• In the game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, the character can find scrolls of "Icarian Flight" which boosts the player's Jump attribute astronomically high for a short duration, after which they fall to the ground, and most likely die.
• In the game The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Link receives an item called "Icarus Wings" that allow him to fly short distances.
• In the MMORPG MapleStory, Icarus is an NPC that wants to fly. He gives the player a series of quests in order to achieve his dream of flying.
• In the strategy game "Sacrifice" Ikarus are an airborne creature available to the god James.
• In the game Worms 4 a player can get an Icarus Potion which allows them to fly.

[edit] Fictional Literature References

• In Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama the chapter Icarus describes a crash landing of a flying craft which was damaged after visiting the far end of the world.
• Robert Ludlum's The Icarus Agenda is about a politician whose past causes him to rise to the position of US Vice-President too quickly.
• In the very first chapter of the manga Fullmetal Alchemist the story of Ikaros is refered to by Edward, although not mentioning Ikaros by name.

[edit] External links

• Daedalvs et Icarvs - original Latin text by Ovid (broken link?)
• [3] - Daedalus and Icarus - English translation of Ovid's prose