Others find that first job that pays well and aimlessly latch onto it without questioning their own purpose. They’ve accomplished everything their parents and society expected of them. Many people stop striving when they get out of high school or college. With so much more at our disposal than any other civilization in history, we do far less to capitalize on the opportunities available to us. With it, you can add up your time on Instagram or Facebook or Snapchat or whatever App you waste your time on and objectively see how much of your life in hours and minutes you’ve flushed down the drain. How many dreams have I sunk through the hours spent flooding my brain with useless information? How many goals have I not reached because I’m binge watching Netflix, or seeking approval on Instagram? Or droning through my Facebook Newsfeed? If you own an iPhone, I’d encourage you to go to Settings>Battery and scroll to Battery Usage. Next to Last 24 Hours and Last 7 Days, select the clock icon to display the time spent on each app, and then ask yourself: Not to allow the feathers to become wet from the sea through inaction. “If low, the surges wet your flagging plumes…”ĭaedalus’ first piece of advice is not to fly too low. The first two deal with the disposition of his journey. His guidance touches on three separate ideas. Specifically, the wisdom of Daedalus is of the utmost importance. In an age where the self-help aisle of the bookstore is ever expanding, I find the story of Icarus a useful anecdote on how to live well. But have men died because of their hubris? You bet they have. In other words, did a man die because his wings melted after flying too close to the sun? Probably not. Yes, the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, and the specifics of the narrative are fantasy, but the underlying threads of meaning are some of the most absolute Truths that a person can grow to understand. Mythological stories served a societal purpose in that the word myth should not be seen as synonymous with fiction. Rules for the flight, and mark the pathless way.Īnd with those final words from his father, Icarus took flight, where his wax wings would be melted by the sun from him not heeding his father’s wisdom. Steer between both: nor to the northern skies, If high, the sun the melting wax consumes If low, the surges wet your flagging plumes Daedalus tried his wings first, but before attempting to escape the island, he instructed his son: The Athenian, being the intelligent man that he was, fashioned two pairs of wings made from wax and feathers so the two might escape the inevitably gruesome death at the hands of the Minotaur. For this, Daedalus and his son Icarus were themselves imprisoned within the Labyrinth. When the King imprisoned the great hero Theseus in the Labyrinth to be killed by the Minotaur, Daedalus helped Theseus escape by giving him a special spool of string. Daedalus, you see, had built an unsolvable labyrinth to contain a beast called the Minotaur for the King of Crete near the King’s palace in Knossos. It tells of a talented Athenian craftsman named Daedalus who was trapped on the island of Crete with his son Icarus. He never took them down Daedalus would never fly again.The tale of Icarus and his wings of wax is one of the more famous classical myths. He hung up his wings to the god as an offering. The inventor would later travel safely to Sicily, where he would build a temple to Apollo.
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Daedalus named the land Icaria, in memory of his son. Daedalus lamented the death of his child and buried his body in the nearby land. He would cry out “Icarus, Icarus where are you?!” He finally found his body floating among the waves, feathers strewn about the surf. He splashed into the sea and drowned.ĭaedalus looked for Icarus diligently. He screamed in fear as he tried to fly away, yet his wings were no longer capable of flight. Soon, the wings disintegrated entirely and Icarus plummeted down through the air. True to his father’s predictions, Icarus flew too high and the heat from the sun began to melt the wax holding the feathers in place.
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However, Icarus eventually would leave the guidance of his father and begin to fly higher and higher as if to reach heaven. All the while they were careful not to fly too low or too high. They passed the islands of Samos and Delos and eventually flew past Lebynthos. The two flying men traveled at peace for some time. Mourning for Icarus, painting by Herbert James Draper