Daedalus and Icarus

 

In 1903 the Wright brothers invented the first successful airplane. Nothing would ever be the same as humanity had just learned to fly. This was a big deal. People had been obsessed with flying for centuries. Even before Leonardo da Vinci’s elaborate drawings of birds and flying machines, there were myths and stories of people flying in the sky. One of these stories was of Daedalus and Icarus, an ancient Greek myth famously recorded by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses. According to the story, Daedalus, a mythical inventor, created wings made of feathers and wax to escape from Crete where he and his son, Icarus, were held captive by King Minos. Icarus, however, ignored his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea where he met his end.