The Myth of Icarus and Daedalus - Amy Adkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2QPQnuaGk
Phoemela Crystal G. Tumala
ELEMENTS OF A GOOD SHORT STORY
Characterize the character/s. Discuss his
good and bad traits using specific
examples from the text.
What could have caused him to do/ act
that way?
What are the conflicts in the story? Did
this/these ruin or cause suffering in
someone’s life in the story? In what
way/s?
Who do you blame for because of what
happened?
What should have been done instead?
What is the climax and the denouement in
Listening Text
The Myth of Icarus and Daedalus
Icarus, son of Daedalus, is a round character since he
showcased a complex and realistic representation of
human traits. Just like all of us, humans, we do get carried
away by certain ecstatic moments in our lives. Icarus,
upon flying, made him feel like he was a God and so, he
ignore the warning of his father not to fly too close to the
sun which led to his tragic downfall.
On the other hand, Daedalus is the main and static
character of the story because his trait remained constant
throughout the story. He was a genius and highly skilled
craftsman but he tend to forget that innovations brought
by his work have their own limits because of his innate
personality – egotistical and overly ambitious. It is also
notable that he is a jealous man since he killed his
nephew, worrying that he is superior in craftmanship than
him.
Lastly, King Minos can be considered a flat character as he
exhibited few traits and has only a minor role in this story.
One significant trait of him was being easily swayed by
emotions, particularly anger upon Daedalus’ sin of
perversion to the point where he also punished an
innocent child, Minotaur.
Two types of conflict are seen throughout the story. The
first is man vs. circumstances and man vs. himself. When
Daedalus was banished from Athens, it was a battle in
himself in which he lose for did not control his jealousy
and decided to kill his nephew. As a punishment,
circumstances brought him to Crete where another
conflict will rise. When decided to defy the law of the
Gods and enabled dreadful perversion between a bull and
the king’s wife, it was also a conflict with himself since he
does not know the limits of his crafts and let his ego
decides more than rationality. The circumstances brought
him to be imprisoned along with his son to the top of the
tallest tower in Crete. There, when they decided to
escape, his son, Icarus, lost a battle with himself as he got
carried away when they are flying and get by too close to
the sun.
The first conflict cost a life. Brought by jealousy, Daedalus
murdered his nephew. Brought by his ambitions to defy
the will of the Gods, he also had his son to be imprisoned
in the tower which led to their dangerous escape plan and
Icarus’s death. For this, Daedalus was to blame for the
circumstances that had them to be imprisoned. Yet, it was
Icarus’s mistake to not follow his father’s precautions and
let his emotions overtake him.
Daedalus should not ever take a life. He should have not
defied the laws of God. Meanwhile, Icarus should have
listened to his father’s warning since he meant it for his
safety.
The story peaked when Icarus decided to disregard his
the text? Why did you say so?
Examine your own thoughts and views
about the end result of the story. What
values or feelings in you were invoked?
What realizations did you have about
these literatures?
father’s precaution of not flying too close to the sun. The
wax on his wings was melted by the heat of the sun, it was
dismantled and from there, he met his tragic fall from the
sky. I considered this as the climax because it was when
my emotions are at their peak compared to other parts of
the story. The denouement was after this scene where
lessons are brought up and the aftermath of each
character’s decisions took its proper place.
I was shocked at the fate of Icarus and I can only imagine
the horror of his father while watching his son fall to his
death. I felt gloomy when the story ended of Daedalus’
regrets, facing the consequences of his past actions. For
me, there is no more tragic way to end a story than by
having a character full of regrets.
The myth of Icarus and Daedalus may be short but it was
packed with lessons which can be reflected into our own
lives. First, ego is the number one enemy of our lives. Just
like Daedalus, when we let our ego overtake our
rationality, it may take severe irreversible repercussions,
just like him losing a son. Had he not defy laws of God or if
he had not killed his nephew due to jealousy, the tragic
death of Icarus would have been prevented.
At the end of the story, it was shown that he had realized
his actions through acts of regret – which as I have said
earlier, is the most tragic means of end the narrative of a
story. It had only affirmed my belief regarding taking
responsibility on my own actions – of thinking twice
before doing things so I do not regret it in the foreseeable
future.
We should always take warning signs to anything that we
do seriously. From the story, it was a matter of life and
death scenario but a good representation of what our life
can turn out if we always have our emotions decide for us.
It tells us to listen to those who care for us, in the story, it
was Daedalus who cared for his son, since their precaution
would not meant harm but safety.
Lastly, the precautions of his father can also be applied to
our ambitions. With the skills and resources that we have,
we should not aim for too low for our wings will just be
pulled down by the heavy water and also not too high for
our wings is not strong enough to overcome the heat of
the sun. Flying too close to the sun or too close to the sea
would only be our doom. The right equipment at the right
time is how we can freely fly with our wings.
Ayan by pina-frame ko pa