Daedalus and Icarus

CHARACTERIZATION:
Daedalus – Father of Icarus; A
craftsman and an architect; He
designed the Labyrinth for the
Minotaur in Crete; He aided
Theseus to escape from the
Labyrinth.
Icarus – Son of Daedalus;
He soared up exultingly
forgetting his father’s words
of caution; He drowned in
the sea which was later
named after himself.
King Minos – The powerful
ruler of Crete; Husband of
Pasiphae; Fell terribly mad
at Daedalus as he learned
it was through him that
Theseus had managed to
escape from the Labyrinth.
Queen
Pasiphae– Wife
of King Minos.
Minotaur –
The half-man,
half-bull
creature.
Theseus –The great
Athenian hero; Son of
King Aegeus; Fled to
Athens with Ariadne
after he had battered
the monster to death.
Princess Ariadne – The
daughter of King Minos and
Queen Pasiphae; Fell in love
with Theseus; She asked
Daedalus to help Theseus
find his way around the
Labyrinth.
King Caucalus–
The king of Sicily;
Received Daedalus
with kindness and
generosity.
SETTING:

Athens
Crete
Icarian
Sea
Icaria
Labyrinth
Daedalus, an Athenian
inventor, architect, and
sculptor, was banished and
escaped to Crete following
the deliberate murder of his
apprentice, Perdix, out of
jealousy.
In Crete, he was
recruited by the court of
King Minos. Among the
many services he
provided for the king, the
most famous task was the
building of a labyrinth.
The labyrinth was first
conceived to confine the
monstrous Minotaur, a part-
man, part-bull creature
created due to Minos' own
ingratitude towards the God
of the Seas, Poseidon.
 King Minos was fearful that
the talents of Daedalus would
escape his court. Moreover,
following an incident involving
Theseus and the Minotaur,
Daedalus fell out of favor with
the King, and subsequently,
was locked up.
 However, the King knew that
Daedalus would have his own
methods of escaping his own
architectural masterpiece, so
the exit of the labyrinth was
heavily guarded, and
Daedalus, along with his son,
was locked in a place of higher
altitude.
 In the small room of
confinement, there was a
window. Daedalus, having
observed the flight of birds
and received many visits
from his avian friends,
devised a plan.
Through wax and
feather, Daedalus
fashioned two pairs
of wings.
 Finally, on the day of
the escape, Daedalus
warned his son not to fly
too high near the sun, for
the heat of the sun could
easily melt the wax of the
wings.
However, upon
escaping, Icarus soars up
into the sky from giddiness.
Poor Daedalus could only
watch as his son dropped
into the sea, wingless.
PROCESSING
QUESTIONS
1. Who
hired
Daedalus?
As narrated in the
story, it was King
Minos who hired
Daedalus.
2. What did
Daedalus
design to hold
the Minotaur?
In order to hold
the Minotaur,
Daedalus
designed the
Labyrinth.
3. What did
Daedalus invent to
help him and
Icarus escape from
the Labyrinth?
When Daedalus and Icarus
were held in the labyrinth, he
invented the first contraption
that made human flight
possible. He made two pairs of
wings to allow him and his son
to escape from the island of
Crete and return to Athens.
 They did this by gathering
available materials such
as:
Pieces of wood
candle wax
bird feathers.
4. What did
he warn
Icarus not to
do?
He warn Icarus not to fly
too close to the sun, as it
would melt his wings and
not too close to the sea,
as it would dampen
them and make it hard
to fly.
5. What
happened
to Icarus?
As they were airborne,
Icarus fell under the
overpowering feeling of
ecstasy. This led him to
ignore everything his father
warned him about as he
continued to glide higher
closer to the sun.
The wax that held the entire
contraption together melted,
and Icarus fell to his death in the
ocean as his father helplessly
watches, and that is what
happened to Icarus. He
mistakenly allowed
overconfidence to take over for
which he paid for with his life.
6. Why did
Minos imprison
Daedalus in the
Labyrinth?
Daedalus and his son
Icarus were held as
captives in the labyrinth
because of his
participation in the
Queen’s plan to seduce
the King’s prized bull.
The birth of the Minotaur was
the last straw for King Minos who
saw Daedalus as a treacherous
man especially after being
accepted by the kingdom
despite his nefarious reputation
in the past with regards to his
nephew’s death.
7. Why did Minos
think that, if
Daedalus can’t find
his way out, “so
much the better”?
Minos thought that if Daedalus can't
find his way out of the labyrinth, "so
much better" because he was mad at
Daedalus for helping Theseus kill
Minotaur his stepson and leaving
together with Ariadne so he imprisoned
Daedalus and his son in the labyrinth
heavily guarded in order to punish and
make both of them suffer.
8. Minos tells
Icarus that the
plan is dangerous.
Why does he want
them to take this
risk?
In the Greek myth
'Daedalus and Icarus',
Daedalus is the one who
told his son Icarus that their
plan will be dangerous
before they started their
journey but he still insisted
and took the risk.
One of the reasons why he
took the risk in spite of the fact
that this plan may cause their
death is that, he wanted to
escape the Labyrinth since he
wanted his son to have a
better life and have a sense of
freedom.
9. Why did Daedalus
leave his wings on
the altar of Apollo?
Why wouldn't he
want to fly some
more?
Daedalus leave his
wings on the altar of
Apollo and wouldn't fly
some more because
there's no point in flying
anymore since his son,
Icarus, died.
His love one died so he
felt sad. So, why would
he fly some more if he is
all alone now?
Obviously, he will
just gave up on
escaping.