The Wings of Icarus
Icarus does not want to listen to his father's advice.
Read this Greek myth to find out the consequences we may face if we choose to ignore our parents.
The Wings of Icarus
Once upon a time on the island of Crete, there was a king whose name was Minos. He hired an inventor and architiect named Daedalos to work for him.
There are stories about Daedalos inventing all kinds of things, but he is especially supposed to have built the great Labyrinth for King Minos to keep the Minotaur in. After Daedalos built the Labyrinth, though, King Minos did not want him to be able to tell its secrets to anybody else, and so he kept Daedalos a prisoner in a tall tower, with only his young son Icarus.
Now Daedalos and Icarus did not like being prisoners, and so Daedalos began to think about how they could get away. He watched birds flying and thought how free they were, and he decided to make wings for himself and Icarus.
Daedalos and Icarus made the wings out of bird feathers and wax and they tied the wings to each other. Daedalos warned his son to be careful when he was flying. If he went too close to the sea, he might fall in if the wings get wet from the sea spray. If Icarus flew too high, the heat from the sun would melt the wax on the wings, and he would plunge to his death into the sea. Icarus promised to be careful.
So they set off for freedom. At first everything went well, but after a little while Icarus got tired of just flying in a straight line. He began to try to do tricks and go up and down. His father warned him to save his energy for the long trip, but Icarus ignored him. As Icarus rose higher and higher, the warmth of the sun felt so good that he couldn't stop. Suddenly Icarus realized that his wings were melting and the feathers were falling off of his wings. He tried to fly lower, but it was too late. His wings came apart, and he fell down, down, down into the sea.
Daedalus who was flying ahead of his son landed safely on the shore. As he turned he realized that his son was missing. Frantically we took flight, flying back the way he had come. He spent a long time searching. Finally Daedalos found a spot upon the sea with the remains of Icarus's wings. Sadly, his son had drown .