ICARUS: The Tragic Myth the Ancient Greeks Taught to their Children

[00:00:00]While Thesius sailed home to Athens with Ariadne at his side, King Minos stood in the entrance to his labyrinth staring into the darkness. The Minotaur was dead. The Athenian tributes had escaped and his daughter Ariadne had fled with them, betraying her own father. But someone else had betrayed him, too.

[00:00:22]"Bring me Dedelus," Minus commanded. The guards knew better than to hesitate and immediately began their search. Dedelus was the greatest architect and inventor Greece had ever known. Able to craft mechanisms of such complexity that they seemed like magic. When Minus had needed a prison for the Minotaur, something inescapable for both the monster and the tribute sent to feed it, he had turned to Dedelus. The master craftsman had designed the labyrinth beneath the palace, a maze of twisting passages and false paths that stretched for miles in every direction. It was his masterpiece, a structure so ingenious that anyone who entered would be lost within minutes.

[00:01:06]For years the structure had worked exactly as intended. None who entered ever escaped. That is until Thesius arrived.

[00:01:16]When the guards brought Dedelus before him, Minus could barely contain his anger. You told me you had built a labyrinth that no one could escape. And yet that Athenian boy defeated it with a ball of string. I have half a mind to execute you here and be done with it. My lord, Titilus pleaded, the design was flawless, is still flawless. Please, I will find a way to make sure this cannot happen again. But Minos scared little for his excuses. Gods, the king said, take him and his son to the lowest level of the labyrinth. Let the master craftsman see if he can escape his own creation.

[00:01:58]They seized the inventor's son from his workshop and dragged them both into the darkness below. "Do not worry, Icarus."

[00:02:06]Dedelus reassured his son as they walked. "I will find a way to get us out of here. Just you wait." Icarus nodded.

[00:02:14]A boy of 14, he had spent his entire life marveling at his father's creations, and had complete faith that he would somehow get them both out of this. The guards led them deeper and deeper, going further than the tributes had ever gone, past the chamber where the Minotaur had died, and into passages that twisted back on themselves like coiled serpents. Finally, they cut the rope they'd been using to mark their path and left father and son alone in the darkness.

[00:02:45]For days, Dedelus tried everything. He knew the principles of his design, understood how the passages should connect, but his design was too good, the labyrinth too vast and complex for even its creator to escape. They rationed what little food the guards had left them, drinking water that dripped from the stone walls, with hope beginning to fade. Icarus tried to stay strong, but Dedelus could see the fear growing in his son's eyes. They were going to die down here, trapped in the dark, like the tributes who had come before them. It was Icarus who finally said what they were both thinking.

[00:03:27]Father, we're not going to find the way out, are we? Dedelus sank against a wall, his pride finally breaking. His greatest achievement had become his tomb. Then he looked up at a shaft far above, where light filtered down, where birds nested in the high places of the labyrinth. He watched one take flight, disappearing into the brightness far above. "You are right," he said slowly.

[00:03:57]We cannot find our way out through the passages.

[00:04:01]But perhaps we do not need to. He stood, new energy in his voice. The only way out is up. Over the following days, they gathered materials, feathers that had fallen from where birds nested above, wax from the candles that had been left burning in wall sconces. Dedelus worked with desperation, his clever hands weaving frames from the reeds that grew from cracks in the floor and binding feathers with the wax. Icarus watched in wonder as two great wings took shape.

[00:04:35]Will they really work? They will, Dedelus said. But you must listen to me, Icorus. These wings are delicate, only held together with wax. If you fly too high, the sun will melt it and the feathers will come loose. If you fly too low, the sea spray will soak the feathers and weigh them down. You must stay close to me. You must fly the middle path. Do you understand? I understand, father, Icarus said eagerly.

[00:05:05]Promise me, Dedelus said, his expression grave. Promise you will be careful. I promise. When both sets of wings were complete, they strapped them on and stood beneath one of the vertical shafts. Dedelus went first, testing the wings with careful movements, feeling the air catch beneath them. Then, with powerful strokes, he rose up through the shaft, climbing toward the light. Icarus followed, his heart pounding with excitement and fear. They emerged into brilliant sunlight, bursting free from the labyrinth into the open sky above Cree. They were free, finally feeling they could breathe again after days in the damp corridors under the earth.

[00:05:50]Dedelus turned toward the open sea, and Icarus followed. Side by side they flew, father and son, leaving the island of Cree behind, the Mediterranean stretching out in endless blue beneath them. Icarus had never felt anything like it, the wind rushing past him, the wings responding to his every movement.

[00:06:10]She was flying, actually flying, like the birds, like the gods. The fear and despair of the labyrinth now seemed like a distant dream. "STAY CLOSE," Dedelus called over the wind. But Icarus barely heard him. He was climbing higher, testing the wings, seeing how fast he could rise. The higher he went, the lighter he felt. The sun was warm on his face, welcoming him upward. "Icorus!"

[00:06:39]came a cry from FAR BELOW. NOT SO HIGH.

[00:06:43]BUT HIS FATHER'S VOICE was faint now.

[00:06:45]The boy laughed with pure joy, climbing toward the sun, feeling invincible, like he could touch the sky itself.

[00:06:53]That's when he felt something warm dripping onto his arms. He looked down and saw wax melting in the sun's heat.

[00:07:02]Feathers were starting to come loose and drift away in the wind. Father," he called out, his voice suddenly small.

[00:07:10]More feathers fell away, then more. The wings were collapsing. The wax that held them together now running like water.

[00:07:17]Icarus beat them frantically, but they no longer caught the air. "Father," he cried out, but there was no answer. The wings tore apart completely, and Icarus plummeted toward the sea below, his scream lost in the rushing wind. Dedelus turned just in time to see his son hit the water, the splash white against the blue, and then nothing.

[00:07:41]The master craftsman descended slowly, circling the spot where his son had fallen. He landed on a nearby island and searched the shores, sobbing, when he finally found Icarus's body washed up on the rocks.

[00:07:57]He buried him there on that desolate shore, and the island would ever after be called in memory of the boy who had flown too close to the sun.

[00:08:10]Dedelus would live for many more years, his genius still sought after by kings and heroes, but he never built anything as ambitious as the labyrinth again. The joy had gone from his work. Every mechanism he created, every design he perfected was a reminder of what his cleverness had cost him.

[00:08:36]I've been David Renul for Deep Dive History. Thank you for watching and see you next time. Goodbye.