Icarus

“ Now he shouts, now he sings in the rapture of his wings, And his great heart burns intenser with the strength of his desire, As he circles like a swallow, wheeling, flaming, gyre on gyre. Gazing straight at the sun, half his pilgrimage is done, And he staggers for a moment, hurries on, reels backward, swerves In a rain of scattered feathers as he falls in broken curves. Icarus, Icarus, though the end is piteous, Yet forever, yea, forever we shall see thee rising thus, See the first supernal glory, not the ruin hideous. ”

“ His father cried, "Icarus, Icarus, where are you?" At last he saw the feathers floating on the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he buried the body and called the land Icaria in memory of his child. Daedalus arrived safe in Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo, and hung up his wings, an offering to the god. ”

“ Icarus had great faith in his father and entreated him to find some way by which they might elude the guards and begin their life anew on some other island. So Daedalous forgot his lesson of the Labyrinth and set about making wings for himself and Icarus.
The wings were as false as the maze had been crooked. Daedalous set the boy to gathering all the feathers he could find that the sea birds and the birds of the forest had dropped. Icarus brought his hands full of these; he was very proud of his father and had always longed to be old enough to help him in his work. ”

“ Farmers stopped plowing, and cattle ran round in the field. Hunters shot arrows as Daedalus and Icarus flew along over their heads. Then they flew over a great lake.
Icarus forgot the directions of his father and [405] flew higher and higher. “Do not fly so high, Icarus,” called out his father, “it is dangerous. You are too young to trust yourself to such high places.”
But Icarus called back, “I can take care of myself,” and flew on higher and higher. At last he came close to the sun, and all the wax melted off his feathers and they began to drop off. ”

“ Towards Sicily he and his father bent their course, and when they saw the beautiful island afar off lying like a gem in the sea, Apollo made the waves in which it lay, for it a fitting setting. With a cry of joy Icarus marked the sun's rays paint the chill water, and Apollo looked down at the great white-winged bird, a snowy swan with the face and form of a beautiful boy, who sped exulting onwards, while a clumsier thing, with wings of darker hue, followed less quickly, in the same line of flight. ”

“ Their great vans beat the cloven air, like eagles they mount up, Motes in the wine of morning, specks in a crystal cup, And lest his wings should melt apace old Daedalus flies low, But Icarus beats up, beats up, he goes where lightnings go. He cares no more for warnings, he rushes through the sky, Braving the crags of ether, daring the gods on high, Black 'gainst the crimson sunset, golden o'er cloudy snows, With all Adventure in his heart the first winged man arose. ”

“ We lumps of native iron last longer. I have seen the laurels and roses of the enthusiast, and it seems to me that I shall soon see his cypresses. It cannot be that I shall yield to this maiden soul! Fortune has borne him rapidly to a dizzy height; she will hurl him down as rapidly and dizzily. Will she first carry him over the ramparts of Rome?--Fly then, without effort, young Icarus, in the brightest sunshine. ”

“ The people were stirring in the towns, the countrymen were out in the fields after their beasts, and all the folk stayed in their morning tasks to gaze at these two strange creatures that floated overhead. "It is Dædalus and his son," they cried. "They have become gods."
Minos in his palace was told of the strange spectacle. From his terrace he watched in impotent wrath the two dark specks far out to sea, that thus escaped him.
At first Icarus kept close to his father, but soon he had lost all sense of danger, and with the reckless wantonness of youth, determined to go his own way. ”

“ Now Icarus used formerly to be called the Fishy Icarus, from the number of fish around it; just as the Echinades had their name from the sea-urchins, and the promontory Sepias from the number of cuttle-fish which are taken near it. And in like manner the Lagussæ islands are so called from λαγὼς, a hare, as being full of hares. And other islands are called Phycussæ, and Lopadussæ, for similar reasons. And according to Eparchides, the vine which produces the Icarian Pramnian wine, is called by the strangers the Holy vine, and by the people of Œnoe the Dionysiac vine. ”

“ Our picture illustrates this point in the story. Dædalus has just fastened the wings upon his son and is giving the final directions. The old man's face is full of anxiety, as he implores the lad not to fly too high. Icarus listens to the advice with a shade of impatience, pouting a little, like a wilful child who chafes under restraint. He points forward, as if to show that he understands his orders. Already the slender figure is poised for flight; he is eager to be off. In another moment he will rise into the air, dropping his garment as he ascends. ”

“ The island was devoted to the use of wild goats and stags, which were allowed to range at large as being dedicated to Artemis. It was unlawful to chase them unless any one wished to offer sacrifice to the goddess; and for this purpose alone it was lawful to chase them. Aristobulus says that Alexander ordered this island to be called Icarus, after the island so named in the Aegean Sea, [4] on which, as the report goes, Icarus, son of Daedalus fell, when the wax, by which the wings had been fastened to him, melted. ”

“ They hung soft and limp, and down he came headlong into the sea.
“It’s quite clear that one must think of something stronger than wax,” thought Dædalus, as he saw Icarus sink and drown. “Well—I’ve lost my son, but I’ve gained a wrinkle.” Taking care to fly as low as he could, he himself reached the island of Sicily, where he set up another forge, found another king to keep him going, and invented so many wonderful things that to this very day nobody knows what they were. ”

“ Pretty soon, however, the heat
of the sun began to melt the wax with which the boy's
wings were fastened. He felt himself sinking through the
air; the wings had become loosened from his shoulders.
He screamed to his father, but it was too late. Dædalus 15
turned just in time to see Icarus fall headlong into the
waves. The water was very deep there, and the skill of
the wonderful artisan could not save his child. He could
only look with sorrowing eyes at the unpitying sea, and
fly on alone to distant Sicily. ”

“ The solitude of the most sublime idealist is broken in upon by other people’s faces; he sees a look in their eyes that corresponds to something in his own heart; there comes a tone in their voices which convicts him of a startling weakness for his fellow-creatures. While he is hymning the ego and commercing with God and the universe, a woman goes below his window; and at the turn of her skirt, or the colour of her eyes, Icarus is recalled from heaven by the run. ”

“ This Dædalus was persecuted by Minos with the utmost severity, diligence, and inquiry; but he always found refuge and means of escaping. Lastly, endeavoring to teach his son Icarus the art of flying, the novice, trusting too much to his wings, fell from his towering flight, and was drowned in the sea.
Explanation.—The sense of the fable runs thus. It first denotes envy, which is continually upon the watch, and strangely prevails among excellent artificers; for no kind of people are observed to be more implacably and destructively envious to one another than these. ”

“ I warn you to travel in the middle course, Icarus, so that the waves
may not weigh down your wings if you go too low,
and so that the sun will not scorch your wings if you go too high.
Stay between both. ”

“ By Tantalus that stands in the midst of the floud Eridan, having before him a tree laden with pleasant apples, he being neverthelesse always thirsty and hungry, betokeneth the insatiable desires of covetous persons. The fables of Atreus, Thiestes, Tereus and Progne signifieth the wicked and abhominable facts wrought and attempted by mortall men. The fall of Icarus is an example to proud and arrogant persons, that weeneth to climb up to the heavens. ”

“ Again, the idea of a man’s strength residing in a certain hair or hairs is well known in ancient mythology; and although it is by no means peculiar to the Greeks, but is common to many peoples of the world, we may fairly suppose that the modern Greek has not borrowed it from outside, but has inherited it from those ancestors among whose myths was the story of Scylla and Nisus. Lastly, in the incident of the hero fastening wings to his arms with clay and his subsequent fall into the sea there are all the essentials of the legend of Icarus. ”

“ Illustrative. Dædalus: Chaucer, Hous of Fame, 409. Icarus: Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI, IV, vi; IV, vii; 3 Henry VI, V, vi; poem on Icarus by Bayard Taylor; travesty by J. G. Saxe.
In Art. Sculpture: Fig. 138, in text: Villa Albani, Rome; Canova's Dædalus and Icarus; painting by J. M. Vien; also by A. Pisano (Campanile, Florence) .
174. The descendants of Erichthonius are as follows:
Table M
Jupiter +— Tantalus
+— Pelops
+— Pittheus
| +— Æthra
| =Ægeus
| +— Theseus
| =Ariadne d. of Minos II
| =Antiope (Hippolyta)
| +— Hippolytus
| =Phædra d. ”

“ To begin at the top, the cords which carried the velarium, or awning, were strong enough for a rope-dancer, and were called by the name of catadromus; and we have an account in Suetonius, in the time of Nero, of an elephant being taught to walk upon these cords with a Roman cavalier on his back [200] . We also have an account of an actor trying to play the part of Icarus, and fly down from the top, falling dead at the feet of Nero, and sprinkling him with his blood [201] . ”

“ Idaria (Ίκαρία) , the demus, in which Icarius received Dionysus, who taught him the art of making wine. (For the legend, see Dict. of Biogr. and Myth., art Icarius.) The position of this demus and of Mount Icarius (Plin. iv. 7. s. 11) has been variously fixed by modern scholars. Leake has identified Icarius with Mount Argaliki, on the south side of the Marathonian plain, since Icarius is said by Statius (Theb. xi. 644) to have been slain in the Marathonian forest. But, as Ross has observed, Marathonian is here used only in the sense of Attican ”

“ The shepherds residing in the neighbourhood of Athens, having come into the vine-yard of Icarius, drank to such excess of the juice which was so temptingly presented to their sight, that, in the fury of their intoxication, they slew their host, and threw him into a deep well. {59}To expiate his crime, the Icarian games were instituted, and Mera the trusty dog of Icarius, having conducted Erigone to the fatal well, she hung herself in the first madness of her grief; while Mera, the faithful animal, overwhelmed with consternation at the loss of all he loved, died in sorrow. ”

“ No friend to bathe our wounds, or tears to shed
O’er the pale corse! the honours of the dead.”
“Oh bless’d Ulysses! (thus the king express’d
His sudden rapture) in thy consort bless’d!
Not more thy wisdom than her virtue shined;
Not more thy patience than her constant mind.
Icarius’ daughter, glory of the past,
And model to the future age, shall last:
The gods, to honour her fair fame, shall rise
(Their great reward) a poet in her praise. ”

“ About thirty furlongs from the city of Sparta, Icarius placed a statue of MODESTY, for the purpose of perpetuating the following incident:—Icarius having married his daughter to Ulysses, solicited his son-in-law to fix his household in Sparta, and remain there with his wife, to which Ulysses would not consent. ”

“ Ross, with greater probability, places Icaria in the west of Attica, because all the legends respecting the introduction of the worship of Dionysus into Attica represent it as coming from Thebes by way of Eleutherae, and because the Parian chronicle represents men from Icaria as instituting the first chorus at Athens, while the invention of comedy b assigned to the Megarian Susarion. ”

“ Icarios was slain by some drunken peasants, who buried the body under a tree. His daughter Erig′onē, searching for her father, was directed to the spot by the howling of Mæra, and when she discovered the body she hung herself for grief. Icarios became the constellation Boötēs, Erig′one the constellation Virgo, and Mæra the star Pro′cyon, which rises in July, a little before the Dog-star. ”

“ Nay, valiant though thou art, godlike Achilles, urge not on this wise the sons of the Achaeans to go fasting against Ilios to do battle with the men of Troy, since not for a short space shall the battle last when once the ranks of men are met and the god breathes might into either host. But bid thou the Achaeans by their swift ships to taste of food and wine; since therein is courage and strength. For there is no man that shall be able the whole day long until set of sun to fight against the foe, fasting the while from food ”

“ Son of Atreus, now verily are the Achaeans minded to make thee, O king, the most despised among all mortal men, nor will they fulfill the promise that they made to thee, while faring hitherward from Argos, the pasture-land of horses, that not until thou hadst sacked well-walled Ilios shouldest thou get thee home. For like little children or widow women do they wail each to the other in longing to return home. Verily there is toil enough to make a man return disheartened. ”