What is the meaning of the story of Icarus?

Answer

Icarus/ Ίκαρος and his father Daedalus/ Δαίδαλος the famous Greek [Athenian] architect and inventor were invited by King Minos of Crete in order to prepare a prison for the son of Minos' wife Μινώταυρος and guarantee that would not be able to escape and place at risk the Minos reign.

Daedalus delivered the Labyrinth/ Λαβύρινθος that even Daedalus could not escape from it.

King Minos feared that Daedalus could reveal his secret and instead of letting them free kept them under his surveillance and custody.

Daedalus prepared two pairs of wings for their escape consisted of bird's feathers and wax. He instructed Icarus to avoid flying too close to the sun or too close to the sea for a safe flight.

Unfortunately Icarus did not fly as instructed and when he was too close to the sun he lost the feathers of his wings and as result he went down to the sea near by an island that bears his name ever since.

The island's name is Icaria/ Ικαρία and the sea is called Icarian sea/ Ικάριον Πέλαγος.

The myth has at least three levels of reading from the simple one of disobeying to instructions of those who know better is dangerous, the second is that someone may not be careless about powers/ dangers not evaluated properly and the third the ways of an initiated person have a great risk of failure that sometimes the result is death.

Answer

The flight of Icarus could be interpreted as a lesson in the value of moderation. The danger in flying "too high" (i.e. melting of the wax wings) or in flying "too low" (i.e. weighting down the wings by sea-water spray) were advocations for one to respect one's limits and to act accordingly.

First answer by Schoolgirl101. Last edit by Silkiten. Contributor trust: 3 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 16 [recommend question]