Question

The painting and the story are both based on the Greek myth of the skilled craftsman Daedalus and his son Icarus. Compare how this myth is portrayed in the painting and in the text. Is the mood similar or different? How do the painter and author create these moods?

Answer 1

Daedalus and Icarus is the story of a Greek father and son who were imprisoned in a tower. To escape, Daedalus constructs two sets of wax wings. They fly out of the tower and over the ocean back home. Daedalus warns his son Icarus that he should not fly too far up or he will fly too close to the sun and the heat will melt his wax wings. Icarus refuses to listen and flies higher and higher over the sea. Soon his wax wings melt from the sun and he crashes into the sea and drowns. Daedalus has to watch his son drown knowing there he could have done. This greek legend is often used as a fable, the moral being always listen to the advice of your elders/ wise advice.