1st Half of Myth & Legend of Icarus

According to classical Greek Myth & Legend of Icarus, Daedalus was a master craftsman who was most famously responsible for creating the Labyrinth on Crete, which contained the Minotaur. Because of his knowledge of the Labyrinth, King Minos of Crete, held him and his son captive up in a tower to prevent him from spreading that knowledge.  

• The Labyrinths often serve as metaphors for personal journeys into the self and back into the world. In a labyrinth, there is one path to the center, and that same path leads you out. You make the choice to enter the path and start a journey.
• The Minotaur represents the primal fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is deeply-seated in the human psyche.

Daedalus therefore set about building himself and his young son Icarus sets of wings by tying feathers together, securing them at their centre, then at their bases using beeswax so that they could fly and escape from the island. Over the centuries one half of the this tale has been idealized and the second half almost forgotten. We're only told the tis part of where Icarus ignored his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun.

“Don't fly too close to the sun”

His wings melted and he fell to his death and his father left in grief. The story of Icarus focuses on referencing to recklessness and defiance of his own limitations and seeking his own pleasures without understanding the consequences.

2nd Half, The Forgotten Lesson of Myth & Legend of Icarus

The part left out of this modern myth is when the father and son duo prepared to make their great escape from Crete. Daedalus specifically warned Icarus that,

"you should not fly too low, or the moisture from the sea would soak the feathers, nor too high, or the heat of the sun would melt the beeswax and the wings would disintegrate."

They flew off, flying in middle, a balanced approach and were making good progress passing several islands when Icarus became over-confident and soared upwards towards the sun. This melted the beeswax as Daedalus had warned, Icarus’ wings fell apart, he plummeted down to earth near what has became known as Icaria, an island ten miles southwest of Samos, in the northern Aegean Sea.

Video of the Myth & Death of Icarus

Storyline of the death and downfall of Icarus and the grief of Daedalus told through oil paintings

Summary of Myth & Legend of Icarus

The tragic death of Icarus is a popular story for artists throughout the centuries. For human behaviour specialist it is a reminder of staying equilbrated in the hear and mind. This balanced approach to life isn't often sold as the masses want a quick fix, a dopamine rush. The real work takes times, and an innovative spirit like Daedalus to even dare to reinvent and pursue what life could be in the phase. But embracing and understanding the natural laws of humans and mother nature we open ourselves to see another layer of what this universe and life has to offer.

The story of Icarus brings together several lessons;

• The personal journeys into the self and back into the world is a self initated one represented by the metaphor within the Labyrinths. The one path is the center, to find true balance and understanding.
• The primal fear of death and the unknown is represented by the Minotaur and is deeply-seated in the human psyche. Carrying on and moving forward through what seems like the most devastating challenges of life.
• the tendency of humans beings to become overambitious to the point self destructive behaviour leading to failure, disaster and death
• The Icarus syndrome of when  leaders initiate overly ambitious projects that fail and causing harm to themselves and others in the process. This is just the first part and the forgotten lesson...the importance of centred and balanced perceptions towards long term thinking and creating
• The power of planning and preparation in mitigating when the inevitable down sides occur, and that what the team and community at Griefopedia are here to do. Get you to through that stage.

There are several different layers when dealing with death. The initial is addressing the grief & loss, then the shame & guilt and the underlying infatuation &/or resentment.  The complicated layer is reasoning & purpose, but when that occurs we experience the most powerful forces of love and gratitude for what is.  

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