# Story of Daedalus and Icarus explained — Metamorphoses

> Chapter companion for Metamorphoses by Ovid.

## What happens

Daedalus, imprisoned by King Minos, crafts wings of feathers and wax for himself and his son Icarus to escape by air. Ignoring his father's warnings, Icarus flies too close to the sun, the wax melts, and he falls into the sea. Daedalus mourns and names the sea after him. The chapter also recounts Daedalus's earlier crime of killing his nephew Perdix out of envy, who was transformed into a partridge by Minerva.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Metamorphosis

Icarus's fall leads to his transformation into a namesake sea, and Perdix is literally transformed into a partridge by Minerva.

### Divine Power and Human Folly

Icarus's hubris in flying too high defies natural limits and results in divine punishment, while Daedalus's envy leads to murder and divine intervention.

### Art and Creativity

Daedalus's ingenious construction of wings exemplifies human creativity and craftsmanship, but also its potential for tragic consequences.

## Character check-ins

### Daedalus

The master craftsman who builds wings to escape Crete, loses his son Icarus, and is later received by King Cocalus in Sicily.

### Icarus

Daedalus's son who ignores his father's warnings, flies too high, and falls into the sea when the sun melts his wax wings.

### Minerva

Goddess who transforms Daedalus's nephew Perdix into a partridge after Daedalus throws him from a tower.

### Theseus

Mentioned as the hero who ended Athens's tribute to Minos and whose renown spreads through Greece.

## Key lines

> Though earth and water in subjection laid, O cruel Minos, thy dominion be, We'll go through air; for sure the air is free.

Daedalus declares that while Minos controls land and sea, the air remains ungoverned, so he will escape through flight.

_Daedalus's resolve to escape captivity by inventing flight._

> My boy, take care To wing your course along the middle air: If low, the surges wet your flagging plumes; If high, the sun the melting wax consumes.

Daedalus warns Icarus to fly at a moderate altitude to avoid the sea dampening his wings or the sun melting the wax.

_Daedalus's crucial advice to Icarus before their flight._

> The youth in vain his melting pinions shakes, His feathers gone, no longer air he takes; O! father, father! as he strove to cry, Down to the sea he tumbled from on high, And found his fate; yet still subsists by fame Among those waters that retain his name.

Icarus's wings dissolve as he flies too high, and he falls into the sea crying for his father, but his name lives on in the Icarian Sea.

_The tragic climax of Icarus's fall and his legacy._

> Daedalus envied this, and from the top Of fair Minerva's temple let him drop; Feigning, that, as he lean'd upon the tower, Careless he stoop'd too much, and tumbled o'er.

Out of jealousy for his nephew's inventive genius, Daedalus pushed him from Minerva's temple, pretending it was an accident.

_Daedalus's earlier crime of murdering his nephew Perdix._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-daedalus-and-icarus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/metamorphoses_se
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