Icarus and Daedalus

このストーリーについて

The flight of Daedalus and Icarus is a Greek myth best known from the Roman poet Ovid, who tells it in Book 8 of his Metamorphoses, completed around AD 8. Daedalus, the inventor who built the Labyrinth on Crete, makes wings of feathers, thread and wax to escape King Minos, who controls the land and the sea, and warns his son to fly the middle course between sea and sun. This retelling follows Ovid closely, including the fisherman who mistakes them for gods and the naming of the island of Icaria, and tells Icarus's fall gently, without frightening detail.

読み聞かせのコツ

• Before the flight, ask your child to repeat Daedalus's rule: not too low, not too high.
• Icarus's fall is sad. Pause afterwards and talk about how Daedalus must feel.
• Fold paper wings together and ask: what would you have done differently from Icarus?

よくある質問

What does Icarus teach us?

To listen to good advice and not let excitement carry us past safe limits. Flying too close to the sun has become a saying for being overambitious or reckless.

Why did Icarus fall?

His wings were made of feathers held together with wax. He ignored his father's warning, flew too high, and the sun's heat softened the wax, so the feathers came loose and he fell into the sea.

Where did Icarus fall?

The ancient stories place it near the island of Icaria in the eastern Aegean, which Ovid says was named after him. The sea around it is called the Icarian Sea.