Daedalus and Icarus ancient Greek myth read. A step towards a dream or a childish prank: Why the story of Icarus is interpreted differently from the ancient Greek myth itself

In those distant times, when people still had neither tools nor machines, the great artist Daedalus lived in Athens. He was the first to teach the Greeks how to build beautiful buildings. Before him, artists could not depict people in motion and made statues that looked like swaddled dolls with their eyes closed. Daedalus began to carve magnificent statues from marble depicting people in motion.

For his work, Daedalus himself invented and made tools and taught people how to use them. He taught the builders of buildings how to check - with a stone on a thread - whether they were laying walls correctly.

Daedalus had a nephew. He helped the artist in the workshop and studied the arts with him. Considering once the fins of a fish, he guessed to make a saw; came up with a compass to draw the right circle; He cut a circle out of wood, made it rotate and began to sculpt earthenware on it - pots, jugs and round bowls.

Once Daedalus and a young man climbed to the top of the Acropolis to look at the beauty of the city from a height. Thinking, the young man stepped on the very edge of the cliff, could not resist, fell down the mountain and crashed.

The Athenians blamed Daedalus for the death of the boy. Daedalus had to flee from Athens. By ship, he reached the island of Crete and appeared before the Cretan king Minos.

Minos was glad that fate had brought him the famous Athenian builder and artist. The king gave shelter to Daedalus and forced him to work for himself. Daedalus built a labyrinth for him, where there were so many rooms and passages so tangled that anyone who entered there could no longer find the way out himself.

Until now, the remains of this magnificent structure are shown on the island of Crete.

Daedalus lived for a long time with King Minos as a prisoner on a strange island in the middle of the sea. He often sat on the seashore, looking towards his native land, remembered his beautiful city and yearned. Many years have passed, and, probably, no one remembers what he was accused of. But Daedalus knew that Minos would never let him go and no ship sailing from Crete would dare to take him with them for fear of persecution. And yet Daedalus constantly thought about returning.

Once, sitting by the sea, he raised his eyes to the wide sky and thought: “There is no way for me by the sea, but the sky is open for me. Who can stop me on the airway? Birds cut through the air with their wings and fly wherever they want. Is a man worse than a bird?

And he wanted to make himself wings in order to fly away from captivity. He began to collect the feathers of large birds, skillfully tied them with strong linen threads and fastened them with wax. Soon he made four wings - two for himself and two for his son Icarus, who lived with him in Crete. Wings were attached crosswise to the chest and to the arms with a bandage.

And then the day came when Daedalus tried his wings, put them on and, smoothly waving his arms, rose above the ground. The wings kept him in the air, and he directed his flight in the direction he wanted.

Going down, he put wings on his son and taught him to fly.

Calmly and evenly wave your arms, do not descend too low to the waves so as not to wet your wings, and do not rise high so that the rays of the sun do not scorch you. Fly after me. - That's what he said to Icarus.

And early in the morning they flew away from the island of Crete.

Only the fishermen in the sea and the shepherds in the meadow saw how they flew away, but they also thought that these were winged gods flying over the earth. And now the rocky island was far behind, and the sea stretched wide under them.

The day flared up, the sun rose high, and its rays burned more and more.

Daedalus flew cautiously, keeping closer to the surface of the sea and timidly looking back at his son.

And Icarus liked free flight. He cut the air faster and faster with his wings, and he wanted to rise high, high, higher than the swallows, higher than the lark itself, which sings, looking straight into the face of the sun. And at that moment, when his father did not look at him, Icarus rose high up, to the very sun.

Under the hot rays, the wax that held the wings together melted, the feathers disintegrated and scattered around. In vain Icarus waved his arms, - nothing else kept him high. He fell rapidly, fell and disappeared into the depths of the sea.

Daedalus looked around - and did not see a flying son in the blue sky. He looked at the sea - only white feathers floated on the waves.

In despair, Daedalus landed on the first island he met, broke his wings and cursed his art, which killed his son.

But people remembered this first flight, and since then the dream of conquering the air, of spacious heavenly roads has lived in their souls.

Literature:
Smirnova V. Daedalus and Icarus // Heroes of Hellas, - M .: "Children's Literature", 1971 - c.86-89

The Athenian Daedalus, the son of Mecius, was the most skillful man of his time; he was at the same time a builder, and a sculptor, and a stone carver. In every city there were works made by his hand; his statues were said to live.

He had a nephew named Tal, whom he initiated into his arts and who showed even greater ability than his teacher. Almost as a child, he invented the potter's machine, made the first snake tooth saw, and many other tools, all on his own, without the slightest help from teachers. Thus, even in his youth, he acquired great fame, which made him proud and arrogant.

Daedalus became more and more jealous of his pupil; he was afraid of being outdone. Envy took possession of him so much that one evening, when no one was there, he pushed the boy off the city wall.

But when he wanted to bury the corpse, he suddenly felt embarrassed and afraid that he might be suspected of murder. He immediately fled to the island of Crete, where he received an advantageous position as an artist from King Minos. The king offered him to build for the Minotaur, a creature that had the body of a bull and at the same time looked like a man, a dwelling in which it would be hidden from the eyes of people.

The resourceful Daedalus built a labyrinth consisting of a whole network of intricate, winding corridors in which the eye was lost, and the traveler, getting into them, went astray. All these corridors led either forward or backward, so there was almost no way out. Inside this building, the Minotaur was supposed to settle.

The food for the monster was seven young men and seven beautiful girls, whom the Athenians had to give every nine years to the king of Crete for sacrifice. But Daedalus was frightened by these victims. It was hard for the cheerful artist to stay on this lonely island, in the middle of the sea, with a strict wayward king, and he strove to return to his homeland. His resourceful mind soon found a way to escape.

“True, Minos surrounded me with the sea,” he exclaimed, “but the air is still beyond his control, so I will subdue the air!

With indefatigable diligence, he began to bind all kinds of bird feathers, starting with the shortest and gradually attaching longer ones to them, so that it seemed that they were real wings. He fastened the feathers in the middle with linen laces, and from below with wax, then he made a barely noticeable bend.

Daedalus had a young son, Icarus, who followed his father's work with curiosity. Then he himself began to help him. After everything was finished, Daedalus attached wings to his body and easily, like a bird, took off into the air. When he again descended to earth, his son began to insistently ask him to make the same wings for him and take him with him on air travel. Daedalus was angry at first, but then gave in and soon prepared new wings for his son.

Listen to what I tell you, my son,” he then turned to the boy, “fly carefully, because if you go too low, your wings may get wet in the sea water and you will fall into the waves. But you must also beware of the sun and not fly too high, as its rays can melt the wax that holds the wings together. Fly between the sea and the sun, right behind me and carefully follow my flight.

With such instructions he equipped his son, but his hand trembled when he attached the wings, and a heavy tear rolled down from his eyes.

Both of them took off into the air. At first everything went great. The islands of Samos, Delos and Paros were far behind them, and the coast of Greece was already visible in the distance ... Suddenly, Icarus, encouraged by a safe journey, lagged behind his caring father and teacher, and alone courageously headed up.

The close sun melted the wax that held the wings together with its hot rays; disintegrated, they hung helplessly on the boy's shoulders, and could no longer resist the wind, and the unfortunate man swiftly flew down. He wanted to call out to his father; but the waves had already swallowed him up... When Daedalus turned around, he did not see his son. In vain he called him, no one answered.

Finally, he took a careful look at the ground. And suddenly he noticed the wings of his son on the crests of the sea waves. He immediately descended to the ground and wandered for a long time along the seashore, looking for the boy. Soon the waves threw his corpse on the shore of the island, on which his father buried him, naming him Ikaria, in memory of his son.

So fate avenged the murdered Tal. After Daedalus buried his son, he flew to Sicily. Here he was hospitably received by King Kokal. Many generations later pointed to the beautiful lake he built, from which flowed a large and wide river. And on a high rock, where not a single tree could hold, he built a castle, to which a beautiful winding road, artfully carved between the stones, led. Kokal chose this corner as his seat and repository of his treasures.

The third work of Daedalus was a deep cave in which he arranged underground heating.
In addition, he erected a temple to Aphrodite and dedicated to the goddess golden honeycombs, so well made that they seemed to be filled with real honey.

When Minos learned that the builder Daedalus had fled to Sicily, he decided to go after him with a whole army and bring him back. He crossed the sea and sent messengers from the shore to the king with a proposal to extradite the fugitive.
Kokal pretended to accept the offer of the Cretan king and invited him to his castle.

Minos came and was received with great cordiality. Since he was very tired going up the steep road, a warm bath was offered to him. But while he sat in it, the water was gradually heated up until he suffocated from the heat.

The corpse of the king was handed over to the retinue with the explanation that the king, having fallen, choked in hot water. Kokal buried him with great honors, and an open temple of Aphrodite was built over his grave near Agrigent by the hand of Daedalus.

Throughout his life, Daedalus remained with Kokal, and many famous masters were brought up under his guidance. But since the death of his son, he was never happy again, and, despite the fact that with his works he made the country cheerful and beautiful, he himself lived out his old age in sorrow. He was buried in Sicily.

Based on the poem "Metamorphoses" by Ovid.

The greatest artist, sculptor and architect of Athens was Daedalus 1, a descendant of Erechtheus. It was said about him that he carved such marvelous statues from snow-white marble that they seemed alive; the statues of Daedalus seemed to be watching and moving. Many tools were invented by Daedalus for his work; he invented the ax and the drill. The glory of Daedalus went far.
This great artist had a nephew Tal, the son of his sister Perdika. Tal was a student of his uncle. Already in his early youth, he amazed everyone with his talent and ingenuity. It could be foreseen that Tal would far surpass his teacher. Daedalus was jealous of his nephew and decided to kill him. Once Daedalus stood with his nephew on the high Athenian Acropolis at the very edge of the cliff. Nikrgo was nowhere to be seen. Seeing that they were alone, Daedalus pushed his nephew off the cliff. The artist was sure that his crime would go unpunished. Falling from a cliff, Tal crashed to death. Daedalus hastily descended from the Acropolis, raised the body of Tal and already wanted to secretly bury it in the ground, but the Athenians caught Daedalus when he was digging a grave. The crime of Daedalus was revealed. The Areopagus sentenced him to death.
Fleeing from death, Daedalus fled to Crete to the mighty king Minos, the son of Zeus, to Europe. Minos willingly took under his protection the great artist of Greece. Many marvelous works of art were made by Daedalus for the king of Crete. He built for him the famous palace of the Labyrinth, with such intricate passages that once entering it, it was impossible to find a way out,

1 The myth of Daedalus and Icarus indicates that already in ancient times people began to think about how to master the way to move not only on land and water, but also in the air. It is characteristic that the greatest achievement of the mythical artist Daedalus was considered not his statues and the buildings erected by him, but namely the wings he made. The myth of Daedalus was created in Athens - the most important center of trade, industry, art and science of ancient Greece.

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In this palace, Minos imprisoned the son of his wife Pasiphae, the terrible Minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
Daedalus lived with Minos for many years. The king from Crete did not want to let him go; only he wanted to use the art of the great artist. Like a prisoner, held Minos Daedalus in Crete. Daedalus thought for a long time how to escape him, and finally found a way to free himself from Cretan bondage.
- If I cannot, - exclaimed Daedalus, - escape from the power of Minos neither by land nor by sea, then the sky is open for flight! Here is my way! Minos owns everything, only he does not own the air!
Daedalus set to work. He collected feathers, fastened them with linen thread and wax, and began to make four large wings from them. While Daedalus worked, his son Icarus played near his father: either he caught fluff, which flew up from the breath of the breeze, or crumpled wax in his hands. The boy frolicked nonchalantly, amused by his father's work. Finally, Daedalus finished his work; the wings were ready. Daedalus tied the wings behind his back, put his hands into the loops attached to the wings, waved them and smoothly rose into the air. Icarus looked in amazement at his father, who soared in the air like a huge bird. Daedalus descended to earth and said to his son:
- Listen, Icarus, now we will fly away from Crete. Be careful while flying. Do not go too low to the sea, so that the salt spray of the waves does not wet your wings. Do not rise even close to the sun: the heat can melt the wax, and feathers will scatter. Follow me, keep up with me.

The father and son put their wings on their hands and flew lightly. Those who saw them flying high above the earth thought that these were two gods rushing through the azure sky. Daedalus often turned around to see how his son was flying. They have already passed the islands of Delos, Paros, and are flying farther and farther.
A quick flight amuses Icarus, he flaps his wings more and more boldly. Icarus forgot his father's instructions; he doesn't fly anymore

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behind him. Strongly flapping his wings, he flew high under the very sky, closer to the radiant sun. The scorching rays melted the wax that fastened the feathers of the wings, the feathers fell out and scattered far through the air, driven by the wind. Icarus waved his hands, but there are no more wings on them. Headlong he fell from a terrible height into the sea and died in its waves.
Daedalus turned around, looking around. No Icarus. Gromka began to call his son:
- Icarus! Icarus! Where are you? Respond!
No answer. Daedalus saw on the sea waves the feathers from the wings of Icarus and understood what had happened. How Daedalus hated his art, how he hated the day when he planned to escape from Crete by air!
And the body of Icarus for a long time rushed along the waves of the sea, which became known by the name of the deceased Ikarian. Finally, his waves washed up on the shore of the island; Hercules found him there and buried him.
Daedalus continued his flight and finally arrived in Sicily. There he settled with King Kokal. Minos found out where the artist had hidden, went with a large army to Sicily and demanded that Kokal give him Daedalus.
The daughters of Kokal did not want to lose such an artist as Daedalus. They came up with a trick. They persuaded the father to agree to the demands of Minos and accept him as a guest in the palace. When Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Kokal poured a cauldron of boiling water over his head; Minos died in terrible agony. Daedalus lived for a long time in Sicily. He spent the last years of his life at home, in Athens; there he became the ancestor of the Daedalides, a glorious family of Athenian artists.

1 Part of the Aegean Sea between the islands of Samos, Paros and the coast of Asia Minor.

Prepared by edition:

Kun N.A.
Legends and myths of ancient Greece. Moscow: State Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, 1954.

In ancient times, the great artist Daedalus lived in Athens, who carved such amazing figures of gods and people from marble that they seemed alive. For his hard work, he made many different tools, including an ax and a drill that easily screwed into the rock. The Athenians loved the artist very much, praised him in every possible way and did not imagine that Daedalus was capable of committing a crime.

He brought up a nephew named Tal. Daedalus taught him the trade of painter and sculptor. Tal soon impressed his teacher with many talents, in addition, he invented many new useful tools. Daedalus was frightened by the talents of his nephew, he realized that soon he would surpass him in skill. Anger and a desire to get rid of his nephew arose in his soul.

Somehow they ended up together on the Athenian Acropolis and approached the edge of the cliff. There was no one around. And then Daedalus unexpectedly with force pushed his nephew into the abyss. And then he ran downstairs. Finding a dead body, he began to dig a grave for him. The Athenians caught him doing this. A trial took place, and Daedalus was found guilty of the death of Tal, the artist was sentenced to death.

But Daedalus did not want to die, he managed to escape from Athens. He hid on the island of Crete, began to serve the mighty king Minos. He built for him the famous palace Labyrinth with intricate passages. In this palace, Minos kept the son of his wife Pasiphae, the Minotaur, a terrible monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

Daedalus made many beautiful works of art for King Mynos, but the king kept him as a prisoner. And Daedalus planned to leave him. He thought for a long time about which way to escape. He could not sail away by sea, he would have been immediately caught. Only the sky remained. And he decided to make wings.

Daedalus set to work. He collected different feathers, fastened them together with thread and wax. His son Icarus was always by his side. Finally two pairs of wings were ready. Daedalus attached a large pair to himself, waved them and rose into the air. When he sank to the ground, he said to Icarus, who was watching him with surprise:

My son, now you and I will fly away from Crete. Fly for me. Be careful not to approach the sea, so as not to wet your wings, nor to the sun, so as not to melt the wax.

They put on wings, flapped them and rose above the ground. The father waved harder, and they flew high above the ground. People who saw them thought that it was two gods flying. They passed the island of Delos, followed by Paros. Daedalus in front, followed by Icarus. He liked such a free flight, he forgot his father's instructions, waved his wings more strongly, rose high, high. The hot sun's rays melted the wax, the feathers crumbled, Icarus flew into the water and crashed.

Daedalus did not immediately notice that Icarus was not flying after him. Only in the waves did he see his body without wings and understand everything. But he did not descend, flew further, and the body of Icarus was washed ashore by the waves. And from that time the sea began to be called Ikarian. Daedalus continued his flight and landed on the island of Sicily, where King Kokal lived. Daedalus settled with him.

But King Minos soon found out where his fugitive artist was hiding, and arrived in Sicily with an army. He demanded that Kokal give him Daedalus. The daughters of Kokal, who did not want to part with him, stood up for the artist. They persuaded their father to accept Minos as a guest, invite him to take a bath, and then pour a cauldron of boiling water over his head. They did the same with Minos. He died in terrible agony, and Daedalus remained in Sicily.

Over time, Daedalus nevertheless moved to his homeland in Athens, where he became the founder of the school of Athenian artists.

Daedalus and Icarus. Author: Caravaggio.

The myth of Icarus and Daedalus is characteristic of the period of late classical mythology, when heroes become popular who show themselves not by strength and weapons, but by resourcefulness and skill.

Icarus and Daedalus.

The main character of this ancient Greek legend is the father of Icarus - Daedalus, who made his wings. And meanwhile he was the most skillful person of his time, the greatest craftsman, the inventor of carpentry tools, the most skillful architect and sculptor, his fantastic sculptures were as if alive.

However, the legendary Greek craftsman had to flee from Athens, where, in a fit of envy and anger, he committed a crime: he threw his nephew Talos, who surpassed him in talent and skill, from the roof of the acropolis.

A 12-year-old boy, despite such a young age, invented a carpenter's saw in the model and likeness of the backbone of a fish, designed a potter's wheel, invented a lathe and compasses. Daedalus was so frightened by the superiority of the young genius that he once pushed him off the roof of the Athenian Acropolis.

Having killed his nephew, Delal tried to hide the traces of the crime, but was caught in the act and condemned to death. But he managed to escape to the island of Crete, where he asked for protection from King Minos. And already living at the court of the ruler, Delal had to maneuver between two fires.

Antique vase painting. Pasiphae with her son the Minotaur.

As the ancient Greek legend says: at first he helped Queen Pasiphae to instruct her husband's horns, who cheated on him with a bull, in the most literal sense of the word; then he helped Minos to hide the Minotaur born by Pasiphae - a monster with a bull's head and a human body from prying eyes, having built the famous labyrinth. And a few years later he helped the enemy of the Cretan king Theseus kill the bull-headed Minotaur. It was Daedalus who came up with how not to get lost in the labyrinth with the help of a thread and told Ariadne about this, who gave this thread to Theseus.

Antique vase painting. Theseus kills the Minotaur.

But this is a story from another myth, when the Greek hero Theseus went to the island of Crete in order to destroy the Minotaur, to whom the Athenians were obliged to send seven young men and seven beautiful girls to be torn to pieces every nine years.

The enraged King Minos, having heard about complicity, imprisoned both Daedalus himself and his son Icarus, who was already born on the island from the slave Navkarta, into the labyrinth. By the way, the master's son was a mirror image of his murdered cousin Talos and they were also the same age at that time. But in fairness, it should be noted that, unlike Talos, Icarus had absolutely no talents and hobbies.

Daedalus and Icarus. Relief.

She secretly freed Pasiphae from the labyrinth of prisoners. And in order to escape from the island, the ingenious craftsman made four huge wings for himself and his son from feathers. With tireless diligence, Daedalus bound all kinds of bird feathers, starting with the shortest and gradually ending with longer ones, fastening them with wax. And when the wings were ready, he, tying them with straps on his son's shoulders, gave instructions that he would fly without rising too high, so that the wax would not melt from the sun's rays.

"Rise of Icarus".

The careless youth did not obey his father and approached too close to the Sun, the rays of which melted the fasteners. Icarus fell and drowned not far from the island of Samos in the sea, which in this part received the name of the Icarian Sea.

"The Fall of Icarus". Author: Carlo Saraceni.

Delal, flying in front, looked back and saw no son behind him, but only scattered feathers on the crests of the sea waves. And then the old man understood everything... Having landed, he waited until his son's corpse washed ashore and buried him on the island of Doliha, named after him - Ikaria...

However, the mythical story did not end there. After mourning his son, Daedalus reached the Sicilian city and asked the local ruler Kokal for shelter from the persecution of the Cretan king. For he, when he learned that his master had fled to Sicily, decided to go after him with a whole army and bring him back.

For some time the ruler of Sicily shied away, but Minos tricked him into giving up the master, and Kokal had no choice but to agree to give up the fugitive. But before that, inviting the guest to take a bath from the road, he boiled him in boiling water. And Daedalus spent the rest of his life in Sicily.

From generation to generation, legends were passed down about the brilliant master Daedalus, who was able to arrange a wonderful lake with a flowing river in Sicily. And on a high cliff of a rock, where not a single tree could hold, he built an amazing castle. The ruler Kokal settled in it, and kept his treasures there. The third miracle created by Daedalus was a deep cave in which he arranged underground heating.
In addition, he erected an open temple of Aphrodite over the tomb of the Cretan king Minos.

Daedalus was truly a great master. But since the death of his son, he was never happy again, despite all his achievements. He lived a lonely old age in sorrow and was buried in Sicily.

The essence of this myth is in the idea of ​​punishing Daedalus, mediocrity and death of Icarus - also retribution to the father for the crime committed. The goddesses of vengeance needed to arrange everything so that the young man died in exactly the same way that his father killed Talos: that is why he falls from a height. And it is not at all necessary to look for heroism and courage here, this is just the cruel revenge of the gods for the sin of the father.

Daedalus and Icarus. Author: Frederic Leighton.

That is why the son, contrary to the advice of his father, began to rise to the sun, it was also a childish game, a prank, and not gaining freedom in a disastrous flight. This whole beautiful story, very familiar to a wide circle of the public, was invented by writers. It was they who idealized the image of Icarus as a hero, symbolizing the dream of a person to soar into the sky like a bird and soar without feeling heavy.

Renaissance moralists used this theme of ancient Greek myth in order to teach how dangerous extremes are and how good the virtue of moderation is, as well as to warn against human arrogance.