English Stories For Kids | The Fate Of Icarus


 The Fate Of Icarus, The Son Of Daedalus 

Daedalus was a clever craftsman who lived in the island of Crete : the largest and most populous island of Greece, during the reign of King Minos. Daedalus and the king were good friends. Daedalus was known for his ingenious inventions at that time. He made a lot of wonderful things for the king. Therefore the king liked him very much. 


Daedalus helped the Athenian hero Theseus escape the labyrinth after Theseus killed Minotaur (mythical creature with the head and tail of a bull and human body) . Therefore the King Minos fell out with him.  

One day, the king put Daedalus and his son in prison. Though Daedalus planned to escape, it was no easy task. The king had well guarded the prison as he knew well of Daedalus. The soldiers always kept an eye on the two prisoners. 

One day, it occurred to Daedalus "The king may rule land and sea, but not the sky. I must try to escape by air." From that moment Daedalus started collecting feathers. Nobody at that time had an idea of flying. So, there was no reason for suspecting him for collecting feathers. 

Finally he was able to make two pairs of wings. One pair was for him and the other was for his son Icarus. The feathers of the wings were stuck with wax. Daedalus fixed one pair of wings to himself and the other to his son's arms. The two fluttered wings and quickly found themselves in the sky. They flew over the prison walls as the soldiers gaped at them in great surprise. The two wanted to fly away to another country as they knew well what fate would befall them in case they were caught. 

While they were flying over the sea, Daedalus warned his son Icarus not to fly very high in the sky. When they had flown over some small islands Icarus forgot his father's warning and flew too close to the sun. In a short time, the wax melted and the wings dropped into the sea. With the melting wings, Icarus also fell into the deep sea. Icarus lost his life as he did not keep to his father's advice. 

Daedalus reached Sicily safely. The loss of his son made a great impact on his life. Daedalus built a temple to Apollo, the Sun God and offered his wings to the god. 

Sajendra Kumara 

Stories from Panchathanthra

Stories from Panchathanthra




  


Location: Attanagalla, Sri Lanka

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