The flight that failed

Suryakumari Dennison brings you the tale of a pioneering figure in aviation

Icaria (also spelt Ikaria) is an island in the Aegean Sea. It gets its name from an ill-fated character in Greek mythology.

The story of Icarus is closely linked with that of his father Daedalus. A gifted craftsman, Daedalus had constructed a labyrinth for Minos, King of Crete. There, the Minotaur, a monster that devoured human beings, was imprisoned.

Daedalus fell out of favour with the king and was jailed in a tower along with his son Icarus. The father-son duo managed to get out, but leaving Crete proved difficult as King Minos had ordered all ships sailing from the island to be checked for stowaways.

A resourceful man, Daedalus thought of another means of escape. There were gulls flying overhead. Using the feathers lying on the shore, Daedalus fashioned wings for himself and young Icarus.

Thomas Bulfinch, a 19th-century American writer, refers to Daedalus as ‘a most skilful artificer’ and describes how the wings were made: ‘He wrought feathers together, beginning with the smallest and adding larger, so as to form an increasing surface.’ The larger feathers were fastened with a thread and the smaller ones with wax. Finally, according to Bulfinch, Daedalus gave his creation ‘a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird’.

As is the case with legends, these are improbable events. It seems highly unlikely that Daedalus could carry out this complex task unseen, in an area teeming with the king’s spies. Stranger still, the next step was taken in broad daylight: a fact that plays a vital role in the catastrophic climax.

When father and son were ready to depart, Daedalus told Icarus to fly at a moderate height. The danger of flying too low was that the water below could dampen and clog the wings. As for flying too high, the heat of the sun would melt the wax that held the feathers secure. ‘Keep near me and you will be safe,’ Daedalus urged his son. When they were airborne, people gazed skyward in awe, thinking that the two were divine beings. Carried away by the thrill of the adventure, Icarus began to soar higher and higher.

The wax on his wings softened and the feathers fell off. Flapping frantically, the boy fell into the deep blue sea.

Icarus lives on in the island that bears his name (near where he supposedly drowned) as well as in painting and poetry. In 1967, the Hellenic Air Force Academy in Greece was renamed Icarus Air Force Academy: a fitting tribute to this pioneering pilot of Greek aviation, albeit one who did not exist!

(The author is an English teacher and a freelance writer.)