Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus was a master craftsman. He built the Labyrinth for King Minos (of Crete), but Minos then had Daedalus imprisoned to prevent him from giving away the secret of the Labyrinth. Daedalus managed to make himself a set of wings in order to fly to freedom, and he also made a set for his son Icarus. He warned Icarus not to fly too close to the Sun, but as they passed Lebynthos (modern Levitha – some 100 miles from Crete) the boy forgot himself and began to soar upward. The rest is mythology, as you might say; the wax that held Icarus's wings together melted, and he fell into the sea and drowned. Daedalus was left to bitterly lament his own arts, and he named the island near the place where his son met his end Icaria.

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