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| (Image courtesy of PNG Key.) |
Daedalus let the rope slip quickly over the window sill. He had saved weeks of his rations and packed them along with valuable tools to trade for additional supplies for his son Icarus. The young man and supplies were now on the opposite end of the rope disappearing into the darkness below. Daedalus sent his son on an impossible task: find feathers from the wings of the mythical giant eagle so both father and son could escape from the prison of King Minos.
There were no giant eagles, Daedalus knew, but Icarus refused to escape without his father. The long years Daedalus spent engineering the labyrinth below the city of Crete had taken its toll. The Goddess Athena had blessed him with a sharp mind and dexterous hands that improved rather than degenerated with prolonged use. Unfortunately, the prowess bestowed in that gift did not extend to his shoulders, back, and legs. He now moved like an elderly man; back hunched, shuffling gait.
Icarus was nearing manhood. There was no way the boy could build a meaningful life trapped in a tower. No Cretian father would allow his daughter to be betrothed to the son of the highest guarded prisoner of King Minos. Daedalus had to get Icarus off the island. King Minos kept the tower heavily guarded and departing ships were heavily watched by Minos’s guards to ensure even if prisoners managed to escape their holdings, they could not flee the island. Sailing a handmade raft from the rocky shore of Crete, for an average man, would be suicide. Daedalus had the knowledge and Icarus had the skill to create a sea hearty craft, but because of his condition, Daedalus could not escape the tower. Even if he could, the two could not realistically build a vessel without being caught by the Cretian guards.
Divinity seemed to agree with Daedalus’s desire to get Icarus off the island. One late night after Icarus had retired, A soft knock came at the door to the living quarters. When Daedalus opened the door, he found a familiar guard standing behind a hooded figure. Daedalus moved to the side and allowed the two to enter. Once the door closed, the hood dropped to reveal Queen Pasiphaë, wife of King Minos and the reason Daedalus was imprisoned in the tower.
“I know I can never make up for how my choices have affected you,” she began, eyes cast down, guilt making it impossible for her to meet Daedalus’s gaze, “but I hope you will consider what I am about to propose and accept it, for the very least, as compensation for your honorable service to me. I was a lustful fool.” Her cheeks reddened as she glanced at Daedalus to make sure that he was listening. “You tried to warn me off of Poseidon’s advances. When Poseidon arrived at court in the disguise of the white bull, you tried your best to make me see the folly in my desires. Yet, as a good attendant should, you acquiesced and built the wooden structure that allowed me to couple with Poseidon in his bull form. An act that doomed us both.”
“It doomed more than the two of us,” replied Daedalus. “Both of our sons are prisoners. Yours within the labyrinth, and mine here in this tower.”
“Yes. That is what I have come to discuss with you. Icarus has begun catching the eye of my maidservants. He is on the cusp of manhood and should begin seeking his fortune. He cannot do that here, trapped in a tower.”
“I am well aware of the fact that my son is near the end of his adolescence and the limitations this tower places on his options,” snapped Daedalus. Pasiphaë pressed on in spite of the anger in his voice.
“I have arranged for a ship to wait just beyond the horizon five days from now. Icarus will meet my mother, Perse, in an inlet that is seldomly used. I received a Hippocampus foal as a gift from Poseidon when he first began courting me. The creature lives with my mother in the court of Oceanus. She and the creature will transport Icarus safely to the ship.”
***
In order to get Icarus to agree to leave the island, Daedalus has to employ a well-crafted ruse. He created a design for magnificent wings that could carry him on the wind across the sea to Greece. The design was scientifically sound, and it was easy to convince Icarus that giant eagles existed. The search would take the boy far away from the prison tower and keep him safely away from their enemies. Icarus was a determined boy and would not return until he found the fabled feathers, which would be never. Eventually, the boy’s supplies would run out and he would have to take on a trade. Hopefully, he would meet a girl and her charms would convince Icarus to focus on his trade, build a family, and forget about Daedalus and the tower.
Author's Note:
I read through the Wikipedia page for Icarus and found a new literary term: Euhemerism. It is a theoretical approach to mythology interpretation that presumes that myth stories are based on factual humans and events. Some Hellenistic scholars believe that Daedalus and Icarus escaped on a boat provided by Queen Pasiphae. I think it makes sense that she would provide the boat because she would feel guilty that her actions caused Daedalus to be imprisoned.
Most visual art interpretations of the story of Icarus depict him as a muscular teenager. Since the word "teenager" didn't exist until 1945 (Thanks, Popular Mechanics for coining that term!), Icarus would have been referred to as a 'boy' or an 'adolescent' until he was socially considered a man, so I needed a way to articulate that he wasn't a little kid being sent off on his own. I figured protecting the maidenhood of her attendants would be a good reason for Pasiphae to want to offer to get Icarus off the island. My daughter is 12, and I'm already wishing I could pack every boy in Moore off to a foreign land!
Bibliography
Daedalus https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Daedalus/daedalus.htmlDaedalus 2 http://www.maicar.com/GML/Daedalus.html
Icarus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus#cite_note-6
Ehumerism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhemerism#cite_note-1
Pasiphae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasipha%C3%AB
