melting of the wax wings) or in flying “too low” (i.e. The flight of Icarus could be interpreted as a lesson in the value of moderation. In this sense it highlights the greek idea of Sophrosyne (Greek: σωφροσύνη), which etymologically means healthy-mindedness and from there self-control or moderation guided by knowledge and balance.Īs Aristotle held, as shown in the post, “Aristotle´s Ethical Theory: On The Concept of Virtue and Golden Mean”, v irtue is a kind of moderation as it aims at the mean or moderate amount. The myth of Icarus´moral is to “take the middle way” by warning against heedless pursuit of instant gratification. Henry Murray having proposed the term Icarus complex, apparently found symptoms particularly in mania where a person is fond of heights, fascinated by both fire and water, narcissistic and observed with fantastical cognitio. In the psychiatric mind features of disease were perceived in the shape of the pendulous emotional ecstatic-high and depressive-low of bipolar disorder. Joseph Campbell defined symbols as “giving expression to what is absolutely “unknowable” by intellect”. Symbols are insightful expressions of human nature.They are the external, lower expressions of higher truths and represent deep intuitive wisdom impossible by direct terms. ►Icarus´Fall: “Symbolism and Interpretation”: Icaria is southwest of the island of Samos.Ĭlick on the image above to watch the SlideShare. The island is named for the legendary flying man. The water into which Icarus is said to have fallen is near Icaria, a Grecian Island in the Aegean Sea. The wings fell to pieces and Icarus fell from the sky. Just as his father warned him would happen, the wax on his wings melted into a useless liquid. He flew so high that he got perilously close to the sun.
He was so taken by the experience, that he flew higher and higher. Icarus, however, was overcome by the incredible feeling of flight. If he were to do so, Daedalus explained, the wax that held his wings together would melt, rendering them useless, and Icarus would fall from the sky to his death. Daedalus tried his wings first, but before taking off from the island, warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea, but to follow his path of flight.
Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself in the labyrinth because he gave Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, a or ball of string in order to help Theseus , the enemy of Minos, to survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.ĭaedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son. Icarus’s father Daedalus, an athenian craftsman, built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete near his palace at Knossos to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. “Icarus and Daedalus”, by Charles Paul Landon.