Lesson plan
Icarus
from Zeugma, now in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. In Greek mythology, Icarus ( ; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete, and his wife Naucrate. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalus had revealed the labyrinth's secrets and thus imprisoned the two, either in a large tower overlooking the ocean or in the labyrinth itself, depending upon the account. Icarus and Daedalus escaped using wings Daedalus constructed from birds' molted feathers, threads from blankets, the leather straps from their sandals, and beeswax. Before escaping, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too low or the water would soak the feathers and not to fly too close to the Sun or the heat would melt the wax. Icarus ignored Daedalus' instructions not to fly too close to the Sun, causing the beeswax in his wings to melt. Icarus fell from the sky, plunged into the sea, and drowned. The myth gave rise to the idiom, "fly too close to the Sun". In some versions of the tale, Daedalus and Icarus escape by ship.
Article summary
from Zeugma, now in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. In Greek mythology, Icarus ( ; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete, and his wife Naucrate. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalus had revealed the labyrinth's secrets and thus imprisoned the two, either in a large tower overlooking the ocean or in the labyrinth itself, depending upon the account. Icarus and Daedalus escaped using wings Daedalus constructed from birds' molted feathers, threads from blankets, the leather straps from their sandals, and beeswax. Before escaping, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too low or the water would soak the feathers and not to fly too close to the Sun or the heat would melt the wax. Icarus ignored Daedalus' instructions not to fly too close to the Sun, causing the beeswax in his wings to melt. Icarus fell from the sky, plunged into the sea, and drowned. The myth gave rise to the idiom, "fly too close to the Sun". In some versions of the tale, Daedalus and Icarus escape by ship.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.