Icarus’s flight and fall

Icarus’s flight and fall is a Greek myth in which Daedalus’s son tries to emulate his father’s flight, but the wax securing his wings melts in the sun’s heat. His fall into the sea and drowning make the episode a story of aspiration ending in death.

Flight and Fall

Icarus is identified as the son of Daedalus. Attempting to follow his father’s example, he flies too close to the sun. Its heat melts the wax that fastens his wings to his arms, and he falls into the sea and drowns.

The Allusion

The book’s explanatory note uses the myth to identify Icarus and recount the essential cause and outcome of his fall: imitation gives way to fatal exposure, and the wings fail when their wax binding melts. The note presents the episode as a mythic reference rather than supplying further details about its place in the surrounding narrative.