ICARUS FATHER SKIN
What if the special wings designed by Daedalus had allowed Icarus to fly even higher than the birds? Fine, we'll go higher.Īt about 20 miles above sea level lies the ozone layer - the sunglasses of our planet that protect us from skin cancer. So it was far more likely for Icarus to freeze to death than to have his wings melted. The temperatures would still have been going down at this level, hovering between -40 to -70 F depending on the local weather. That's why we have snowcapped mountains and not snow-footed mountains.Ĭonsidering the highest-flying bird, the Ruppell's griffon vulture, can reach a maximum height of only 37,000 feet, we can safely guess that this is about the point where the thin air would have made it difficult for Icarus to use his wings. If you've ever been on a mountain, you may have noticed that the higher you climb, the colder it gets.Īs Icarus ascended through this part of the atmosphere, known as the troposphere, the temperature would have dropped by an average of 3-4 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet he climbed. So how high did Icarus have to fly for his wings to melt? From the ground up to cruising altitude The sun melted his waxy wings, and he plummeted to his death in the Aegean Sea. He built wings for himself and his son to escape and fly back home.īut his son, Icarus, being a symbol of youthful rebellion, ignored his father's advice and flew too close to the sun. (The author is an English teacher and a freelance writer.(Inside Science) - Daedalus was a tragic genius from Ancient Greek mythology who was exiled to an island, where the king later imprisoned him. In 1967, the Hellenic Air Force Academy in Greece was renamed Icarus Air Force Academy: a fitting tribute to this pioneering pilot of Greek aviation, albeit one who did not exist! Icarus lives on in the island that bears his name (near where he supposedly drowned) as well as in painting and poetry. Flapping frantically, the boy fell into the deep blue sea. The wax on his wings softened and the feathers fell off. Carried away by the thrill of the adventure, Icarus began to soar higher and higher. When they were airborne, people gazed skyward in awe, thinking that the two were divine beings. ‘Keep near me and you will be safe,’ Daedalus urged his son. As for flying too high, the heat of the sun would melt the wax that held the feathers secure. The danger of flying too low was that the water below could dampen and clog the wings.
When father and son were ready to depart, Daedalus told Icarus to fly at a moderate height. Stranger still, the next step was taken in broad daylight: a fact that plays a vital role in the catastrophic climax. It seems highly unlikely that Daedalus could carry out this complex task unseen, in an area teeming with the king’s spies. Finally, according to Bulfinch, Daedalus gave his creation ‘a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird’.Īs is the case with legends, these are improbable events. Thomas Bulfinch, a 19th-century American writer, refers to Daedalus as ‘a most skilful artificer’ and describes how the wings were made: ‘He wrought feathers together, beginning with the smallest and adding larger, so as to form an increasing surface.’ The larger feathers were fastened with a thread and the smaller ones with wax.
Using the feathers lying on the shore, Daedalus fashioned wings for himself and young Icarus. The father-son duo managed to get out, but leaving Crete proved difficult as King Minos had ordered all ships sailing from the island to be checked for stowaways.Ī resourceful man, Daedalus thought of another means of escape. There, the Minotaur, a monster that devoured human beings, was imprisoned.ĭaedalus fell out of favour with the king and was jailed in a tower along with his son Icarus. A gifted craftsman, Daedalus had constructed a labyrinth for Minos, King of Crete. The story of Icarus is closely linked with that of his father Daedalus. It gets its name from an ill-fated character in Greek mythology. Icaria (also spelt Ikaria) is an island in the Aegean Sea.
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