Flight of Freedom – Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus and Icarus are prisoners. How will they escape? Then one day Daedalus has a wonderful idea.

Find out what the idea is. Discover what materials they will need. Enjoy hearing how they get to work. Learn how they make what they need. Enjoy as they practice how to use them. Count with them...one, two, three! Follow them on their journey home. Find out what happens when Icarus ignores his father’s rules.

Poor Icarus. He really should have listened to his father. Daedalus only made rules to keep them safe! We feel sorry for Daedalus in the end.

Download this Daedalus and Icarus mp3 audio story now!

Flight of Freedom – Daedalus and Icarus

A Tales of Time adaptation of the myth.

King Minos of Crete had a son. But the son turned out to be a monster. He grew strong and mean. He had the body of a man, but the head of a bull and they called him the Minotaur. So King Minos called on his head architect to design a labyrinth so large and so complicated, that the Minotaur would live there forever. 

The Architect's name was Daedalus. He was a very intelligent man. He was also an inventor and a sculptor.

He wasn't actually from Crete, he was from Athens and, when he finished creating the labyrinth, he wanted to go back. But King Minos wanted him to stay in Crete. He was such a clever man, he would be useful.  So King Minos locked Daedalus and his son, Icarus in a tower. They were prisoners, but they were treated very well. They had everything they could ever want...except their freedom.

Daedalus sighed as he watched the seagulls flying in circles over the glistening sea. How free they were. They would climb and soar and catch fish in their beaks, before settling on a rock to rest. How he wished to be free like that.

He turned to look at their circular prison. Icarus was sitting on the floor playing with an extra piece of yesterday's invention. What a life! Daedalus had dreamt of teaching his son about all the wonders of the world. He had dreamt of long days in Athens. Home.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he returned his gaze to the carefree gulls.  Thoughts of escape were useless. Even if they managed to get out of the tower, they would never get off the island. King Minos had soldiers everywhere. He ruled the land and sea; there was no hope.

A knock at the door. It was a soldier delivering the materials for Daedalus' next invention. The soldier didn't speak; he dropped off the delivery and collected the architect’s plans for the swimming baths.

As he left, he slammed the door, making Icarus jump and the various instruments around the tower shake. The draught sent leaves and dust floating across the room. A white feather, caught in an upward draught, danced in the air, going round in circles. Then it fell gently to the ground and settled.

Daedalus started getting that feeling. The one where an invention is just on the edge of his brain - but he can't quite... Suddenly, he jumped off his chair and leant out the window. He looked at the seagulls and then back at the feather. Back to the seagulls and then to Icarus, who was still playing with yesterday's toy.

"Icarus, we're going home!"

King Minos had learnt not to ask why Daedalus needed certain materials. Whenever he did, he felt stupid, as he didn't understand the answer anyway. So when Daedalus requested, four boxes of wax, three reams of thread and 6 bags of seagull feathers....he didn't think anything of it.

Nor did the soldiers who delivered them.

Icarus thought it was wonderful. He would pile the bags up high. Then, from the other side of the tower, he'd run and throw himself at them. Usually he'd just bounce! Sometimes, he'd miss and go crashing into the wall. But this time, he landed just right and the feathers went flying all over the room...again!

"Icarus! Stop that. We can't afford to lose a single feather. Now collect them ALL and put them back in the bags."

"Ptth" he said, trying to spit out the ones in his mouth.

What Icarus didn't realise was that his father was working on his most brilliant invention ever. One that would set them free.

By day, Daedalus completed the drawing for the swimming baths, designed statues and invented folding chairs; anything King Minos requested. But by night, he worked on their escape.

Starting with the smallest, he arranged the feathers in a line. He then tied them together with the thread and strengthened the shape with wax. Then he would start on the next smallest. He would make a line, tie them, strengthen them and go to the next line. It was painstaking work and had to be done by candlelight alone.

Daedalus had finished one. He held it up to show his son. Icarus was in a bit of muddle, he had been playing in the bags again and he had wax all over his face, so he was completely covered in feathers!

"Icarus! What have I told you about playing in the feathers? We need them. Look. Can you tell what it is?"

"it looks like one side of a seagull!" he replied.

"That's right Icarus, it's a WING. I shall make three more. That’s four; two for you and two for me. King Minos may rule the land and the sea, but no man rules the sky. Icarus, we will fly home!"

Icarus thought it was a fantastic idea. He offered his help and they both got to work.

Now a seagull is only about knee high and doesn't weigh very much, but it still takes hundreds of feathers to make up their wings. So wings which were to carry a man and a boy who were much taller and much heavier would take hundreds of thousands of them!

When the second wing was ready, Daedalus tried them on. Icarus cleared a space, while Daedalus flapped and flapped. Dust and feathers went flying all over the room. And then...almost like magic, so did Daedalus! He lifted up off the ground. When he flapped his left wing, he went right and went he flapped his right wing he went left. If he flapped them both he went up and if he stopped.

"OW" he said, crashing back to the ground.

"You did it father!" cried Icarus "You did it!"

Over the next few months, the pair carried on their work. They needed two more wings.

When these were ready, they practised flying around the room. There wasn't much space and they kept crashing into the walls. Icarus was always banging his head on the ceiling. They sat for hours each day watching and making notes of how the seagulls did it. Then they would spend hours each night trying to learn. They made improvements to the wings to make them stronger, faster, and lighter. And at last, they were ready.

Neither of them could sleep. They were waiting for the first light of dawn and they'd be off. Free.

"Icarus, it is important that you do as I say. It is a long trip and, though you fly well, there will still be dangers. We must not fly too low. If we do, the water from the sea will dampen our wings and weigh us down. WE must not fly too high. If we do, the heat from the sun will melt the wax and our wings will undo. We must remain on a middle course."

"Yes, Yes I know. You worry too much, Dad!" he said.

Daedalus smiled. They hugged and kissed and each went to a window sill and climbed up.

"One, two, three!"

They both jumped, opened their wings and flew! It was working.

Tears filled Daedalus' eyes "Free at last."

He remembered his dreams of Athens and smiled.

For hours they flew. Icarus was showing off his technique. He would go round and round his father in circles. He'd climb and climb and then swoop down towards the sea.

"Careful Icarus, remember the rules!"

Icarus changed his course and flew back towards his dad.

"Watch this "he shouted as he flew right past him higher and higher towards the sky. Daedalus squinted towards the sun, trying to see when he'd gone.

"Not too high, boy! You're going too high!" he called.

Bu t Icarus couldn't hear him. All he could hear was the wind whistling in his ears.

Daedalus couldn't see him anywhere. Then, slowly fluttering down, came a single feather. Then another. Daedalus looked up and all around him were feathers.

Icarus had flown to high. The sun had been too hot and had melted the wax in his wings. His wings were falling apart. Icarus could feel the strength going out of his flight and started to panic.  He flapped and flapped. But he was falling. He had lost so many feathers that he was too heavy to stay aloft. The more he flapped, the more feathers fell.

"DAD!" he yelled as he plummeted to towards the sea.

Daedalus spent the rest of the day flying up and down, but never found his son. All he found were hundreds of thousands of feathers floating on the sparkling sea.

Daedalus did make it ashore, alone. He named an island after his son, the island of Icaria. In his grief, he took his wings to the temple of Apollo. He hung them up as an offering and never flew again.

The End.

©Tales of Time 2009