A long time ago in ancient Greece there lived a famous mechanic by the name of Deadalus. On a visit to the island of Crete the king of the island King Minos became very upset with him and ordered him locked up in a tower that faced the sea. Daedalus managed to escape from this tower with the help of his son Icarus only to be caught and imprisoned once again! Several times he tried to bribe himself onto a vessel and escape but every time he failed, as King Minos had a strict edict for all ships to be carefully searched upon departing from the island of Crete.
Deadalus's spirit however could not be subdued and the genius artist said to his son, "The King may control the land and the sea yet he does not control the sky, we must escape from the sky!" Deadalus told his son to collect all the gulls feathers he could find from the beaches around Crete and bring them to him. Deadalus then melted wax forming the skeleton of a bird's wings to which he would attach the feathers. He then took all the feathers tying the large one's to the skeletal structure, and pressing the small one's into the wings.
When Deadalus had completed the wings he placed them on his back and oh to his surprise! Deadalus rose high above the ground and as he flapped his wings he soared through the heavens. Deadalus then quickly made another set of wings, smaller than his own for his son. His son's wings though smaller were constructed far better and appeared more elegant, they were fitting for the son that he so dearly loved.
On a clear day Deadalus decided it was time to teach is son how to fly. He told the boy to mimic the birds in their actions, to be graceful and to not beat the wings too heavily. As Icarus put on the wings he sailed far out above the sea flying up high and then diving low above the sea like a child with a new toy.
Deadalus watched his son with concern as he knew that the wings were far from a toy. He called on his son and as his son returned he told him, "Son, it is time for us to attempt our escape, you must stay by my side, never venturing far away, as if you fly to low your wings will become damp from the fog, if you fly to high the wax on the wings will melt from the sun." Icarus smiled at his father and told him that there was no reason for him to worry.
Soon Deadalus and Icarus flew high above the land and the people of Crete watched in amazement as they thought they were witnessing the flight of Gods. On occasion Deadalus would look back towards his son making sure that all was fine with his son. As they flew above the sea they came upon Samos and Delos to their left.
Icarus became excited feeling the wind run through his hair and he began to beat his wings wildly which made him go higher and higher. Deadalus yelled at his son, "Stop, you are going to high your wings will melt!" Icarus was to far from his father and could hear nothing his father said, instead he beat his wings faster and faster going ever higher into the sky. Deadalus tried to follow his son but alas his wings were far heavier and would not allow him to soar as high as his son.
The sun began to beat down on the wings of Icarus, and slowly they began to melt. Icarus noticed the wings coming apart, but in his joy kept on beating the wings faster and faster bringing him ever further towards the sun. Soon all the feathers had fallen from the wings of Icarus and the boy plunged down into the Aegean Sea.
Deadalus looked for his son, but he was nowhere to be seen. He then looked down at the sea and his heart broke as he saw the feathers of his son's wings floating on the sea. Deadalus dove towards the sea snatching his son's body out of the water but alas it was too late. Deadalus carried the body of his son as both their feet dragged on the sea below, as a result of the great weight now placed on his wings by the two bodies they now supported. Deadalus took the body of his son and buried it on an island called Icaria in his son's memory.
Deadalus then flew for one last time to the island of Sicily. In Sicily he made a temple to the God Apollo, and in the temple he hung the wings as an offering to the god never to fly again.
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