Icarus and Daedalus

One of the things Captain Beatty says in the novel really surprises me. "'Well,' said Beatty, 'now you did it. Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why.'" (Bradbury 113). This was so surprising because it is a reference to the Greek myth Icarus and Daedalus. Beatty claims never to have read a book in his extensive library, but this myth is not the most widely know, so I am not sure how else he would have heard of it. Much less known enough about it to reference it. I mentioned this fact briefly in a different blog, but I like the myth so much I wanted to dedicate a whole blog to it. I think it was a great thing to say to Montag at the time, because it fit so perfectly. Montag went against what Beatty told him, and now he was facing the repercussions.This myth shows that you should always heed warnings from others, or face the consequences.

Daedalus was asked by King Minos to build a magical labyrinth to contain the mythical creature the Minotaur, a animal with the body of a man with the head of a bull. When the king's daughter Adrianne asked Daedalus to reveal the secrets of the maze, he does. You see, Midas sends children to be "tributes" to feed the Minotaur. (Hunger Games anyone?) Adrianne fell in love with the hero, Theseus, and when he volunteered to kill the Minotaur, she had to do something. When Adrianne told Theseus the secret of the labyrinth, he escaped killing the Minotaur. When Minos found out it was Daedalus' fault he imprisoned him and his son Icarus into the labyrinth. Daedalus created wings for himself and Icarus to wear to escape. He told his son not to fly to close to water, so the wings would not get wet, and not to fly to close to the sun, so the wax holding the feathers would not melt. Icarus was overwhelmed with the joy of flying and flew to close to the sun, melting his wings and falling to his death. (Island Ikaria).

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

"Island Ikaria." The Myth Of Ikaros & Daedalus Icaros Greek Mythology Ikarus Icarus Myth. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2012. <http://www.island-ikaria.com/culture/myth.asp>.