Ikaros

"Ikaros" acrylic, oil, enamel, bees' wax 36" by 48" $900.

The father of Ikaros was Daedalos, a great artist. His talent as well as his decision to help the queen Pasiphae, wife of King Minos, daughter of the sun god, lead to his son's downfall.

Minos, after being made King of Crete, prayed to Poseidon to send a creature from the deeps to sacrifice to Zeus. Poseidon sent a shimmering white bull. Minos , instead of sacrificing it, decided to turn it out to pasture with his own cattle. To punish him for his deception, Poseidon caused the bull to turn wild and escape; at the same time he caused Queen Pasiphae to develop an unnatural passion for the white bull. She pursued it throughout the island until Daedalos caught it and held it until the Queen's desire was satisfied. She gave birth to a monster with a man's body and a bull's head. Daedalos had now to use his skills to design and build a labyrinth from which no one who entered could escape. The monster Minotauros was placed in it. Human sacrifices were regularly sent in, until one day Theseus - but that's another story.

As a gift to the queen, possibly to ease her sadness, Daedalos constructed a figure of a cow that was so lifelike, the king's cattle accepted it into the herd. When King Minos found out, he had Daedalos and Ikaros imprisoned in the labyrinth. They escaped - Daedalos knew the design, after all - and left Crete by flying away on wings that Daedalos made, out of wax and feathers.

It is at this point that the familiar part of the story ensues: Daedalos warned Ikaros not to fly too close to the sun, but Ikaros didn't heed him. He reached the highest point in his fight, his wings melted and he plunged into the sea.

(Source: Who's Who in Mythology, Alexander S. Murray, British Museum, Bracken Books, London)