Icarus
900 B.C.
Oh that I had Wings. -Thomas Moore.
Mankind began dreaming of flight long ago in ancient Greece. Greek mythology reveals this dream in the tale of young Icarus. King Minos imprisoned Icarus and his father, Daedalus, on the isle of Crete. The two escaped, but with Minos searching for them they needed to flee. Daedalus, an inventor, fashioned feathered wings that attached to their backs with wax, and the two planned to fly away to Sicily. Daedalus warned Icarus that if he flew too high the sun would melt the wax. But young Icarus couldn't resist the euphoria of flight. He rose higher and higher until the wax melted. He plunged to the sea and died.
In ancient times, flight was so unattainable, so god-like, that anyone who tried to reach the skies, even in myth, inevitably died. But the dream and the quest had begun. Man wanted to fly.
Courtesy hmdb.org
