A Proud Flight

Long ago, people looked to the sky and saw birds fly. They wondered if there was a way they could fly like birds. People made up myths about flying. A myth is a story that has imaginary people and places in it.

A myth that people in Greece made up was about a young man. The young man was called Icarus. In the story, he and his father, Daedelus, were imprisoned by an evil man. They were kept on an island. They could not escape because there were high walls. The island was surrounded by water.

His father was an inventor. He invented wings made from bird feathers. He used wax to get them to stick to a frame shaped like a wing. They would use the wings to escape.

Because they were made with wax, the wings could melt if they got hot. So Daedelus warned his son not to fly close to the sun. At that time, which was hundreds of years ago, people did not know how very far away the sun is. The story comes from Greece, where the sun feels very hot in summer.

You probably guessed what happened next. Daedelus and Icarus used the wings to escape. They flew over the walls. They flew away from the island. They were flying across the sea.

But Icarus forgot what his father had warned him about. He forgot to stay away from the sun. There were no clouds. The sun shone brightly. It melted the wax. The feathers fell off the wings. They would no longer support him in the air. So he fell to the sea.

Daedelus was sad to see his son fall into the sea. But he could not help him. He knew this could happen. That was why he had tried to tell his son how dangerous it was to fly close to the sun.

In Greece, many times people told myths to educate other people. There were three lessons to learn from this myth. First, you should listen to your parents. Second, you should not take dangerous chances. What is the third lesson? That is for you to figure out.