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Daedalus and Icarus

Story summary

Daedalus was an inventor who lived in Athens. It was said he could bend nature to his will. Minos, the king of the island of Crete, had heard of this reputation and took Daedalus and his son, Icarus, to Crete where he tasks them with helping to make an astonishing palace; a labyrinth of such complexity that no one could escape from it. When the palace is completed, Daedalus wants to return to Crete with his son but the king will not allow it. One day Daedalus comes up with a plan for their escape and he fashions wings out of feathers and wax for himself and Icarus to escape by. At first it seems the plan is working, but then Icarus flies too close to the heat of the sun, his feathers fall away and he plummets to his death.