Comparing The Greek Myth Of Daedalus And Icarus

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Daedalus and his son, Icarus, were imprisoned inside a giant labyrinth in Crete. Daedalus created two sets of wings; which they were once able to escape. Daedalus warned his son that he should not fly too high because the wax holding his wings together would melt, and he would fall. Icarus became so exhilarated by the ability to fly and forgot his father’s warning. He flew up into the sky, leading to the melting of wax in his wing, and so he fell in the sea and drowned. The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus is one of the most famous and fascinating Greek myths. This myth has been reviewed by many and they have interpreted in several ways. Edward Field and Anne Sexton made poems inspired by the myth. In the poem "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come…show more content…
Through the use of diction Field brings Icarus down to earth as he depicts him going through extremely normal life situations. In the city, Icarus “rented a house and tended the garden.” (9) illustrates how he does everyday life things as any other ordinary person would. Field depicts Icarus as no longer extraordinary, and in his “gray, respectable suit” (11) he blends with all the other boring people. Needless to say, Icarus is unhappy. With diction, Field points out the feeling of pity and solemnity. Icarus’ fall from grace makes him feel like a failure and he knows that he is trapped in the boring modern world forever. Icarus “wishes he had drowned.” (31) Setting plays an important role in the imagery of Field’s poem. The setting sets the stage for Field as he exposes Icarus in a completely different world; in the first stanza describes his tragic death and the third stanza depicts his new life in the new world. The setting in the opening stanza explains the myth through a crime scene, “So the report filed and forgotten in the archives read simply, “Drowned.” (6-7) This confers about how simply Icarus was forgotten. The third stanza has a change in setting; it changed to a mediocre lifestyle that “Mr. Hicks” now lives as the hero who fell “To the middling stature of the merely talented.” (21) The setting in these lines points out the careless people that surrounded Icarus, as well as how “Mr. Hicks” has to adapt to modern ways and

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