[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's all over he will never fly again he is dead ierus is dead [Music] and yet Deus his father had warned him he had told him to be careful to make sure that he always remained midway between the Sea and the sun if he flew too low the foam of the Waves would soak his wings if he flew too high The Heat Of The Sun would Scorch [Music] them but Icarus did not heed his father's warning still what kind of father would make a pair of wings for his son and encourage
him to rival the flight of birds what an insane idea dilus must have been out of his mind to thus risk the life of the one person he truly cared for but in fact no not at all dilus was a most extraordinary inventor who had learned his skills from the goddess Athena [Music] herself he was also a brilliant architect A Gifted artist a sculptor who mastered his art to such Perfection that it was said his statues had to be chained so that they would not run [Music] away he once made a sculpture of Heracles that
was so true to life that when the hero himself saw it he was outraged and smashed it but dilus had one fault he was jealous he could not bear the thought of anyone being more talented than he was one morning however his nephew Talus invented the saw inspired by a fishbone the Young Apprentice had copied it by carving out a series of notches in a piece of iron the citizens of Athens were impressed by this invention Deus on the other hand flew into an uncontrollable rage one morning he led Talus up to the top of
the Temple of Athena and pushed him off then he hurried back down to the base of the Acropolis and put talis's body into a bag he was planning to bury his nephew in secret but his despicable crime was soon discovered dilus was arrested and tried in the end because his many inventions had rendered a great service to humanity the Athenians decided not to send him to prison but to banish him from the city and that is how dilus and his son Icarus came to live in creit in the court of its powerful King Minos but
that does not explain why dilus sent his son flying up into the sky and thus risked seeing him come crashing down it all began a long long time ago Zeus whose reputation as a charmer was by now firmly established had just left his latest Conquest a beautiful Phoenician princess named Europa after changing himself into the form of a bull he had abducted Europa from the shores of Ty and whisked away to the mountains of creit Europa bore him three beautiful children all boys Minos radamanthys and saridon their mother did not remain single for very long
there were many contenders they all considered it a great honor to woo the woman who had been the lover of the master of Olympus it was asterus the prince who reigned over Creet who won her hand asterus married Europa and adopted her children who then became his [Music] heirs many years went by then one day in Winter asterus died the funeral was barely over before one of his three adopted Sons Minos came forth and asserted his right to the crown the two other brothers however did not agree in order to support his claim to the
throne Minos maintained that the gods had given the kingdom to him and as evidence he declared that they would Grant him anything he desired to ask of them his brothers were to say the least rather skeptical they dared him to prove it Minos took up the challenge after dedicating a temple to Poseidon he begged the god of the sea to send a bull out of the Waves which he would then offer as a [Music] sacrifice and then the impossible [Music] happened as rhadamanthus and sarpedon and the entire congregation looked on a magnificent Bull with a
dazzling white coat imer emerged from the sea never in living memory had anyone ever seen such a marvelous creature Minos himself was struck with awe he probably had not expected to see his wish granted in such an extraordinary way it was such a wondrous act that his brothers had to give in Minos became king of [Music] creit [Music] Minos thought Poseidon's bull was so beautiful that he decided to deceive the god instead of sacrificing the animal as he had promised he sent it to be added to his own herds and slaughtered another in its place
Poseidon did not at all appreciate the King's double dealing the erasable God planned his [Music] revenge it would be Dreadful a King Without a Queen is not quite a king once he had been crowned Minos took as his wife a young woman named pacif which means she who shines for all pacif was the daughter of the sun god Helios and the nymph creit she was said to be immortal and she was also said to be a magician because she was able to kill any woman who tried to take her husband away from her anyone who
slept with him would be covered with scorpions and serpents that were discharged from his body three children were born of this Royal Union two daughters ariadne and fedra and a son Andros the royal couple were happy together but unbeknownst to them the offended Poseidon had concocted a diabolical scheme one night the god of the oceans crept into queen paf's bedroom he circled around her bed Whispering words that no one could understand and then left at first glance nothing in particular seemed to happen at first glance because at dawn pacif woke up and to her astonishment
found that she was madly in love inflamed with passion with an overpowering passion for her husband no pacif had fallen in love with the white bull that Minos had failed to sacrifice in her confusion not knowing how to Slick the desire that burned within her the irresistible desire that she felt for Poseidon's white bull Queen pacifi went to see Deus after he was banished from Athens the renowned inventor had taken up residence in the Royal Court where he Enchanted Minos and his family with the animated wooden dolls and many other wonders he made for [Music]
them he would surely be able to find a way to help [Music] pacif dilus listened to the queen what she was seeking defied his imagination she was seeking to satisfy her desire for the white bull Deus hesitated such a union between a woman and an animal seemed repulsive to him he wanted to refuse but pacif threatened to have him and his son Icarus put to death if he did not obey her immediately dilus had no choice he had an idea he built a wooden cow covered it with a thick cow hide and then mounted It
On Wheels which were concealed in its Hooves after pushing it into the meadow where Poseidon's bull was grazing he showed pacif how to get inside and how to open the little folded doors in the back of the cow then he quietly withdrew preferring not to witness what would happen next 9 months later from this unnatural coupling was born a terrifying Beast a hybrid creature it had a man's body with Mighty shoulders and a broad chest together with a Bull's Head the cretans called it the minor which means the bull of Minos Minos was livid with
rage and his first impulse was to punish dilus for his thoughtless act but then he changed his mind what dilus did did he decided dilus must undo he ordered the architect to build a foolproof Prison from which The Miner Tor that affront to the sacred institution of marriage could never [Music] Escape dilus immediately went to work assisted by his young son Icarus he began constructing the most extraordinary architectural structure a labyrinth a labyrinth that would be so complex that anyone who entered it would never be able to find his way out again anyone including its
creator it was in this open a fortress that Minos had the minor imprisoned but then the king received some devastating news and Andrus his only son had been killed in Athens under suspicious circumstances Minos held Aus the Monarch who ruled over Athens responsible for his [Music] death war broke out Athens was under siege the people of the city were facing starvation in order to lift The Siege the Athenians sent word to Minos that they would submit to any terms of surrender he wanted Minos did not think for very long he demanded a payment of seven
boys and seven girls to be sent to cre every year so that he might offer them to the minor the Athenians had no choice they had been defeated for many years they sent over over the terrible tribute demanded by Minos until one day Theus the young heir to the throne of Athens decided to take it upon himself to eliminate the monster even though his father tried to dissuade him Theus joined the group of future victims and left for creit he was determined to slay the minor when he arrived in cre Theus was taken to the
Palace of King Minos his daughter the princess ariadne saw him and immediately fell in love with him she did not want the handsome young man to be devoured by the minor or lost in The Labyrinth aradne confided her thoughts to the only man who could help her Deus he was moved m d by the princess's feelings of love by her desperation and he decided to help her a decision that would turn out to have fateful consequences on the day that Theus was to enter the Labyrinth dilus slipped a ball of thread into ariat's hand she
was to give it to Theus once inside all he had to do was to unravel the thread as he moved deeper into the maze and then retrace his steps to find his way out again everything went exactly as planned Theus killed the minor and was able to make his way safely out of the labyrinth by following ariadne's thread then on that very same day he took the princess with him and they sailed away from [Music] creit the news of what had happened threw Minos into a cold rage he immediately sent out orders to have dilus
and Icarus arrested and throwed into the Labyrinth so there they were dilus and Icarus imprisoned in the very structure they themselves had created although it was Deus who had designed the Labyrinth he like everyone else was unable to find his way out through the stifling twisting rows of arid Stone corridors he just kept going round and round in circles finally he had to admit defeat he and his son were trapped in the bowels of his own [Music] maze Icarus was filled with despair he sat there on the dusty floor of the labyrinth what else could
he do but wait wait for who knows how long as life passed him by slowly yet relentlessly and then when he pulled himself together and tried to find a way out of this prison it was always the same thing he became bewildered lost even more [Music] discouraged and so Icarus sat back down and gazed at the [Music] sky the sky which symbolized the freedom that he no longer had Icarus brooded despondently Deus in the meantime was busy thinking it wasn't the sky he was contemplating but the [Music] birds up in the air above his head
they circled they drifted they soared Rising higher Vanishing into the clouds they pursued each other in an aerial ballet full of lightness and elegance and then came down to perch gently on top of the high walls of the labyrinth an idea began to form in daus's head it would of course be impossible to climb over the walls of the labyrinth but there was perhaps if one dared another way to escape and the old craftsman was willing to give it a try he shook Icarus out of his torper and said pointing his finger at the clouds
we will leave by the sky Icarus was [Music] dumbfounded but knowing how clever and creative his father was he did not ask any questions he had faith in him right away dilus told him to gather all of the bird feathers he could find and they both set off to accomplish this long and laborious task the two prisoners then took the feathers and laid them side by side lining them up meticulously one by one from the smallest to the largest in size so that their tips seemed to rise in a slope when they'd finished arranging the
feathers dilus tied them together using flax and threads torn from his tunic then after binding them with wax he gave the whole structure a slight curve in order to imitate the wings of a real bird Icarus did the same thing little knowing that he was making the instrument that would be the cause of his downfall [Music] dilus put the wings on his son's back He adjusted them and showed Icarus how to use them telling him repeatedly how important it was to stay close to him and not to stray Father and Son were now ready with
Deus in front they took off and there they were Rising into the air climbing higher into the sky leaving the Labyrinth far behind from time to time dilus would turn to check on his son to make sure he was following close behind and staying on course in his excitement Icarus took to Flying more and more freely through the air his youthfulness made him Reckless gradually Icarus who kept soaring higher and higher began to stray away from his father's path Deus called out to him he implored his son to come back but the old man's voice
was carried away by the wind besides Icarus was no longer listening he was oblivious to anything but the Jubilation of flying of rising to greater and greater Heights why stay in between why take the middle course when we offered the entire expanse of the sky let's go further even higher nothing can stop us for a moment or two Icarus felt like the King of the universe now that he could fly anything seemed possible to [Music] him but as he continued to climb the Rays of the god of the sun began to melt the wax in
his wings all of a sudden his flapping arms were no longer sustained by the wind Icarus looked down at the sea far below his heart skipped a beat all of the wax had melted his wings had fallen off Icarus began to panic he moved his arms which were now bare nothing happened he was falling he wanted to cry out to his father to call for help too late the Body Hit the surface of the sea and was swallowed up by its Emerald Waters leaving only a few foror feathers bobbing on the waves that sea now
Bears the name of deus's unfortunate son it is called the aaran sea nelus had defied the laws of nature twice the first time in order to help pacif who' given birth to a monstrous Beast the second time in order to escape by turning men into birds for which he paid with the life of his son one does not with impunity try to tamper with the laws of nature and the gods do not like it when Mortals seek to go beyond the limits of their human [Music] condition that is what old dilus came to understand when
crippled by grief he landed on a small arid Island far from creit which he renamed Iaria in honor of his lost [Music] son for hundreds of years Sailors and travelers have as they crossed the aaran sea wondered about Icarus and his Airborne Quest are we any different from Icarus from the child who lived in an open air prison and dreamed of flying away to another place a place he imagined might be better Icarus may not have fallen because he had lost all sense of moderation his father dilus was clever but also cautious observant and inventive
but also a man of reason iar in spite of his father's explanations and warnings refused to listen to the voice of experience but as we all know experience is a light that only illuminates oneself [Music]
