The Ancient ‘Flying Machines’ Of Icarus and Daedalus

Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com - The legend of Icarus and Daedalus, written by the Roman poet Ovid in his work Metamorphoses, is today considered to be a colorful legend, a fiction story.

Is it merely a legend, or does this story tell of actual events?

Some who studied the peculiar legend suggest the story could, in fact, be a testimony of prehistoric aviation.

The Fall of Icarus (1635-7) by Jacob Peter Gowy (c 1615-1661). Credit: Public Domain

Daedalus was a very skilled architect and craftsman. He designed and built the Labyrinth, in which the Minotaur, a monstrous creature, was hidden. Satisfied with what he had accomplished, he wanted to return home, taking his son with him.

However, Daedalus knew that king Mimos would not allow him to leave and that he was shut in by sea. He had to devise an idea of how to flee from king Mimos and his men.

"The king may block my way by land or across the ocean, but the sky, surely, is open, and that is how we shall go, " he thought.

"With these words, he set his mind to sciences never explored before, and altered the laws of nature," according to Ovid.

There was a solution to the problem. They needed to fly to escape from the king and his men.
Daedalus needed to build a flying machine, which is exactly what he did. He constructed two aircraft, one for himself and the other for his son, Icarus. Daedalus gave his son lectures on how to operate the flying vehicle. After that the two of them began their sky travel. The people on the ground who saw these flying machines were astonished.

The author Ovid describes the scene as follows:

"Some fishermen, perhaps plying with his quivering rod, some shepherd leaning on his staff, or a peasant bent over his plow handle caught sight of them as they flew past and stood still in astonishment, believing that these creatures who could fly through the air must be gods."

The two pilots managed to leave Crete and continued their flight across the Aegean Sea, but the most unfortunate accident occurred.

For the young Icarus, the opportunity of being able to fly was such a thrilling experience that he forgot everything his father had told him before the trip.

Pieter Brueghel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c. 1558). Credit: Public Domain

The young man soared higher and higher skywards. He then lost control over the aircraft and was "swallowed up in the deep blue waters, which are now called after him."

If Icarus had not been over-excited, he would not have crashed into the water and would probably have managed to fly all the way home.

Still, one can understand the young man's excitement. Only the gods were privileged to fly, and there he was, an ordinary human, high up in the air, looking down at all things on the ground. No wonder he wanted to get as much as possible out of this unusual experience.

"Among the credulous, the significance of the name of a people of Asia Minor, the Capnobates, 'those who travel by smoke,' gave rise to the assertion that Montgolfier was not first in the field--or instead in the air--since indeed this people must have been responsible for the first hot-air balloons.

Far less questionable is the legend of Icarus, for here, it is possible to trace a foundation of fact in the story.

Such a tribe as Daedalus governed could have had hardly any knowledge of the rudiments of science, and even their ruler, seeing how easy it is for birds to sustain themselves in the air, might be excused for believing that he, if he fashioned wings for himself, could use them.

In that belief, let it be assumed, Daedalus made his wings; the boy, Icarus, learning that his father had determined on an attempt at flight, secured the wings and fastened them to his shoulders. A cliff seemed the likeliest place for a 'take-off,' and Icarus leaped from the cliff edge only to find that possessing wings was not enough to assure flight to a human being.

How can we be sure that the story of Icarus and Daedalus is not just a fable? We have to remember that Daedalus was a master architect, capable of constructing many highly advanced things. When he built his flying machine, he knew exactly how to proceed and was fully aware of what could occur if something went wrong.

That was why he taught his son what he should and should not do.

Some scholars argue Daedalus's knowledge about the aircraft's limitations proves the story's authenticity and represents a perfect example of ancient aviation skills.

Updated on June 29, 2022

Written by - Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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