Kelly Huang, Period 7, 10/14/22

Kelly Huang

Period 7

10/14/22

Modern Mythology 2023

Literacy & learning

As I’ve read through the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus, there were many connections I can make with what happened to Icarus. In the story, Daedalus and Icarus were imprisoned by King Minos in an inescapable labyrinth, but the father and son duo ultimately found a way to escape, owing to Daedalus’ ingenuity. Daedalus had warned his son about flying at a low altitude to not melt the wings made of feathers and wax by the heat from the sun. However, the foolish young Icarus, who let the new sense of the power of flying get into his head, disregarded his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun which inevitably melted his wings. The new power he felt washed away along with the wax and feathers. The notion of the young being the fool and the elderly being the wise ones is not new. In this case, Icarus is the fool and Daedalus the wise. Many young people are ignorant of what life entails and choose to ignore the words of the elderlies, who have already experienced the harsh reality first-hand. I remember a time when I was young and first learned how to ride a bicycle, I felt a surge of adrenaline overwhelming me. Despite my mother telling me to slow down because I could get hurt with the speed I’m going, my feeble mind thought I could go as fast as I wish to and no one could stop me. That was until I ran into a pole and badly scraped my knee and elbow. The young me was reckless and impulsive. Had I listened to my mother I wouldn’t have gotten hurt. 

The painting called “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” depicts the ongoing life and nature around, all while Icarus is drowning at the corner of the painting. Just because unfortunate events happen in your life, it does not apply to those around you. People would still have their daily jobs to perform, necessities to do in order to put food on the table, and many more things that need to be done. One tragedy does not stop the flow of life. Life goes on and people continue to move forward instead of dwelling on what’s already irreversible. 

What I’ve learned in this lesson with Daedalus and Icarus applies to our circumstances during the Covid pandemic. Many tragedies were happening at once. Lives were lost, either through the pandemic itself, natural disasters or by humans themselves. It’s saddening that this is happening to so many people, but we are aware that it's not something that can stop us from performing our everyday tasks. For example, students wake up early to go to school everyday and come home to do homework, while the parents go to work and earn a living. The loss of other human beings doesn’t stop us from continuing our lives.

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