Sam Li, Period 7, 10/13/23

Thomas Li 

Period 7                                               

10/13/23                                      

Modern Mythology 2024
 

Literacy & Learning
Reemergence of Icarus
 

    Ever since the lesson on Icarus and the values from the story, a thought has stuck in the back of my mind. The idea of Icarus’ punishment for his pride and want to touch the Sun, ignoring his father’s advice. The idea of such a mistake can make a person turn into something impactless and pathetic. This idea seemed to be set up for a timeless idea, ready to be warped and adapted.

    During the lesson, we were told poems and stories of Icarus, a discussion point was given where Western philosophy states “Reach for the stars”, but Ancient Greek philosophy states “Don’t fly so close to the sun”. Greek philosophy pushed this fable-like tale that showed the punishment to people who ego-ed too far. This is applied to Icarus, where he hadn’t heeded to his father's words and had been punished for trying to fly high. Why did he do it? Why didn’t he listen to his father in the first place? The reason the class had concluded was due to hubris, or pride. In a way, the structure of how we had figured out and analyzed this characteristic of the character gave the pathways to further analysis of future characters. This idea of hubris may show up and be able to be recognized further as we study more Greek mythology. This way of characterization may also be applied to other aspects of characterization. We may find other characteristics that other characters may take in their personality and design. This can be either positive or negative, and may even correlate or see a similar idea with other media or mythologies as well(e.g.: the cardinal sins).

    Ever since the lesson and idea of hubris, I have been interested in finding similar ties to modern media. I realized that many stories had followed this similar character design of Icarus and had a similar role. One media franchise that I noticed following this concept is “John Wick”. Within nearly all the movies, a similar concept is given in the plot. In the first movie, John Wick is unjustly attacked by Iosef, the antagonist, and seeks revenge against them. The Iosef had done an unnecessarily egotistical action of stealing Wick’s car and killing his dog, despite being the son of a wealthy mafia boss and having access to money. Prior to the events of the movies, Wick was described as the most feared hitman and character in the story, yet, every antagonist still wanted to attempt to hunt him. The idea that Wick was this unstoppable force is given, and anyone who tried opposing it has been punished. In what seems to be a reimaging, every antagonist has taken the role of Icarus. Their power and authority given to them had enticed them too well, and they wanted to continue their hunt for power by killing Wick. They had decided they wanted to challenge the Sun which was Wick. Like Icarus, all of them had perished and became one of many bodies. Their power and ego had led them to their demise.

    This archetype isn’t also limited to movies and books. Another media I am fond of that I had found another retelling of was that of a song. In “死神”(Shinigami) by Kenshi Yonezu, a story is given from two perspectives, a human who had no respect for his life and lived an immoral life, and a shinigami(god of death). Within my interpretation of the song, the story tells that of the human being watched by the shinigami, who had decided that they were going to end the life of the human. The flaws and egotism of the human are described and pointed out throughout the song. In verse 1, Yonezu sings “悪銭 抱えどこへ行く”(0:54-0:58), which directly translates to “Where are you going with your bad/dirty money?”. This points out the advantage that the human has, like Icarus’ wings and Iosef’s generational wealth/power. By the end of the music video, Yonezu sings “ああ 火が消える 火が 火が消える 夜明けを待たず ”(1:32-1:40), which can be translated to “Ah, the light's going out before the break of dawn”. The human’s life(symbolized by a flame) had been blown out, signaling their death. The human’s excessive greed for money had caught up to them, which resulted in their death. Yonezu finally remarks “ああ 面白く 面 面白くなるところだったのに” (1:40-146), which translates to “Ah, just as it was getting interesting”. This line pairs well with the impact of Icarus’ death. Like the poems we have read, the death of the human was seen as just a moment, just a hiccup, and resulted in nothing worthwhile. In a way that poems had shown the impact of Icarus’ death on the surrounding area, the human was seen as just a short moment of interest for the Shinigami.

    Despite both “John Wick” and “死神” being vastly different types of art and media, they both share a common archetype and characterization that we had found in Icarus. Studying mythology has benefitted me in allowing me to find different ways to analyze and characterize. This allowed me to find a deeper meaning in the media I consume and see how characterization can be so similar yet so different.