The Story of Icarus in English for Kids

Children are always fans of stories that have a lot of adventure, mystery, action and interesting characters. The Icarus and Daedalus story is no exception either, as it is filled with the above mentioned genres. This Icarus Greek mythology story is about a man named Daedalus and his son Icarus who were locked away in a cave by the King Minos.

After this, Daedalus invents wings for his son Icarus as he was too eager and curious to go outside after being locked up in a cave for 16 years. We will know how Icarus’s curiosity and disobedience cost him his life. This article will explain the Daedalus and Icarus story summary in a language that can be smoothly understood by children.

Daedalus and Icarus Story Summary in English

Once upon a time, on the island of Crete, there lived an expert inventor Daedalus with his son Icarus, who was capable of inventing everything and anything. After Daedalus had come up with a maze to imprison the Minotaur, King Minos locked him up in a cave that faces the sea, near the palace as he was impressed with his works and only wanted Daedalus all for himself, to which Daedalus didn’t mind at first, since he was offered everything that he required such as tools, fine materials, food, clothing, etc and was quite content with it.

However, it was only when Icarus was growing and wanted freedom that Daedalus requested King Minos if he could allow Icarus to join his army, to which King Minos declined, as he thought that Icarus could also be a budding inventor as he grew up witnessing his father. The next few days, Daedalus was so distressed seeing the unhappiness on his son’s face and wanted to do something about it. When Icarus mentioned how the seagulls seem to be so free as they can fly anywhere, Daedalus came up with the idea to create fake wings so that Icarus could taste freedom. So, both father and son helped each other to prepare human-sized, makeshift wings by using broomsticks, fallen feathers of seagulls, wax, and ropes.

The day finally arrived where they could test out their wings and Daedalus advised Icarus to not fly too close to the sun as the heat would melt off the wax. At first, they had a smooth start since both Daedalus and Icarus were finally overjoyed to be able to venture out and moreover, they have succeeded in doing the one thing man hasn’t yet discovered how to do - fly. But soon, Icarus was too absorbed in his sudden chance at freedom as he began to fly higher.

Horrified, Daedalus yelled at him to stop but it was too late, as the wax on the wings on Icarus began to melt and he was falling down towards the sea at an alarming rate. Soon, the feathers were all melted off and Icarus fell to the sea and drowned. After Daedalus started to move on from the death of his beloved son, he named the island close to the sea as Icaria and erected a temple in the name of the sun god Apollo, hung another creation of his wings and promised that he would never encourage another human to fly, ever again.

Icarus is Seen Falling Down to the Ocean

Moral of the Icarus and Daedalus Story

This story clearly speaks about the negative side of arrogance, disobedience, ignorance and freedom. In this story, Icarus was repeatedly told not to fly too close to the sun as it will burn off the wax in his fake wings, causing it to fall apart. But he did not listen to his father’s advice and lost his life. It is from this story that the famous line “Don’t fly too close to the sun” comes from. It means to not be too ambitious or adamant about something and to calm down and back off when necessary.

Note to Parents 

This story can be exposed to your child through story-telling as it is an efficient  method of introducing your children to the world of stories and myth. They will also be made familiar with Greek mythology and its wide range of stories, myth and characters. Story-telling this story to your children will also improve their reading habits and encourage them to read more stories related to Greek mythology as days pass by.