Long, long ago, a skilled artist named Daedalus lived with his son, Icarus, on the island of Crete. Daedalus used his talents to design buildings and temples. His work was

admired across the lands.

One day, the king asked Daedalus to build a home for his prized pet, the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a monster with the head of a bull and body of a human. The king loved the Minotaur and wanted it to have a beautiful place to live.

Daedalus decided to build a Labyrinth, or maze, for the Minotaur. This way, the Minotaur would never be able to escape and people would never find their way through the maze to harm the creature. The maze was beautiful and

made the king happy.

The king was a very greedy man. He wanted Daedalus to work only for him. So, the king imprisoned Daedalus and his son.

Because Daedalus was so clever, he invented wings made from bird feathers and wax. Using the wings, he and Icarus

would be able to fly away from their prison and to freedom.

The wings worked! Father and son flew away from the king’s prison, soaring over the open water. Freedom was in sight! Icarus especially loved flying through the air, darting from

cloud to cloud.

Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun. He was concerned the wax wings would melt from the heat.

Icarus did not pay attention to his father. He was having too much fun shooting through the sky!

Despite Daedalus’ warnings, Icarus flew higher and higher into the sky. His wings began to melt! He flapped his arms harder and harder to keep himself in the air, but it did not

work. He was losing too many feathers! Icarus plummeted in the sea and drowned.

Poor Daedalus made it to freedom alone.