Icarus

• William Carlos Williams - An American poet and pediatrician. He wrote poems, plays, stories, and autobiographies.
• William Carlos Williams was a leading poet of the Imagist movement and often wrote of American subjects and themes.
• William Carlos Williams was awarded the Pultizer Prize in 1963
• William Carlos Williams was awarded the Pultizer Prize in 1963
• Paradox is a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and is yet perhaps true
• A life paradox is a contradiction that presents us with a seemingly unresolvable conundrum
• Landscape with the Fall of Icarus was inspired by the painting of Pieter Bruegel
• Daedalus was a great architect. His incredible inventions were known throughout many lands  and when he arrived in Crete, King Minos was  happy to welcome him and began to make use of his  talents.
• Daedalus - Father of Icarus
• Daedalus' first task is to?

  Construct a labyrinth
• The maze(labyrinth) was to contain the Minotaur, a huge beast, half  man, half bull.
• Minotaur - It had almost unbelievable strength and  was constantly hungry – hungry for the flesh of humans.
• King Minos had come up with a special way of satisfying  the Minotaur’s hunger.
• How many people would the athens sacrifice in order to control the Minotaur's hunger?

  Fourteen people
• Theseus, the son of King Aegeus of Athens
• Theseus, the son of King Aegeus of Athens
• Theseus was sent as one of  the tributes or sacrifices. And when he arrived to the harbor, Ariadne, the  daughter of King Minos, was watching.
• Ariadne - the daughter of King Minos
• Ariadne fell in love with Theseus
• Who did Ariadne call for help to help Theseus?

  Daedalus
• What did Daedalus give Ariadne to help Theseus?

  A great ball of flaxen thread.
• Who did King Minos punish?

  Daedalus and Icarus
• What did Daedalus create in order to escape?

  Wings
• The wings made by Daedalus were help together by a strong wax
• Daedalus warned Icarus not to get too close to the sun
• Daedalus - Famous craftsman
• Daedalus - Created wings
• Daedalus - Built the labyrinth
• Icarus - Daedalus' son
• Icarus - was given wings to fly
• Icarus - He flew too close to the sun thus the wax in his wings melted, resulting in his death.
• Characters in the Fall of Icarus:

  • Daedalus
  • Icarus
  • Minotaur
  • Theseus
  • Ariadne
  • King Minos
• Ekphrasis - oldest type of writing about art
• An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art.
• THE FALL OF ICARUS POEM:

  According to Brueghel

  when Icarus fell

  it was spring

  a farmer was ploughing

  his field

  the whole pageantry

  of the year was

  awake tingling

  near

  the edge of the sea

  concerned

  with itself

  sweating in the sun

  that melted

  the wings’ wax

  insignificantly

  off the coast

  there was

  a splash quite unnoticed

  this was

  Icarus drowning