Comparsion Of Ovid’s The Story Of Daedalus And Icarus And Williams’ Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus And The Lessons They Teach Us
Icarus is just a boy whos ignorance gets in the way of his own judgement leading to his own self-destruction. Ovid’s “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus” is the perfect reminder of how easy and quick people can rise, but also how fast consequences can arise from poor decision making. Icarus goes against the word his father Daedalus and flies close to the sun, best said by Williams in his Poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, “sweating in the sun / that melted / the wings’ wax.” While escaping, Icarus flies too close to the sun melting them and ultimately leads to his unexpected death. Living in a society today where many young kids rebel against their parents and are often trying to escape from problems and the daily struggles of life. Kids rebel and often think that parents do not know what is best for them. The advice given to kids often are ignored and while finding a way to escape reality and unfortunate consequences can occur in a society where addiction, disconnection from reality, and even death are abundant.
Like most children, Icarus did not listen to his father, Daedalus, who told Icarus, “I warn you, Icarus, fly a middle course: / Don’t go too low, or water will weigh the wings down; / Don’t go too high, or the suns fire will burn them / Keep to the middle way” (Ovid 23-26). Icarus was too proud, and ignorant to his father’s words, causing him to fall from the sky and drown. Icarus may have been escaping his surroundings and situation by flying higher and higher contrary to society today. The disconnection from reality has never been easier to check out mentally by the movement of your fingers. Social media has a huge presence in people's lives today, more so than not that majority gets put on to the younger generations. As the younger generations have grown up with social media being an escape it is readily available and it is viewed very differently from a very similar form of escaping reality. Regardless of the escape, people use different things to achieve a similar goal, and can ultimately end horrifically as seen with Icarus and his ignorance.
Icarus was too cocky and started to think too big for himself becoming very self-centred. Ultimately Icarus being self-centred and certainly thinking that the world revolves around him while falling straight towards the sea to his death, nobody was concerned or off to help. Peter Breughel depicts Icarus plummeting out of the sky in his painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” The painting shows ordinary people doing everyday activities and these people are easy large and easy to see, yet this painting is about the story of Icarus but he is hard to find and is an afterthought. This shows that no matter how important we think we are, peoples lives continue and others lives mean very little to others. Williams Carlos Williams best describes the insignificance of Icarus falling to the people around Icarus in his poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, “insignificantly / off the coast / there was / a splash quite unnoticed / this was / Icarus drowning.” No matter how high Icarus thought of himself there was no one who noticed the fall as life went on regardless of his. Just as in society today with the inclusion of social media has brought a lot of self-centred people that hold others and themselves at a very high standard. Williams depicts that currently in a society where humans continually grow more selfish, busy, individually interested and self-centred that people do not have the time to become personally involved with outside issues. One persons life is ultimately insignificant regardless of one life, the world will continue on.
Becoming too big for one’s self, being self-centred and selfish is apart of human nature and once the choices people make go too far, it is too late to realize the effect it causes on those around them. Muriel Rukeyser tweaks the story of Icarus, focusing on the thoughts of a lover after Icarus fell. Rukeyser’s poem “Waiting for Icarus” shows the effect by a loved one’s selfish decisions, stating “ I remember she added: Women who love such are the worst of all / I have been waiting all day, or perhaps longer. / I would have liked to try those wings myself. / It would have been better than this.” Icarus’ lover is hurt that he will not return upon her waiting for a long time. Rukeyser depicts anguish and abandonment in the poem displaying Icarus’ lover stating her desire to, “try those wings” herself, possibly hoping to use the wings as an escape from her difficult situation which is better than what she is experiencing. In contrast to William Carlos Williams poem, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” that depicts the end of Icarus’ life, describing that personal misery affects only the individual involved while life moves on regardless of a lost life. Between life and death, the two poems question one’s stance on life and death creating the thought of another person’s anguish.
