Text Dependent Questions for The Myth of Icarus Learning Goal: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, as well as in words. Resources: 1. Summary of Icarus (myth) 2. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (painting) 3. Musee des Beaux Arts (poem) 4. Learning to Fly (song) 5. Learning to Fly (Music Video) Summary: The Myth of Icarus According to Greek myth, Icarus was the Son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus had been imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of the Labyrinth he himself had built. But Daedalus would not abide captivity. He fashioned two pairs of wings by using wax to glue feathers to wooden frames. Giving one pair to his son, he warned him that flying too near the sun (personified in Greek myth as the god Apollo) would cause the wax to melt. The father and son take flight and local characters (a fisherman, a shepherd, and a ploughman) observe them with wonder and assume that they are gods. Icarus quickly became ecstatic with the ability to fly and forgot his father's warning. The feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea which his father named the Icarian Sea in his honor. The story serves as an example of how the gods place limits on human ambition (hubris). Painting: Landscape with the Fall of Icarus "Landscape with The Fall of Icarus", ca. 1590-95, oil on wood (63 by 90 centimetres (25 in 35 in), Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Museum van Buuren, Brussels, Belgium.
1. What point do you think the artist was making by placing Icarus close to the shore rather than at a distance? 2. Contrast the idea that Apollo caused Icarus s death with how the sun is portrayed in the painting. What attitude does the painting take toward the idea that gods are involved in human suffering? 3. Does Icarus s body appear to be actively or passively sinking into the water? What makes you think this? What effect does this have on the mood of the painting? 4. How do the open, wind-filled sails of the large ship create irony when juxtaposed with Icarus s sinking body? 5. What kind of activities are the people engaged in with technology? How do they compare with the way Icarus was using technology? Poem: Musee des Beaux Arts 1 by W. H. Auden About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters 2 : how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting 5 For the miraculous birth, there always must be Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating On a pond at the edge of the wood: They never forgot That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course 10 Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse Scratches its innocent behind on a tree. In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may 15 Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, 20 Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on. 1 Museum of Fine Arts 2 Famous painters like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, etc.
6. Why does Auden postpone mentioning Icarus until the second stanza of the poem? How might this connect to the theme of Breughel s painting? a. The poem isn t about Icarus; his story is only an afterthought that the poet attaches to the end b. The poem isn t about Icarus; his story is only used to illustrate the point the poet is making c. The poem is creating suspense by revealing Icarus s story after slowly leading up to it d. The poem is creating a powerful impression that will help readers remember Icarus s story 7. What conclusion can you draw about the theme based on lines 5-6: a. Some people will be indifferent to what inspires others. b. Old people are wiser and more impressed by sacred things than younger people. c. The oldest born in a family often desires to have no other siblings. d. In times past, it was difficult to have more than one child. 8. What idea is conveyed in the following lines: the sun shone/as it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green/ Water a. The sun is glorifying Icarus s tragedy and drawing attention to it b. The sun creates the illusion of depth and color as it reflects on the water c. The sun is indifferent to human suffering and treats it as a commonplace event d. The sun is highlighting its power by illuminating Icarus s failure Song: Learning to Fly" by Pink Floyd Into the distance, a ribbon of black Stretched to the point of no turning back A flight of fancy on a windswept field Standing alone my senses reeled A fatal attraction is holding me fast, 5 How can I escape this irresistible grasp? Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I Ice is forming on the tips of my wings Unheeded warnings, I thought, I thought of everything 10 No navigator to find my way home Unladen, empty and turned to stone A soul in tension that's learning to fly Condition grounded but determined to try Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies 15 Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I [Spoken words & sound effects] Friction lock - set. Mixture - rich. Propellers - fully forward. Flaps - set - 10 degree. Engine gauges and suction - check Mixture set to maximum percent - recheck Flight instruments...
Altimeters - check both (garbled word) - on Navigation lights - on Strobes - on (to tower): Confirm 3-8-Echo ready for departure (tower): Hello again, this is now 129.4 (to tower): 129.4. It's to go. (tower): You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots. (to tower): 3-8-Echo Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time. Just hand the power gradually, and it... Above the planet on a wing and a prayer, My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air, Across the clouds I see my shadow fly Out of the corner of my watering eye 20 A dream unthreatened by the morning light Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night There's no sensation to compare with this Suspended animation, a state of bliss Can't keep my mind from the circling skies 25 Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I 9. What is the main idea of the song? Choose all that apply. a. Young people are anxious, yet gain confidence when they learn new things. b. Angels are anxious, yet empowered when they first practice flight c. Individuals are anxious, yet exhilarated when they are on the verge of reaching their potential d. Pilots are anxious, yet determined when they experience their first take off and flight 10. What does the ribbon of black imagery in line 1 most likely refer to? a. The smoke that a plane releases as its engines fire up b. The night sky that the plane is flying into c. The appearance of the runway as the plane accelerates d. The dark soil of a plowed field stretching below 11. What is the most likely interpretation for the following lines: A fatal attraction is holding me fast,/how can I escape this irresistible grasp? Choose all that apply. a. The speaker regrets his decision to fly and wants to eject from a plane b. The speaker is amazed that the force of gravity can be defied. c. The speaker is filled with a desire to fly that he fears is not rational d. The speaker is worried about his speed and wants to slow down
12. Which line from the song would the mythological character Icarus most likely NOT identify with? a. Across the clouds I see my shadow fly b. A dream unthreatened by the morning light c. There's no sensation to compare with this d. Unheeded warnings, I thought, I thought of everything 13. Tongue-tied and twisted on line 16 is an example of what kind of figurative language? a. Allusion b. Alliteration c. Simile d. Hyperbole 14. Compare and contrast the character portrayed in the music video with the ploughman character in the Bruegel painting. What symbolism do you see in each portrayal? How do their actions convey different attitudes and values?