![]() Icarus, however, is so overcome with the feeling of flight that he ignores his father and flies high into the air, where the wax melts and he plummets into the sea. Daedalus warns his son not to fly too close to the sun, or else the wax will melt. ![]() Traditionally, Icarus and Daedalus escape from prison using artificial wings made from wax and feathers. The defining moment in both the original myth of Icarus and in Field’s adaptation is Icarus’s fall. It was not so strange, then, that Field had succeeded in adapting the myth of Icarus to fit present day society. More specifically, the character of Icarus and the symbolism of his fall is inherently tied with human nature. Of course Icarus did not survive the fall, and even if he had, why would he have ended up in modern times? How is the classical period of the ancient Greeks even somewhat compatible with present day? However, as I thought more about it, I began to realize that many of the motifs expressed in the original myth continued to be expressed in Field’s adaptation, yet with a twist that fits the character of the modern age. “Such a Loser” comforts the inept subject of the song, encouraging the listener to “Throw your heart at it, so what if you break it?” The singers elaborate upon this theme with the lines “Icarus is bullshit, that’s why it’s called mythology/ People can’t stand genius without an apology/ F**k that, f**k them.” Even in their satirical mode, Garfunkel and Oates reject the same criticism of Icarus that Sexton does-the notion of hubris as a fatal flaw-instead choosing to employ the Icarus myth to celebrate confidence.At first, I found this concept very odd. The comedy-folk performers Garfunkel and Oates exhibit a similarly defiant tone and admiration of pride in their song “ Such a Loser.” However, Garfunkel and Oates emphasize these themes in a criticism of the Icarus myth, unlike Sexton. Sexton imparts a defiant reading of the original myth to her audience, arguing, “Who cares that he fell back to the sea?” ( l.12) in praise of Icarus’s boldness, mocking the tale’s cautionary reflection on pride. (See “ In Verse: Why Do Poets Care about the Icarus myth?” for more on Sexton’s work). Gift of Jane and Raphael Bernstein 2010.84.71Īnne Sexton’s poem, “To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph” also exaggerates the pride and audacity Icarus embodies. The artist exacerbates the blame on Icarus, or Lord Temple, for his misfortune in a short poetic inscription: “With Plumes & Wax, & such like things/ In quantities not small/ He tries to make a pair of Wings/ To ease his sudden Fall!” This is a reference to Temples alleged theft of office supplies like quills, but since Daedalus crafted the wings in the original myth, Icarus’s responsibility and incompetence are exaggerated with the charge that he created them. Icarus’s hubris, or pride, is a commonly held explanation for his fall, which Gillray easily translates to this scene of King George III as the sun melting Temple’s wings. In this cutting political satire, Gillray equates Temple’s dismissal with Icarus’s fall. Temple lost his administrative position when the King fired his uncle, the Prime Minister. Gillray’s Icarus is the obese Lord Temple, an entitled bureaucrat who was unpopular with King George III and his own peers in Parliament. For example, in his 1807 print The Fall of Icarus, English satirist and printmaker James Gillray exaggerated the notions of fault and foolishness from the original myth. How does satire work effectively with a tale like Icarus’s, defined by its serious subject matter? In the case of this particular myth, satire has both accentuated certain possible interpretations and subverted these potential meanings.
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