Myth & LegendGreek → English
Icarus
/ˈɪkərəs/proper noun
The boy of Greek myth who flew on wax wings, went too near the sun and fell into the sea.
The Greek roots
Ἴκαρος
Íkaros
Icarus, son of Daedalus
Literally: “Icarus”
Follow a root:Ἴκαρος1 word
The story of the word
The stretch of the Aegean where he came down was called the Icarian Sea, and the island of Ikaria still carries the name. The moral usually drawn is about ambition, but Ovid's version has Daedalus warning against flying too low as much as too high, since sea spray would soak the feathers and drag the boy down. Read that way the story is about holding a middle course, not about daring.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
IcarianDaedalus
In a sentence
Every startup obituary reaches for Icarus by the second paragraph.
Brueghel puts Icarus in the corner as two white legs going into the water.