The master craftsman Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned on the island of Crete by King Minos.
To escape, Daedalus fashioned wings from bird feathers and beeswax.
Daedalus warned Icarus to fly a middle course—not too low, or the sea’s spray would weigh down the feathers; and not too high, or the sun’s heat would melt the wax.
Overcome by the exhilaration of flight, Icarus ignored the warning and soared toward the sun. The wax melted, his wings fell apart, and he plummeted into the sea, now called the Icarian Sea, and drowned.