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‘ expensive delicate ship that must have seen Icarus, with just his flailing legs visible in the water at the bottom right-hand corner of the painting, is passed by an: The poem is a profound meditation on how life continues even in the face of appalling tragedy, the individual but a scratch on the surface of history. Auden to write Mus é e des Beaux Arts after viewing it on a trip to Brussels in 1938. This painting of the Icarus myth, attributed to Bruegel, inspired the poet W.H. It is one of the classic accounts of hubristic behaviour the phrase ‘to fly too close to the sun’ remains part of everyday speech, a warning against over-ambition and bravado. This ancient Greek myth was narrated by the Roman poet Ovid in Metamorphoses and has inspired numerous authors, including Shakespeare, Milton and James Joyce, whose semi-autobiographical character Stephen Dedalus features in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Ulysses (1922). The wax melted, his wings collapsed and he fell fatally into the sea. While escaping, Icarus ignored his father’s instructions to maintain a course between the heavens and the sea and flew too close to the sun. In order that he and his son, Icarus, could escape from Crete, Daedalus had fashioned wings out of feathers held together by beeswax. It was originally built to house the Minotaur, though Daedalus himself had been imprisoned within it for aiding his fellow Athenian Theseus in his mission to kill the monstrous half-man, half-bull. I like second chances, as is evidenced by my own fantasies, and the next book will have a protagonist that is especially near and dear to me.Daedalus, an Athenian craftsman, created the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Oh, and I should say that Icarus Rising is the first book in the Second Chances series. If I had one quibble with the storyline it is that I would like Icarus (aka Russ) and Eve to have found themselves in one more really bad jam. So when I say there is some romance in this tale I think I know what I’m talking about! As a matter of full disclosure, while I do not read romance I’m a Hallmark movie addict. Now I am not an aficionado of Romance, but I know it when I see it. And it isn’t only the gods that grow but also Icarus and a young lady and bookstore owner in Devon, CT by the name of Eve. Character development not only drives a story but is a mark of good writing. And for those of you who have followed my blogs, you will know that I believe it is not plot or character alone that drive a story but rather character development. It is especially fun to see how the ancient Greek gods, Apollo, Athena and Artemis deal with life in our century. You can go to Amazon for that, so let’s talk about the book and the writing. But nobody likes spoilers and when I review I avoid synopses. What makes them POP? That’s part of the fun of the story so you’ll have to read it! Anyway, poor Icarus wanders around Hades for a few millennia but then is given a ‘Second Chance,’ is sprung from Hades and lands in the 21st century. He is forced to suffer a set of wings that pop out of and back into his body in a painful process. Well, Moors puts a twist in the story and it turns out Apollo holds a grudge against Icarus’ arrogance, as does his sister Artemis, goddess of the moon. Later Daedalus builds a temple to the sun god, Apollo. Well, Icarus is the typical boneheaded kid and gets cocky, flies too high, the sun melts the wax on his wings and he plummets to his death in the sea. He tells his son, Icarus, to fly at a ‘middle height ’ not too close to the sea or his wings will become damp and heavy and he will plunge into it and not too high otherwise the sun will melt the wax. So he invents a pair of wings which contain wax. In the original story, Daedalus, an inventor, angers King Minos and has to get his butt out of Crete.
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You might develop a new fondness for myth and legend. And if you didn’t answer YES you may still want to read the book. So do you like mythology? Particularly Greek mythology? And did you like American Gods by Neil Gaiman? How about American Gods with a smile? How about Romance? If your answer to any of these questions is YES then you should read ‘Icarus Rising,’ by N.W.Moors.