Anthony B. Wight
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“I am eagle, i am eagle!”
—Gherman Titov, Russia’s second astronaut
If imagination is truly one of the distinguishing features of the human mind, then
Homo sapiens
had doubtlessly wondered about the experience of flight for thousands of years before the heroic Greeks. Ancient legends, songs and poetry from many cultures reveal the connection of human spirit and transcendent hope with the soaring flight of birds, doves, eagles. Spirits, angels, characters of mythology are depicted in story and graphic arts with diaphanous wings and powers of transport far exceeding that of mere mortals. Since imagination is a most human and humanizing exercise, then “flights of imagination’’ or imaginings of flight provide approaches for interdisciplinary study of aerodynamics and human possibilities.
Who was the first man to fly? According to Greek mythology, it was the skilled Athenian craftsman and inventor Daedalus. Daedalus took as an apprentice his nephew Perdix; however, Perdix proved to be such a talented artisan that Daedalus killed him in a jealous rage. After this crime, daedalus fled to the island of Crete (a ‘flight of necessity’’?) where King Minos hired him to work on his fabulous palace at Knossos. His work included many ingenious inventions for Minos, including the world’s first indoor flush toilet and the
labyrinth
, a maze-like building which held Minos’ monstrous mutant child, the Minotaur.
Daedalus later helped Minos’ daughter Ariadne elope with Theseus, the slayer of the Minotaur. As punishment for his crime, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in the labyrinth. To escape, Daedalus made two pairs of wings from feathers, was wax thread. Father and son used the wings to fly from Crete. However, Icarus, in his enthusiasm, flew too high in the sky causing the wax in his wings to melt and he plunged to his death in the sea. Daedalus flew on in grief and reached the mainland. Minos supposedly pursued Daedalus to Sicily where, according to one story, Daedalus killed the king by scalding him in a specially constructed bathtub. Theseus and Ariadne made their way safely to Athens where they became the ruling royalty.
The Daedalus myth has been interpreted for thousand of years in literature and the arts (e.g., Figure 1, woodcut by Albrecht Durer); yet, it remains quite lively and open for student reading and reflection. Daedalus is a mythic hero of human dimensions whose own crimes and shortcomings never go unpunished. From the pre-scientific world of ancient Greece we are given a piercing glimpse of the inner core of our humanity: hubris. Suffering is never far from, and perhaps closely entwined with the greatest accomplishment and achievement. On the other hand, it may inspire students to examine the myth as symbolic of the birth of a new age (Athens/Theseus) through the deposing of an old, obsolete, more barbaric order (Crete/Minos). “The very scientist who, in the service of the sinful king, was the brain behind the horror of the labyrinth, quite as readily can serve the purposes of freedom.’’ (Campbell, p. 24) Daedalus, artist-scientist, single-heartedly dedicated to his craft stands in the pre-dawn of the age of flight as the exemplar of the possibility of harnessing of human imagination and technology. (A classroom activity to further explore the myth is suggested with this unit.)
Daedalus, mythological progenitor of flight, is significant as heroic symbol of human imagination and innovation, but not as the reality we seek. Here it will be helpful to point out to students the differences between myth, legend and history. Legend, Webster inform us, is “a story coming down from the past, especially one regarded as historical although not verifiable.’’ Myth, on the other hand, is “a traditional story that serves to unfold part of the worldview of a people or explain a belief, practice or phenomenon.’’ (Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary) The power of myth lies in its eternal symbolic truth; the greatness of legend lies in its particularity and possibility—it
may
be “historically true.’’
Legends of flight are many and may be of interest to students:
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—A legend from ancient Persia tells of King Kai-Kaus who flew on a throne carried aloft by captive eagles. (Highland, p.6)
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—Bladud, the ninth king of Britain, was killed when he attempted to fly from the Temple of Apollo in Trinavantum (London) using wings covered with feathers. About 850 B.C. (Taylor & Mondey, p.7)
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—Mo To Tzu in China about 400 B.C. is said to have invented the kite, constructing one of light wood. (Taylor & Mondey, p.7)
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—At the time of Nero, Simon the Magician is said to have flown over Rome in a fiery chariot which he built. (Robinson, p.52)
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—Cyrano de Bergerac, the French poet, wrote of ascending to the Moon by surrounding his body with bottles of dew which lifted him up when rays of the sun caused the dew to rise. (Zisfein, p.10)
