Icarus and Daedalus

Which of the following statements about King Minos and Daedalus best describes their relationship?

• A. King Minos became jealous of Daedalus’s cunning, so he imprisoned him.

• B. Daedalus worked for the king, but the king was unpredictable and eventually had Daedalus imprisoned.

• C. The king wanted to see if his architect was cunning enough to escape from the maze he built.

• D. Daedalus is a god and king Minos is jealous of this fact.

Which of the following statements best describes the nature of Daedalus’s warning to Icarus in the following passage?

Without delay, he fell to work on a pair of wings for the boy Icarus, and taught him carefully how to use them, bidding him beware of rash adventures among the stars. “Remember,” said the father, “never to fly very low or very high, for the fogs about the earth would weigh you down, but the blaze of the sun will surely melt your feathers apart if you go too near.”

For Icarus, these cautions went in at one ear and out by the other. Who could remember to be careful when he was to fly for the first time? Are birds careful? Not they! And not an idea remained in the boy’s head but the one joy of escape.

• A. Daedalus is worried that his invented wings are dysfunctional.

• B. Daedalus knows his son is disobedient by nature and so he warns him early to be careful.

• C. Daedalus knows from experience that the wings will melt and his son likes to fly high.

• D. The thought of flight and escape—which Daedalus warns can be dangerous—is too thrilling for Icarus to worry about safety.

Which of the following inferences best describes a theme of the myth?

• A. If you get too greedy, you will be punished.

• B. Evil will always be punished with death.

• C. There is a danger in men getting too close to the ways of the gods.

• D. Sons cannot be trusted to equal their fathers in intellect and common sense.

Which passage from the text best supports the answer to Question 3?

• A. “ . . . The country folk, who caught a glimpse of them when they were high above the tree-tops, took it for a vision of the gods,--Apollo, perhaps, with Cupid after him.”

• B. “Are birds careful? Not they! And not an idea remained in the boy’s head but the one joy of escape.”

• C. “. . . He, in heavy grief, went to the temple of Apollo in Sicily, and there hung up his wings as an offering. Never again did he attempt to fly.”

• D. “Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the secrets of the gods, none was more cunning than Daedalus.”

Order these events chronologically as they take place in the story:

• Icarus and Daedalus are taken for a vision of the gods.

• Daedalus escapes from King Minos’s tower.

• Daedalus warns his son not to fly too high or too low.

• The feathers of Icarus’s wings fall like snowflakes.

As Icarus was falling, what did he remember at last? Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.