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By: Katherine VanHise, Pooja Pradhan, Jake Godshall Daedalus was a highly respected and talented artisan who was a descendant of the first mythical king of Athens, Cecrops. He was known for his skill as an architect, inventor, and producing famous works, including sculptures. One day Daedalus’ nephew, Talus, who seemed destined to become a great artisan as his uncle saw the way a snake used its jaws and was inspired to invent the saw. Daedalus was stricken with jealousy and he threw Talus off the Acropolis. Daedalus was exiled to Crete and was put under the service of King Minos. Eventually, he had a son, Icarus, with Naucrate—the mistress slave of the king. King Minos called Daedalus to build the Labyrinth to imprison the dreaded Minotaur. The Minotaur had the head of a bull and the body of a man. He was the son of Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, and a bull that was gift from Poseidon. Theseus volunteered himself to be sent to the Minotaur in order to kill the beast. When he arrived in Crete, Minos’ daughter (Ariadne) fell in love with him and wished him to survive the Minotaur’s wrath. Daedalus revealed the mystery of the labyrinth to Ariadne who then passed it on to Theseus, allowing him to slay the Minotaur and escape the Labyrinth. When Minos found out Daedalus’ treachery, he imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in the Labyrinth. Daedalus came up with a plan to escape the Labyrinth with Icarus by constructing wings and flying to safety. He built the wings from feathers and wax. Before the two escaped, Daedalus warned Icarus “not to fly too low lest his wings touch the waves and get wet” and “not too high lest the sun melt the wax.” But Icarus was so exhilarated by flying that he flew too close to the sun and the wax on his wings melted. He fell into the sea and drowned. Daedalus reached Sicily and Icarus’ body washed ashore by the current. Heracles came across the body and buried it. He named the island Icaria and sea, Icaria, after the fallen Icarus. The poem is structured in five stanzas, all in blank verse. There are shifts in the stanzas that compare the optimistic attitude that Icarus sustains to the pessimism that the modern day passengers on the airplane reveal. The author’s strategy of conveying this claim is very unique and detectable structurally. The first, fouth and fifth stanzas represent the positive attitude of Icarus. Aldiss is saying, why always talk about the fall of Icarus, why not talk about the glory of Icarus' bravery and mission - that he attempted to fly once in his life toward the sun and leave "time" and "everyday" things in search of something greater? The second and third stanzas discuss the corporate men flying high above the Arctic Circle without a care in world, except for their plastic trayed dinners - "oblivious to the stratosphere." There is no rhyme scheme in the poem. The feet are not consistent throughout the poem; most of the poem is written in iamb which helps to duplicate natural speech. However, there are some trochee feet, as well as spondees (some random heavy syllables) added to create emphasis to a certain word to display a meaning: for example "up, up." Brian Aldiss, in the poem “Flight 063,” alludes to the myth of Icarus in order to contrast Icarus' optimism with the pessimism and apathy of the passengers aboard flight 063. Although, the story of Icarus' death often serves as a lesson for the value of moderation (do not “fly too high or “too low”) and a lesson in following directions, Aldiss has Icarus fill a slightly different archetype. By focusing on Icarus' boundless enthusiasm before his tragic fall, Aldiss asserts that Icarus is an optimist who should be envied. He blames his fall not on Icarus's lack of restraint but on “such silly limitations as the melting point of wax.” Icarus is admired by Aldiss who speaks of “his glorious sense of life.” The poem attempts to reframe the archetype of Icarus; Aldiss resents always speaking of his fall and “that little splash/ Which caught the eye of Breughel.” He values his optimism and heart. The poet believes that the fall of Icarus “remains/ Suspended in the corporate mind.”Instead of being optimistic about the possibilities of life like Icarus, the passengers, or people in general, are too consumed with the possibilities of failure. They restrain themselves because they know if they “fly too high” they too will meet their demise. Even though the passengers are flying above the Arctic Circle “into the sun's eyes,” they stare down at their plastic trays, “oblivious to the stratosphere.” The poem not only seems to be an attack on the pessimism and lack of heart of people, it attacks the archetype of the myth itself. Aldiss suggests that the wrong message has been taken from the myth; it is not a cautionary tale but one of optimism and taking risks. **__Further Research:__** []  [] =
 * __Flight 063 __**** Myth Explication **
 * The Myth: Daedalus and Icarus **
 * __ The Poem: __**
 * Structure: **
 * Sound: **
 * Sense: ** There is little figurative language in the poem (the only significant being the repetition of the word up in the last stanza which creates an uplifting, optimistic mood), but there are many symbols and allusions (to the myth…obviously). The word choice highlights the interpretation of the myth. Icarus' flight is described as legendary, a leap of heart, while has his fall was described as a little splash. By doing this, Aldiss accents the positive aspects of Icarus' flight, and even goes so far to say that his downfall was because of the "silly limitations" of wax. On the contrary, the word choice used in describing the corporate flight describes a very static, "oblivious" sense. Icarus' fall is "suspended" in their minds, they cannot move past it to see the good in life, just like the corporate people cannot see past their plastic trays on their flight; they have no idea where they are and how beautiful the concept of flight really is. Also the symbols and allusions add to the myth as a part of sense. These help to display his message. The allusion to Brueghel's painting that shows that the fall of Icarus was insignificant and the allusion to Adam and Eve, pointing out another example in which modern society only see the fall, or negative part of a situation.
 * __ The Meaning: __**