awesome sauce podcast

The podcast discusses the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus. Daedalus was imprisoned by King Minos on an island but managed to create wings for himself and his son, Icarus, using feathers and wax. They flew together, but Icarus flew too close to the sun, causing his wings to melt and him to fall into the sea. The story teaches about the dangers of hubris. The podcast hosts share their thoughts on the myth and make connections to other stories and pop culture references. Hello, this is Franklin Dana, Patrick Williams, Denise Rua, and Janara Valdez. Today is November 17th, 2023, and we are recording this podcast in the ChiArts hallway. Today we are discussing about a story, a Greek myth titled, The Flight to Icarus. You will maybe learn a thing or two about this story, or not, I don't care, but enjoy. Let's begin. When Theseus escaped from the labyrinth, King Minos flew into a rage with its builder, Daedalus, and ordered him shut up in the high tower that faced the lonely sea. In time, with the help of his young son, Icarus, Daedalus managed to escape from the tower, only to find himself a prisoner on the island. Several times he tried, by bribery, to stow away on one of the vessels sailing from Crete. But King Minos kept strict watch over them, and no ships were allowed to sail without being carefully searched. Daedalus was an ingenious artist and was not discouraged by his failures. Minos may control the land and sea, he said, but he does not control the air. I will try that way. He called his son Icarus to him, and told the boy to gather up all the feathers he could find on the rocky shore. As thousands of gulls soared over the island, Icarus soon collected a huge pile of feathers. Daedalus then melted some wax and made a skeleton in the shape of a bird's wing. The smallest feathers he pressed into the soft wax, and the large ones he tied on with thread. Icarus played about on the beach, happily while his father worked, chasing the feathers that blew away in the strong winds that swept the island, and sometimes taking bits of wax and working it into strange shapes with his fingers. It was fun making the wings. The sun shone on the bright feathers. The breezes rustled them. When they were finished, Daedalus fastened them to his shoulders and found himself lifted upwards, where he hung hoist in the air. Filled with excitement, he made another pair for his son. They were smaller than his own, but strong and beautiful. Finally, one clear wind swept morning. The wings were finished. Then Daedalus fastened them to Icarus' shoulders and taught him how to fly. He bade him watch the movements of the birds. How they soared and glided overhead. He pointed out the slow, graceful sweep of their wings as they beat through air steadily without fluttering. Soon Icarus was sure that he could, too, fly, and raising his arms up and down, skirted over the white sand and even out over the waves, letting his feet touch the snowy foam as the water thundered and broke over the sharp rocks. Daedalus watched him proudly, but with misgiving. He called Icarus to his side, and putting his arms around the boy's shoulders, said, Icarus, my son, we are about to make our flight. No human being has ever traveled through air before, and I want you to listen carefully to my instructions. Keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low, the fog will clog your wings, and if you fly too high, the heat will melt your wax that holds them together. Keep near me, and you will be safe. He kissed Icarus and fastened the wings more securely to his son's shoulders, Icarus standing in the bright sun, the shining wings dropping gracefully from his shoulders, golden hair wet with gray, and his eyes bright and dark with excitement, looking like a lovely bird. Daedalus's eyes filled with tears, and turning away, he soared into the sky, calling to Icarus to follow. From time to time, he looked back to see that his boy was safe, and to note how he managed his wings in his flight. As they flew across the land to test their prowess before, setting out across the dark, wild sea, plowmen began to stop their work, and shepherds gazed in wonder, thinking Daedalus and Icarus were gods. Father and son flew over Samos and Delos, which lay on their left, and Levinesis, which lay on their right. Icarus, beating his wings in joy, felt the thrill of the cool wind on his face and the clear above air below him. He flew higher and higher up into the blue sky until he reached the clouds. His father saw him and called out in alarm. He tried to follow him, but he was heavier, and his wings would not carry him. Up and up Icarus soared, through the soft, moist clouds and out again, towards glorious sun. He was bewitched by our sense of freedom and beat his wings frantically so that they would carry him higher and higher to heaven itself. The blazing sun beat down on the wings and softened the wax. Small feathers fell from the wings and floated softly down, warning Icarus to stay his flight and glide to earth, but the enchanted boy did not notice them until the sun began to so hot that the largest feathers dropped off and he began to sink. Frantically he flooded his arms, but no feathers remained to hold the air. He cried out to his father, but his voice was submerged in the blue waters of the sea, which had been forever called by his name. Dadialus, crazed by anxiety, called back to him, Icarus, Icarus, my son, where are you? At last he saw his feathers floating from the sky, and soon his son plugged through the clouds into the sea. Dadialus hurried to save him, but it was too late. He gathered the boy in his arms and flew to land, the tips of his wings dragged in the water from the double burden they bore. Ripely, bitterly, he buried his small son and called the land Icaria in his memory. Then, with a flutter of wings, he once more took to the air, but the joy of his flight was gone and his victory over the air was bitter to him. He hurried safely to Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo and hung up his wings as he was offering to the God. In the wings he pressed a few bright feathers he had found floating on the water where Icarus fell, and he mourned when the bird-like son who had thrown caution to the wind in the exhalation of his freedom from the earth. Okay, well that myth was very nice. Now we are going to say our thoughts on it. My personal thoughts on this myth is that it was very interesting in the way that Icarus had such a high hubris and it led to his eventual death. And that is personally relatable to pop culture in such a thing like the Marvel character Icarus or the fictional character Superman, who also flies very close to the sun. Fernando, what were your thoughts on this? My thoughts on the story were that you could maybe learn something from this story. Sure, a solution could bring you so much emotional joy, but sometimes if you go a little bit over the board with those emotions, it could lead you to something not so good. Now, Gennaro, do you have any thoughts on this? I thought the story was pretty crazy. Yeah, Denise, what are your thoughts? I thought that this story was interesting and... and that it reminded me of a My Little Pony episode I watched when I was younger and how the wings and the wings in the pony in the episode caused Rarity to fall because she flew too close to the sun, just like Icarus did in the story. Well, that was our episode of our podcast. Thank you for tuning in, and we will see you next time.