In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a genius inventor who lived in Athens. By accident, he killed his nephew and he fled to Crete with his son Icarus. Minos, the King of Crete, knowing of Daedalus' talents, asked him to build a cage for the Minotaur, a cursed creature, half man, half bull. Daedalus invented an inescapable labyrinth, but to protect the labyrinth's secrets, the king imprisoned Daedalus, Icarus and the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Daedalus had built a secret exit in the labyrinth and escaped with Icarus.
Outside of the labyrinth, they still needed to get past Minos' guards who blocked the roads and harbors. So they made two pairs of large wooden wings covered in feathers adhered with wax. Daedalus told his son it was necessary to fly at the proper height as the spray of the sea would cause the feathers to get wet if too low and the sun would melt the wax if too high. As Daedalus and Icarus used the wings to escape, the pleasure of the flight caused Icarus to forget the advice of his father. Icarus flew too high, the wax melted and he fell to his death in the sea.
A large sun is placed at the crest of the Vol D'Icare's lift hill to represent the sun in Icarus' flight. The remainder of the ride is Icarus' fall to the sea. |