The classic Greek story of Icarus, as most of us know it, warns us about the perils of not listening to an authority. In this case, his dad Daedalus fashioned wings made out of feathers and wax to help his son escape from the island of Crete. As he took off, Daedalus cautioned Icarus not to fly too high as the heat from the sun would melt the wax, causing him to fall to his death. Failing to heed his father’s warning, Icarus soared too close to the sun, falling to his death in the sea below. It’s a classic story of hubris.

This is the version of the story most of us know, as it has been told this way for the last few hundred years. Yet, the original telling of the story, dating back some 2000 years spoke of Daedalus’ more important warning to Icarus, when he exclaimed “not to fly too low as the mist form the ocean will weight down your wings and you will surely perish.”

Why the retelling?

I think it was to create good workers and keep people in line. Very few people have the courage to change the world, much less go after what they want in life. The industrial revolution needed people to follow directions so that things could be made. With that came the safety of a paycheck and the security of a good life. There was little room for those who had the hubris to dream bigger. To seek out new frontiers. To challenge the status quo. 

Unfortunately, the safety of following the formula of go to school, get a job, no longer guarantees any form of security in the modern world. Acquiring debt, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like is what keeps the story going. We work to accumulate things, trading our health along the way, and at the end we realize the things we have are not as rewarding as the experiences of creating a life — failure and all — would have been. 

Narrative is everything.

We’ve flown so low for so long, that our collective narrative isn’t able to tell the difference between what we are told is good for us and what we really want. We’re disconnected from telling our own story. We don’t need to fly so high that we are scorched by the sun but our acceptance of this status quo is making us invisible to the world we want.

The real meaning of Icarus, at least to me, is to heed the warnings of those we trust, but do not be afraid to leave the safety of your comfort zone to try new things, to leave the island of the status quo and search for a life you always wanted.