>I just noticed that "Icarus *ascending* on beautiful foolish arms" defies the myth of Icarus actually *descending* with wings burnt by the sun<
Ah, yes, but his flight was initially successful-seeming. He flew up and up and then TOO CLOSE too the sun, which melted the wax he used to make the wings. They came apart and he fell. I think flying too close to the sun is a great metaphor for over-reaching your grasp, or for hubris. Surely for the early Greeks it was a cautionary tale--man must not aspire to the realm of the gods. mc
