Date: 7 Jun 2026
Topic: Mythology
Codebreakers are a fun way to build numeracy skills.
King Minos of Crete imprisoned Icarus and his father, Daedalus, in a tower by the sea. Daedalus had designed the labyrinth hidden beneath Crete, a vast maze built to imprison the Minotaur, a monstrous creature that was fed human tributes. Victims were sent into the labyrinth and left to wander until they were found and killed by the beast.
The Athenian prince Theseus volunteered to be one of the victims, vowing to slay the Minotaur and end the suffering of his people. When he arrived in Crete, King Minos's daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him. To help him survive the deadly maze, she gave him a sword and a ball of thread. She instructed him to tie one end of the string to the entrance and unwind it as he ventured deeper into the labyrinth, allowing him to find his way back out. Theseus successfully killed the Minotaur and escaped.
When King Minos discovered that Daedalus had helped Ariadne aid Theseus, he was furious at the betrayal. As punishment, he imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in a tower overlooking the sea.
Daedalus knew the only way to escape Crete was by air. He fashioned two sets of wings out of bird feathers, thread, and beeswax. Before taking off, Daedalus gave Icarus a stern warning: do not fly too low, where the sea's moisture would weigh the wings down, and do not fly too high, where the sun's heat would melt the wax.
Icarus initially obeyed and successfully followed his father into the skies. However, intoxicated by the thrill and exhilaration of flight, he grew overconfident. Ignoring his father's advice, he soared higher and higher until the sun's heat melted the wax holding his wings together. The feathers came loose, causing Icarus to plummet from the sky and drown in the body of water now known as the Icarian Sea.