Icarus, Matisse, Star Trek, and Scientific Research


Icarus and his father Daedalus tried to escape from the Labyrinth where King Minos have imprisoned them. Daedalus constructed two pairs of wings from feathers and wax. During their attempt to escape from the Labyrinth, Icarus incautiously flight too close to the sun; so the wax in his wings melted and he tumbled out of the sky falling down into the sea where he drowned.

As many others, I have considered Icarus for a long time as a symbol of complacency and hubris, an extreme mix of arrogance and pride. My perspective changed recently after seeing Henri Matisse' paintings on this subject: The Flight of Icarus. Here Matisse shows Icarus in the deep blue sky while he is in free fall. It's a moment of tragedy, which symbolizes the collapse of all hopes and ambitions of the young Icarus. Nevertheless, Icarus looks calm, free of anxiety or fear. A bright red spot in place of a heart could be interpreted as Matisse’s way of depicting Icarus’ enthusiasm for research in an attempt to boldly go where nobody has gone before. 


Comments