To escape, Daedalus fashioned two sets of wings, with the feathers set in wax. Donning one, he gave the other set to his son, Icarus, but warned him: "Don't fly too low or the sea will soak your feathers. Don't fly too high or the sun will melt your wax."
Together they flew from their prison, up into the air. Icarus beat his arms and soared after his father. The sea shimmered below him. To fly, he thought! To soar with the gulls! He loved it. Icarus grew so excited by his new power, he flew upward toward the clouds, forgetting his father's warning.
Suddenly, a feather loosened from his artifical wings. Then another. He stared at them. The wax was melting fast! His wings were coming apart! He had flown too close to the sun!
Icarus plummeted to the unforgiving sea.
Is that myth true?
Now that's a killer question.
The surface level answer is "no." That's right. No, boys and
girls, myths arent' true.
Does that mean they're lies?
No, of course not.
But isn't something either true or false?
No, that's simplistic. The truth crisscrosses alot.
If at this point you're wondering what this article is about, well I'll tell you. It's about old myths and fairytales and why they're still totally cool even though they're not true and are old as the pyramids. The first thing to remember is that myths are stories. Amazing stories. People told stories and still do because they like to be amazed, frankly. It's healthy. If you find nothing amazes you anymore, wake up. You've been watching too much TV.
On the surface, the myth of Icarus is about a boy who falls to his death in the sea. But below the surface, where the myth really operates, it tells us:
That's what the myth is really about.
Tips for Young Storytellers-
Five Imaginations Dept:
Can you imagine the aroma of a freshly cut orange? Go ahead, imagine it sliced and held up under your nose. Now, be truthful; did you imagine the smell? If you did, you just used one of your Five Imaginations. And not the most powerful one either, not by a long way.
The most powerful imagination for most kids is Visual Imagination, or visual imagery. If when you read, you see pictures in your mind, you're using it. It's a very important part of your intelligence and, believe it or not, is just like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger and bigger it becomes. I use mine all the time when creating new stories.
Now, if when you see a picture in your mind of, say, a waterfall tumbling into a pool, you hear something too--the sound of the waterfall-- then you're using Auditory Imagination as well. Auditory (hearing) Imagination is another one of the Five Imaginations.
By now you've guessed that for each of your Five Senses you possess a form of imagination. The Five Imaginations!
Which ones didn't I mention? Do you have these kinds of imagination, too? Can you connect them all together, creating a complete imaginary world?
After performances, kids always ask me: "Odds, how do you make all those sounds?" It's true, my sound effects are a big part of my storytelling style. I think of them as splashes of imagery your mind can use right away. You can learn to make them, too, if you try.
One of kids' favorites is RINGING CRICKETS. You can hear RINGING CRICKETS on The Adventures of Little Proto and The Panther Boys from Dark Tales of the Supernatural. It's a simple two-step sound effect.
Here's how I do it:
1) First, you have to be able to whistle. If you can't whistle yet, learn. It's the world's best portable musical instrument. You can whistle anywhere and make music just about any time. If you can't whistle, start trying today. It takes the average kid about three days of trying to learn to whistle.
2) Next, flutter your tongue against the roof of your mouth by pushing it up there and blowing air out. The tip of your tongue will vibrate very fast, making a machine gun sound (sorry for the analogy, but that's how I learned it as a kid).
3) Now, COMBINE THE FLUTTER AND THE WHISTLE. In other words, make the whistle opening with your lips while fluttering your tongue in your mouth. Voila! RINGING CRICKETS!
EMAIL ME IF YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS ONE.
--ODDS
