A New Perspective on Icarus' Death

 

     Recently we have been talking a lot about the death of Icarus. While going through the commentary that Dr. Sexson told us about a few weeks ago, I found another painting that shows his death. I really like that painting as it shows another facet of the story. The one below shows of father's loss of his son. The one to the left shows loss of goodness. Icarus looks like a fallen angel at this point (which could be related to the Biblical Christian myths). When looking at the women surrounding him, I see the virgins that were to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Now I may be over-reading this picture but to me it is a commentary that the loss of innocence comes through death in a multitude of ways. The color of red signifies death, pain, and tragedy. While the one below depicts a happy pastoral scene until one looks below the surface. Only on close inspection can the loss of life and a father's despair be seen.

One of my main points in this blog is just to point out how the various stories can have many many different meanings when looked at through different lenses. If I had not already read Ovid's Metamorphosis, would I have been able to decipher that these two paintings were about the same thing? No I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that. The painting below seems to show that even if death occurs for someone, the rest of life goes on for everyone else. The one above tells me that the death of one can be the death of someone's world. It just is a matter of perspective.