Rowling's popular Harry Potter series, draw freely upon mythological motifs and allusions. In addition to the several hundred 'direct' retellings of classical myths that have been published for children and young adults over the last few decades, many other works, including J.K. Young adult literature has come to play a crucial role in the dissemination of myth in the modern age. While drawing upon traditional readings of this well-known story, these texts also use the myth as a launching point to comment on the relevance and the integration of ancient myth within contemporary life and the status of classical studies within the western educational system. This article undertakes a close reading of two retellings of this myth written for young adults: Nadia Wheatley's short story 'Melting Point', from the 1994 collection The Night Tolkien Died, and Paul Zindel's novel, Harry and Hortense at Hormone High, published in 1984. His powers as a craftsman were too great, and, although it was the son who fell, the father was punished. Daedalus too was found guilty: the wings he fashioned violated the natural order. He also should have heeded the wisdom of his elders and obeyed his father's instructions. Icarus should have plotted a middle course across the sky, flying neither too high nor too low. Yet the standard interpretation of the myth frames it as a cautionary tale that illustrates the disastrous consequences of over-ambition. Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of flying, and the classical myth of Icarus and his father Daedalus taps into our longing to take to the air.
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