In Greek mythology Icarus was the son of Daedalus and Naucrates, the slave of the king of Crete, Minos. The king had asked Daedalus to build the labyrinth for the Minotaur and being aware of its structure and its secrets, Daedalus and his son were barred from any escape route from Crete by Minos and were locked up in the labyrinth.

The only way to escape from Crete was by sky as the coasts were guarded and so he slowly built wings with small to large feathers, like a bird. He tied them together with linen threads and used wax to secure them to their base. Daedalus warned Icarus to be careful: too close to the waves and the sea foam would wet the wings and make them too heavy. On the other hand, too close to the sun, the wax would melt.

They left but unfortunately Icarus, also taken by the joy of flying, launched himself too high and, having reached Ursa Major, he did not notice that the Sun was rising in the east. Helios with his fiery rays struck the wings, melted the wax and he fell into the sea.

Every tear that slipped into the sea was collected by the Nereids who made them pearls of wisdom. It is said that every night the spirit of Icarus rises from the sea to play with the stars in the sky and the island in the vicinity of his fall took the name of Icaria

Icarus symbolizes the mortal desire to break free from the bonds of mortal laws and what can happen to us when we desire the impossible, not recognizing our limitations, and forget our humility.