古希腊能工巧匠代达罗斯被困高塔中时，用蜡将鸟的羽毛粘在一起为自己和儿子伊卡洛斯各做了一对翅膀，飞出高塔。伊卡洛斯忘记老父的嘱咐，飞向太阳，导致羽毛上的蜡被融化而坠海身亡。
Daedalus was a famous architect， inventor， and master craftsman. He once built a wonderful labyrinth（迷宫） for King Minos of Crete. But one day， the king had him and his son Icarus imprisoned in a tower. Some accounts say that Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned in the tower of the Labyrinth to ensure that the inventor would not reveal the secret of the maze（迷宫）. Others say that the king became aware of the role of Daedalus in the escape of Theseus with his daughter Ariadne， so he imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in the tower as punishment.
Daedalus did not accept this and began to plan his escape from the island of Crete. Daedalus knew that the king controlled all the escape routes by land or sea， “but not the regions of the air. I will try that way.” Icarus helped his father gather up feathers which the wind has blown their way and Daedalus fastened them together with wax. They practiced flying with their new wings before actually leaving the tower. On the day of the escape， the father fitted the wings on the boy and cautioned， “Icarus， my son， I charge you to keep at a moderate（适度的） height， for if you fly too low the damp will weigh you down， and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe.”
They successfully flew from Crete， but Icarus grew excited by the thrill of flying and began getting careless. Flying too close to the sun， the wax holding together his wings melted from the heat and he fell to his death， drowned in the sea. The Icarian Sea， where he fell， was named after him. Daedalus arrived safe in Sicily， where he built a temple to Apollo， and hung up his wings， an offering to the god.
16世纪尼德兰著名画家彼得·勃鲁盖尔据此而作名画——《有伊卡洛斯坠落的风景》。不同于其他相同主题的画作的是：勃鲁盖尔的这幅传世之作乍看之下纯粹是一幅漂亮的风景画：农夫、牧羊人、海面上静静漂泊着的船只，而伊卡洛斯的身影呢？细细一看，才见一人坠入海水中，只露出了一双脚，可是他的坠落并未引起任何人的注意，甚至连鸟儿也不曾惊起。伊卡洛斯的几近隐身正是勃鲁盖尔匠心独运之处，赋予了画作无尽的深意。
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus is a famous landscape by Pieter Bruegel， a sixteenth century painter. It was referred to the myth of Daedalus and Icarus.
Compared with other paintings on the theme， the most distinctive feature of Bruegel’s painting is that it is hard to find Icarus in the painting. It is truly a landscape that happens to contain the fall of Icarus.
20世纪，英国伟大诗人W.H.奥登见到此画，不由心生感慨，作了《美术馆》一诗。
Musee des Beaux Arts
□ by W. H. Auden
About suffering they were never wrong，
The Old Masters； how well， they understood Its human position； how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along；
How， when the aged are reverently， passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth， there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen， skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood：
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner， some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel’s Icarus， for instance： how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster； the ploughman may
Have heard the splash， the forsaken cry，
But for him it was not an important failure； the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water； and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing， a boy falling out of the sky，
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
美术馆
W. H. 奥登
关于苦难他们总是很清楚的，
这些古典画家：他们多么深知它在
人心中的地位，深知痛苦会产生，
当别人在吃，在开窗，或正作着无聊的散步的时候；
深知当老年人热烈地、虔敬地等候
神异的降生时，总会有些孩子
并不特别想要他出现，而却在
树林边沿的池塘上溜着冰。
他们从不忘记：
即使悲惨的殉道也终归会完结
在一个角落，乱糟糟的地方，
在那里狗继续过着狗的生涯，而迫害者的马
把无知的臀部在树上摩擦。
在勃鲁盖尔的《伊卡鲁斯》里，比如说；
一切是多么安闲地从那桩灾难转过脸：
农夫或许听到了堕水的声音和那绝望的呼喊，
但对于他，那不是了不得的失败；
太阳依旧照着白腿落进绿波里；
那华贵而精巧的船必曾看见
一件怪事，从天上掉下一个男孩，
但它有某地要去，仍静静地航行。
（查良铮 译）
