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Slide One: "The Myth of Icarus and the life of James Gatz"

Slide Two: The explanation of the story of Icarus.


Daedalus was a master craftsman in Greece and had an apprentice at the time named
Talus. Talus seemed to bare a lot of potential and was bound to surpass Daedalus in skill
and ability. Thus, due to his jealousy and need to preserve his highly respected and
credited name, on a day that the two were visiting the Acropolis, Daedalus pushed him
off the edge. Daedalus was punished for his crimes to the island of Crete to work under
and for King Minos. Whilst living on the island of Crete, Daedalus had a child with the
serf-mistress of King Minos, named Icarus. King Minos had commanded Daedalus to
construct a prison for the Minotaur, a parting gift from Poseidon for not respecting the
agreement they both had had. King Minos were to sacrifice a snow-white bull in honour
of the sea-god, as Poseidon had given it to him as a show of support in order for King
Minos to win the throne when he competed with his two brothers. King Minos had not
sacrificed the bull, and instead kept it because of its beauty. Poseidon then punished him
by making his wife, Pasiphae; fall madly in love with the bull. She then had an offspring
with it, a half-man half-bull, which eventually grew into the monstrous Minotaur.
Daedalus - tasked with the goal of imprisoning the Minotaur - constructed the Labyrinth
with his son Icarus. Daedalus had revealed the secret to navigating the labyrinth to King
Minos's daughter, Ariadne, and she - in turn - revealed the secret to Theseus, the man of
whom she was madly in love with, and the one who volunteered to kill the Minotaur to
put an end to the human sacrifices. When Theseus navigated the labyrinth with ease
and slain the Minotaur, King Minos had also learnt of what Daedalus had done and
banished him and his son to his own labyrinth. In order to escape the labyrinth,
Daedalus had hatched a plan to fly out of the labyrinth with wings made of wax and
feathers. Daedalus warned and advised his son, Icarus, to not fly too high so that the
wax holding the wings together would melt and the wings would fall apart, and not to fly
too low so that his wings are not made wet by the ocean below and send him to the
waters and drown. At first, Icarus had heeded his warnings, but when he had finally
begun flying, he had become so engrossed in the ecstasy of the freedom of flying, that
all warnings had been ignored. Icarus then began to fly higher into the sky, and evidently,
the wax holding the wings together had melted and sent Icarus falling to the now-named
"Icarus Sea", where he drowned and died.
Slide Three: How does this link to James Gatz?
[Imprisoned] James Gatz - or Jay Gatsby - and Icarus had both been imprisoned.
Gatsby by poverty; Icarus by the Labyrinth. James Gatz came from a North Dakota
family who lived in poverty, he never knew a life outside of it but, like anyone who suffer
from poverty, wish to break free from it. Icarus was born on Crete, the island his father
had been banished to for pushing his apprentice, Talus, off of the Acropolis. So he was
not practically stuck on the island with his Daedalus. Icarus had also been imprisoned
(due to his fathers actions) in the Labyrinth. With no way of escaping, he seemed to be
trapped there for the rest of his life.

[Influential Figure & Escape] Both want to break out but have no way of doing so on their
own. Gatsby and Icarus both have an influential figure teaching them and guiding them.
For Gatsby, this was Dan Cody, and he said that his yacht "represented all the beauty
and glamour in the world". Dan Cody would be Gatsby's escape from poverty, Gatsby's
prison, as he had left him a majority of his wealth in his inheritance, though the
inheritance was taken by Ella Kaye, through the use of a legal device that Gatsby "never
understood". But nevertheless, Gatsby became wealthy through his strive to become like
Dan Cody.
Icarus was taught by his father, Daedalus, whom was also a master craftsman, through
him, he was provided a means of escape. These were the wings made of wax and
feathers that were to be used to escape the labyrinth.
For Icarus, it was the wings designed and built by the master craftsman Daedalus, that
were to take them out of the labyrinth they were imprisoned in.
[Warnings] They both received a warning. Though Gatsby's was implied through the
actions and death of Dan Cody. Dan Cody was a heavy drinker, and one night in Boston,
he "inhospitably died". Gatsby took this as a warning to not become like Dan Cody in this
aspect and not become a drinker himself in order to avoid the similar death that Dan
Cody had. It was Gatsby's own warning to himself to not engross himself in something
that makes him happy so that it would not bring upon his own downfall. For Icarus, it was
the direct warnings he received from Daedalus, to not fly too high nor too low. As if he
flew too high, the wax would melt and would send him falling into the ocean below. Nor
too low as if the wings were caught by the waters below, it would drag him down and
drown him.
[Flight & Obliviousness] But both had not expected how great their accomplishments
were, to an extent where they became oblivious to the things that could bring upon their
downfall. Gatsby, through his newly acquired wealth and influence, he had finally gotten
Daisy, the one lady that he's been chasing for so long. His happiness was overwhelming,
that when she accidently killed a woman with his car, he went out of his way to protect
her because he wanted to her to continue making him happy. Because of the happiness
he was experiencing with her, he ignored his own warning of not being too engrossed in
happiness that he was leading himself to practically the same fate as Dan Cody.
For Icarus, this was the ecstasy and joy of the freedom of flying. He hadn't expected how
amazing it was to fly in the freedom of the skies that all warnings given to him had
become ignored.
[Downfall] Therefore, the wings that saved him from his prison, had fallen apart due to
the wax melting because of the sun's heat and he fell to his death because he was
oblivious of the dangers as it was masked by the joy. As for Gatsby, the husband of the
woman they killed, George Wilson, an upper class like Gatsby and Daisy, had come to
kill both Gatsby and Daisy. But Gatsby, engrossed in the happiness of being with Daisy,
was oblivious to the dangers he brought upon himself by protecting her. The ecstasy of

flight, and the happiness of having Daisy. They're like a double edged sword, both brings
happiness, but both also brings danger. They both ignored the warnings they had been
given, for Gatsby, it's to not engross himself in things that make him happy; for Icarus,
it's to not fly too high. But the happiness received by both was too much that they
became oblivious to the warnings that they sent themselves to their own graves (except
Icarus actually had his grave named after him). I guess you could say they were both
taken down by things bigger than them, an upperclass for Gatsby, and the Sun for
Icarus.
Slide Four : In Summary
[Imprisonment] - Gatsby : Poverty; Icarus : Labyrinth
[Influential Figures & Escape] - Gatsby : Dan Cody and Wealth; Icarus : Daedalus and
Wings
[Warnings] Gatsby : Death of Dan Cody through Happiness from Drinking; Icarus : Don't
Fly too high nor too low
[Flight & Obliviousness] - Gatsby : Engrossed in Daisy; Icarus : Engrossed in Flying
[Downfall] - Gatsby : George Wilson due to Daisy; Icarus : Sun due to flying too high
Slide Five : Conclusion
In conclusion, it is can clearly be seen that life of James Gatz corresponds to that of
Icarus's, whether it was intentional by F. Scott Fitzgerald, or purely coincidental. It is can
be seen that the Great Gatsby is filled with allusions to Greek Mythology, like King Midas
and the Siren. So the story of Icarus is likely another. Thank you.

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