Icarus In Catechism Class Analysis

“Icarus in Catechism Class,” a poem written by Dominador Ilio, revolves around the persona wanting to escape the catechism class that he is in. On the other hand, “Musée des Beaux Arts,” a poem written by WH Auden, shows how the “Old Masters” understand suffering as depicted in several artworks, especially Brueghel’s painting of the fall of Icarus, as seen by the persona in a mueseum. This close reading will focus on the importance of Icarus and how suffering is depicted in the poems.
Making use of intertextuality, both poems portray Icarus, a character in Greek mythology. Based on “Daedelus and Icarus,” an exerpt from the book Understanding Myths and Legends written by Karen Moncrieffe, Icarus is the son of Daedelus, an remarkably skilled craftsman. After escaping from a labyrinth that Daedelus created, they are stuck in the land ruled by King Minos. In hoping to escape, Daedelus creates wings for himself and for Icarus. After finishing his creation, he warns Icarus not to fly close to the sun because it will melt his wings. Unfortunately, Icarus refuses to listen and melts his wings while they were escaping. He falls into the sea, while his father remained helpless as he watched his son drown.
Relating Icarus to both poems, he is present in each poem. For the dramatic situation of …show more content…
Icarus considered religion in the form of his catechism class to be a prison that he really wanted to escape from. On the other hand, a close reading of “Musée des Beaux Arts” shows how suffering can easily be overlooked and ignored by people. In the context of Brueghel’s painting, the disaster that happened to Icarus were ignored by the people around him. Furthermore, both poems used Icharus, originally known in Greek mythology, in portraying the concept of suffering presented by each poem. Both made use of his story and where he ended up after his wings