Paethon And Icarus Compare And Contrast

The stories Phaethon and Daedalus and Icarus share a common theme that “a prideful disregard of those who are older and wiser can quickly lead to disastrous consequences.” Both stories use characterization, imagery, and conflict to portray this theme and effect the story by adding details. Characterization is often used in both stories and effects the theme very much. This is shown when the main character, Icarus, in Daedalus and Icarus let’s his pridefulness get the best of him. His pride leads him to try to fly higher than the sun, even though his father told him not to go too close to the sun. when Icarus wants to fly higher than the sun he says “Think you’re the highest thing in the sky do you?” The main character, Phaethon, in the other story does something similar. He (Phaethon) has the need to be better than another boy, so when the boy talks high of his father, Phaethon lies of ever meeting his. The text also states that “Phaethon never had.” Both of their choices lead them to a tragic ending of the stories. …show more content…
The imagery in the two stories allows the reader to know what it’s like in both main characters’ positions. In Daedalus and Icarus, the text says: “With a crack, the feathers behind him filled with wind, and Icarus found himself flying. Flying!” This foreshadows that something that something is bound to go wrong because no story ever goes perfectly. In Phaethon, the author writes that “The great steeds trotted easily along their path across the high blue meadow of the sky.” Both excerpts show the inevitability of the stories’ downfalls and put a picture in the reader’s mind of what is