Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Introduction

2015; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-16685-8_1

2191-818X

Olavo de Oliveira Bittencourt Neto,

Greek mythology presents as the first aviator the craftsman and architect Daedalus. Confined by King Midas of Crete into the labyrinth that he once had built to imprison the Minotaur, Daedalus imagined an original way to escape from his own prison. Along with his son Icarus, he built artificial wings with feathers, attached to leather strains tied around their bodies. Using these devices, legend says that Daedalus and Icarus were able to reach the skies. However, the Greek genius, acknowledging the dangers of such a novel enterprise, had warned his impetuous son that he should not fly too low, since the waves could wet his wings, nor too high, where the heat from the sun would melt the wax that held the feathers altogether.