Daedalus and Icarus Versus Gilgamesh

Winnie Einhorn

One of the most dangerous flaws in a character is a thirst for glory. Gilgamesh is one of the oldest stories in existence, originating from Ancient Mesopotamia, and was translated by Stephen Mitchell. There are many similarities between Gilgamesh and Daedalus and Icarus, a famous Ancient Greek myth. Gilgamesh and the legend of Daedalus and Icarus are similar in characters and theme, but they also differ in plot. 

The characters of Daedalus and Gilgamesh are very similar. It is made clear in the text that Gilgamesh, while very strong and brave, can also be jealous and is often fueled by the desire for fame and attention. He takes risks in order to become more famous and create a better name for himself. Mitchell translated, “I will kill Humbaba, the whole world will know how mighty I am, I will make a lasting name for myself, I will stamp my fame on men’s minds forever” (page 94-95). In the beginning of the tale, Daedalus has very similar motives. As his home city (Athens) begins to realize his technological talent, Daedalus starts to cling to his fame more and more. Eventually, when his products are in high demand, he hires his nephew, Perdix, to help him. Perdix was also a genius, and Daedalus feared that he would be outshone by his nephew. Fueled by jealousy and a desperate desire to keep his fame, he murdered Perdix. Later in the story, Daedalus had a new companion, his son, Icarus. His relationship with Icarus was in some ways similar to Gilgamesh’s relationship with Enkidu: In the most important parts of the story, the pairs worked together, and when one died, the other was so crushed that they lived the rest of their lives in misery. 

Another similarity between the texts is the theme. While a stark difference is that Gilgamesh and Enkidu succeeded in their quest and Daedalus and Icarus ultimately failed, both their journeys shared some of the same ideas. In Gilgamesh, Enkidu pushes against Gilgamesh’s idea to defeat the monster Humbaba. While it would certainly bring them fame, Enkidu warned him that Humbaba guarded the forest for a reason. He told Gilgamesh that he was created by the gods to guard the forest, and it was possible that killing him could make the gods angry. “Enkidu said, ‘but how can any man dare to enter the cedar forest? It is sacred to Enlil. Hasn’t he declared its entrance forbidden, hasn’t he put Humbaba there to terrify men?’” Mitchell translated. Gilgamesh disregarded Enkidu’s warning, and he and Enkidu went after the beast anyway. Similarly, when Daedalus constructed wax wings for him and Icarus to fly away with, Daedalus gave him a very specific warning. He told Icarus not to fly too close to the water, because the wax would become damp and wouldn’t hold the feathers together. He also said not to fly too close to the sun, because the heat would melt the wings, and they would fall apart. They had to fly carefully in the middle. Like in Gilgamesh, Icarus did not listen to his father’s warning. Under the spell of his own excitement and ambition, he began to fly higher and higher, until the sun became too close and his wings melted off. 

While it is true that Daedalus was very ambitious and jealous in the beginning of the tale, he and Gilgamesh were pushed to the most dangerous parts of their stories in completely different ways. When Daedalus lost control of his jealousy and killed his nephew, he was banished to the island of Crete. From there, he was hired as the king of Crete’s best inventor, but the king’s wife soon after tricked him into helping her create the Minotaur. The king was outraged by the existence of the half-man half-bull, and forced Daedalus to create an intricate labyrinth that was impossible to escape from. The king then locked both the Minotaur and Daedalus (and his son, Icarus) in the labyrinth for the rest of their lives. Daedalus created the wings for Icarus and himself as an act of desperation, because he could not survive in the labyrinth and he needed to escape. Gilgamesh, on the other hand, decided to kill Humbaba seemingly on a whim, and the only evident reason for his decision was to gain more fame and attention. While both protagonists were ultimately pushed toward the greatest danger as a result of their craving for fame, Daedalus’s journey from that part of his story was less direct.

While they may not be directly similar stories, Daedalus and Icarus and Gilgamesh have some striking commonalities. Daedalus and Gilgamesh were very similar characters, both with a passion for fame and attention. Both stories also expressed the importance of warning and caution, though the outcomes from both characters disregarding their warnings differed. That said, the stories still had their own differences that made them unique. A good example was the given situations the characters were in that pushed them to the most exciting and dangerous part of their narratives. Daedalus and Icarus came after Gilgamesh, and it is possible that that latter had a lasting effect on literature and could have influenced the themes and characters of Daedalus and Icarus.