The myth of Daedalus holds special interest because a human is flying by invention. We know of course that wax and feathers alone are not capable of lifting and carrying us through the air - many essential discoveries developed through countless studies and experiments had yet to occur - but here is mankind flying by our own devise. We are not observing the sun and moon rising into the sky, or watching a god drive a chariot across heaven. We are not clinging to the mane of a winged horse or tied to the leg of a monstrous bird. We are not leaving our bodies to fly as spirits. In Daedalus we find the imminent image of the scientist.

Has science - the new magic - destroyed the myths of old? Certainly much of their power has been dimmed. We find them quaint, amusing, but hardly the center around which our lives revolve. More discoveries have been made in the past 50 years than in all the millennia that preceded, and the pace is accelerating. Telecommunication has made the sum total of mankind's knowledge available to anyone with a home computer. Have we now shed ourselves of superstition? Is it even possible for people as enlightened as we to need myths anymore?

It is entirely fitting that a most popular story form today is called "science-fiction". Both myth and science confront us with our vulnerability and our power. They are intimately entwined in ways we perhaps do not fully understand. When considering the possibility of new mythological metaphors, one realizes that we already have them.

Are the ancient lessons alive and fulfilling their function? Come to a movie theater, which now serves as the communal campfire. Join the congregation as the lights dim and our emotions join in the darkness. The curtains draw apart, and here are revealed the new stories, extensions of myth, which explore the nature of humanity in a technological world. For when we look upon our achievements we are presented with a new fear: enslavement by our fabulous machines.

Our broad look at the legends of simpler times reveals that humankind's fascination with flight involves so much more than simply building a contraption that leaves the ground. Though flight is now a reality and the stars are coming into reach, flying remains a metaphor of escape, power, and freedom. Ancient mythologies and their modern counterparts are reminders of our complex capacity.

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Last modified: Tue Jul 1 15:45:28 PDT 1997

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