STA.

ANA CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – SSES

READING ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY # 1

Name: ________________________________________________________ Date: _____________

Lesson 1: Icarus, A Greek Mythology

Reading: Read the story below.

There was once a ruler named King Minos. He ruled the island of Crete. King Minos decided to build
a great maze, called Labyrinth, to imprison a Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half beast, and to
imprison his enemies, making sure they would be killed by the monster.

King Minus appointed a great architect and inventor named Daedulus to build the Labyrinth for him.
However, King Minos did not want anybody to know the secrets of the Labyrinth, so he had Daedulus and his
son, Icarus locked up in a cell on top of a tower.

Daedulus was smart and inventive, thus, he started thinking he and Icarus would escape. While
admiring the freedom of some birds, Daedulus came up with the idea of making wings so that he and his son
could flyout from the tower. Daudulus managed to create gigantic wings out of bird feathers and connected
them with wax.

Daedulus and Icarus tied the wings to themselves. Before they escaped, Daedulus warned Icarus: if
Icarus went too close to the sea, he might fall in, but if he flew too high in the sky, the heart of the sun would
melt the wax on his wings and he would fall, too. Icarus promised to be careful.

Finally, they escaped the Labyrinth and flew to their freedom. However, Icarus was too young and
enthusiastic about flying. He got tired of going in a straight line so he decided to do tricks and forgot his
promise to his father. He got excited by the amazing feeling of freedom and started flying to salute the sun,
diving low to the sea, and then up high again.

His father was trying in vain to make young Icarus to understand that his behavior was dangerous
and soon, the wax holding Icarus’ wings melted. He fell into the sea and drown.

The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named after him and there is also a nearby small island called
Icaria.

Vocabulary

Find the meanings of the following words in the dictionary.

1. maze :
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2. imprison :
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3. architect :
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4. cell :
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5. inventive :
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6. wax :
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7. melt :
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 8. enthusiastic :
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9. salute :
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10. in vain :
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Comprehension
Answer the question below.

1. What are the purposes of King Minos building the Labyrinth?

a. __________________________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why did King Minos lock Daedulus and Icarus on top of the tower?
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. How did Daedulus and Icarus escape from the tower?

________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What did Daedulus warn his son before they escape?
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why did Icarus forget about his promise to his father?
________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What happened to Icarus in the end?
________________________________________________________________________________________

Sequence the events below in the correct order. Write numbers 1-8 in the space given.

___ Daedulus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or sea.
___ Icarus was excited and soon forgot about his father’s warning.
___ King Minos appointed Daedulus to build a great maze to imprison a monster.
___ They put on the wings and flew out from tower to escape.
___ When the maze was completed, he locked Daedulus and his son, Icarus, on top of a tower.
___ Icarus fell into the sea and drown.
___ He flew high to the sun and the wax melted.
___ Daedulus made two pairs of wings out of feathers and held them with wax.