Theseus and the Minotaur
A long time ago in Crete, in the center of a cave with a thousand rooms, lived a fearsome beast known as the Minotaur. Every year seven girls and seven boys were fed to the Minotaur. Any unlucky person who entered the cave never came back. Now, the yearly sacrifice of the fourteen people arrived. One brave young man named Theseus, wanted to fight the Minotaur and bring an end to the misery of his people. A beautiful girl named Ariadne secretly wanted to help Theseus, so she gave him a ball of yarn and a sharp sword. She carefully instructed him, “Tie the yarn at the entrance of the cave and unroll it as you walk along.” And he did as he was told. He crept into the cave with the other thirteen, and they heard the bellowing of the Minotaur, who came rushing thru the cave wildly. Theseus dashed to the side and smoothly sliced the beast’s leg! The Minotaur screamed madly with pain as Theseus stabbed its heart. Blood gushed out, and the great Minotaur slowly perished! The young men and women shouted with joy at the death of the wicked Minotaur. Following the yarn out of the cave, Theseus led the people out where the adoring Ariadne waited for him



In Memory of Icarus
The name of the Icarian Sea comes from a very interesting story. King Minos realized that only his amazing blacksmith, Daedalus, could have helped Ariadne assist Theseus in escaping from the Minotaur’s cave. Daedalus was the only person who knew the way out of the labyrinth, since he had constructed the maze. Vengefully, the king ordered that Daedalus and his son Icarus, be guarded in the center of the labyrinth. Daedalus pretended to be working for the king during the day, but at night he made for himself a large pair of wings and a smaller pair for Icarus.
One fair night they quietly sneaked out of the labyrinth to try flying with their new wings. They practiced flying for many nights and slept in the mornings. Then one early morning, Daedalus and Icarus, who felt confident in their abilities, flew out of the city while everyone was asleep. They headed west to the nearby island of Sicily. Everything was fine until noon, when the sun shown hot and high.
Daedalus called to his son, “Do not fly too close to the sun, for your wings, which are held together by wax, will fall apart!” But Icarus, delighted with his newfound skill, said, “I will fly a little higher where I might see the great Sun Master who rides on the fiery chariot!”
So he soared higher and higher until the wax began to melt, and his wings loosened and then fell into the sea. He screamed desperately to his father, but it was too late. All Daedalus could do was peer into the unpitying sea, and then fly on. This body of water is now called The Icarian Sea in memory of Icarus.