80 Chapter 4
The earliest Greek representation of Daedalus is on a vase of about
570 BC: he is wearing wings and carrying an axe and a bucket. The ear-
liest confirmed image of Icarus is on a fragment of black- figure Athenian
pottery of about 560 BC showing the lower half of a man with winged
footgear, clearly labeled “Ikaros” (wings on his feet appear in other an-
cient artworks too). A painted red- figure fragment of about 420 BC
shows Daedalus fastening the wings on Icarus, and on a fifth- century BC
vase, Icarus plunges into the sea. On a fragment of a fine red- figure vase
(390 BC, fig. 4.8) we see a devastated Daedalus carrying his dead son. 30
Fig. 4.8. Daedalus carrying his dead son, Icarus, Apulian red- figure pottery fragment of a krater,
Black Fury Group, about 390 BC, inv. 2007,5004.1. © The Trustees of the British Museum.