Why Icarus? Written by Emily McCullough The first time I read the myth of Icarus, my heart broke. I love the story; I thought it was beautiful imagery, and it spoke to me as a writer. Something about the idea of wishing so hard to achieve, only to melt and quickly fall away from it…

As with many monsters, the mythology surrounding the Minotaur goes far deeper than the hero’s quest to kill it. The story of Crete’s monstrous prince, given the name Asterion (“The Starry One”) in some sources, also entwines with several other widely popular mythological figures. The Minotaur’s mother, Queen Pasiphaë, is a part of the same…

A Brief Disclaimer For the sake of literary analysis, I’m going to discuss Achilles here as if he is one single character. In reality, there are hundreds of Achilles (Achilleses?), as each depiction takes pieces of others, and adds their own additions; all influenced by the author’s own culture and biases. For a deeper dive…