Danger of Assumption Is a Essay

In "The Story of Daedalus and Icarus," we have a similar lesson regarding knowledge. Icarus, much like Phaeton, does not follow his father's advice. In the air, he is distracted by everything happening below and before long "left his father, / Soared higher, higher, drawn to the vast heaven,/nearer the sun" (188). His mistake is deadly for no one can rescue him from up above. This story is importantbecause it also teaches us that we should never assumewe are something we are not or that we are more than human. Icarus forgot his humanity and "turned his thinking / Toward unknown arts, changing the laws of nature" (187). Daedalus must face his culpability here for it was his idea to leave Crete in a way that was not conventional. He assumed everything would turn out just fine.

In Hippolytus, Theseus assumes he knows the truth regarding Hippolytus and Phaedra. However, he does not he ruins his son's life when he exiles him, leaving him no room for explanation.As a result, he is to blame for his son's death. Assumption often leads to regret basically because when we assume, we are jumping to conclusions before we have all the facts. Since we are governed by emotions, this happens more often than we like to admit and usually has negative outcomes. These stories remind us of how it pays to take the time to learn as much as we can about a situation before we make any rash decisions. Phaeton, Icarus, and Theseus made decisions based upon too little knowledge and too much of self. Each man had a selfish desire lurking behind that assumption and that only contributed to the dreadfulness of his mitake.

Work Cited

Ovid. "The Story of Daedalus and Icarus." Metamorphosis. Rolfe Humphries, trans. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1955.

"The….....