CHAPTER 1 origin stories For countless years people have told stories about amazing humans accomplishing the seemingly impossible Usually these superhumans can do tasks better than normal people Other times they can do things average people can’t do at all such as fly Many superheroes in today’s stories can fly Some have wings to move them through Opposite Skydiving pictured here is one of many ways humans can enjoy being off the ground for a while Origin Stories 5
the air while others have magic capes Some use psychic powers to lift themselves up A few have special vehicles that help them fly Human flight is a fantastic idea but it’s not a new one People have been telling similar tales of flying legends for hundreds of years Some of the most well-known stories of flying come from myths Many ancient cultures around the world told stories of gods people and animals that could fly Gods were often said to fly because of their amazing powers Any character who could fly was more heroic simply because everyday people couldn’t fly on their own Something that was normally unable to fly could be made mythical very quickly by adding wings Greek Myths Ancient Greece had several stories of characters who could fly The Greek god Zeus was said to be able to turn into any animal he wished including flying animals Hermes the god of travel had magic sandals with wings that let him fly and travel very quickly Greek stories had mythical flying beasts too Pegasus was a legendary horse with wings Another mythical creature that could 6 The Science of Human Flight
fly was the gryphon Gryphons were described as having the head and wings of an eagle but the body and tail of a lion The idea of a ferocious lion was made more fearsome by the eagle’s flight and good eyesight This damaged statue of Icarus lies outside the Temple of Concordia in Sicily Italy Greek myth had stories about everyday humans flying too Usually these stories were told to teach a lesson One such story is that of Icarus and his father Daedalus Daedalus was a famous builder He was tasked with making a maze called the Labyrinth The Labyrinth was used to Origin Stories 7
