Starter quiz
- Match each sentence stem to its ending, showing your knowledge of 'The Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
- King Minos imprisons⇔Daedalus and Icarus. ✓
- Daedalus⇔constructs wings so they can escape. ✓
- Daedalus warns⇔his son not to fly too close to the sun. ✓
- Icarus filled, with hubris,⇔flies too close to the sun. ✓
- Daedalus offers⇔the god Apollo his wings, saying he will never fly again. ✓
- In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. What was Bruegel's painting inspired by?
- a fable
- a moral
- a legend
- a myth ✓
- an historical account
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- In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. How might we describe Icarus's death?
- comedy
- tragedy ✓
- history
- moral
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- In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. What do we see if Icarus in this painting?
- his face
- his wings
- his legs ✓
- his arms
- nothing
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- In the unit 'Myths and Legends', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Bruegel. Focus on the figures apart from Icarus. What words most accurately describe them?
- hubristic
- humble ✓
- agricultural ✓
- distressed
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- In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at an ekphrastic poem by Williams Carlos Williams. What is an ekphrastic poem?
- a poem inspired by someone
- a poem that uses alliteration throughout
- a poem without any punctuation
- a poem inspired by an artwork ✓
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Exit quiz
- In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at four pieces of art about the same set of characters: Daedalus and Icarus. Starting with the first, put them in chronological order.
- 1⇔the Greek myth of the fall of Icarus
- 2⇔Pieter Breugel's painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'
- 3⇔W.H. Auden’s poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
- 4⇔William Carlos Williams’s poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'
- In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we focus on a poem by W.H. Auden called 'Musée des Beaux Arts'. What feeling does Auden explore in this poem?
- hubris
- sympathy
- empathy
- apathy ✓
- humility
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- In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' is an ekphrastic poem because …?
- It doesn’t use any punctuation.
- It is divided into just two stanzas.
- It describes the art it is inspired by. ✓
- It has a French title.
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- In W.H. Auden’s poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), who does Auden present as apathetic to the death of Icarus?
- Daedalus
- Jesus
- the ploughman ✓
- the gods
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- In W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire'), Auden explores the idea of apathy. Which sentence uses the word apathy correctly?
- The play was apathetic so no-one liked it.
- The audience apathetically applauded and demanded more.
- The play was shocking and everyone was upset and apathetic.
- The play failed to shock; instead, the audience was apathetic. ✓
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- Which sentence is best inspired by Auden's interpretation of Pieter Bruegel's ploughman in 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
- Working together, the shepherd and ploughman pulled Icarus to safety.
- The ploughman worked back and forth methodically through the field. ✓
- Since then, the ploughman knew, without doubt, he should have done something.
- The ploughman saw the wings and feet, but he was glad Icarus was in the water.
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- W.H. Auden’s poem ‘Musée des Beaux Arts’ is an ekphrastic poem.
- An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
- Each painting which inspired Auden’s ekphrastic poem depicts tragic events.
- However, what inspired Auden were the people in the paintings who seem to have apathetic responses to the tragic events.
- Auden focuses particularly on the apathy of the ploughman in Bruegel’s painting ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’.
Common misconception
Auden is saying suffering is unimportant.
Auden presents extreme suffering, but he is exploring how, inevitably, when something terrible is happening, something ordinary is happening at the same time too.
Keywords
Plough - a large piece of farming equipment that is used to plant seeds and turn over soil
Ekphrastic - a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it
Apathetic - showing little interest or feeling in response to something
Old masters - any person who is regarded as a skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800
Martyrdom - death or suffering of someone because of their religious beliefs
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