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Year 8

Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting

I can explain how Pieter Bruegel’s painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' was inspired by a Greek myth.

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Year 8

Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting

I can explain how Pieter Bruegel’s painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' was inspired by a Greek myth.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Greek myths are stories originally told by the ancient Greeks as a way of explaining the origin and nature of the world.
  2. Sometimes Greek myths contain morals.
  3. The moral of the Fall of Icarus is that hubris is dangerous.
  4. Pieter Bruegel’s 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' (c. 1558) was inspired by the Greek myth.
  5. Bruegel’s painting celebrates the humility of labourers by making them the focus of the painting.

Keywords

  • Myth - stories which explain how the world began and what the world is like and why

  • Hubris - excessive pride

  • Humility - being modest, humble, the opposite of hubristic

  • Inspired - to be filled with the desire and motivation to do something

  • Moral - a lesson, often about how to behave, taught through a story

Common misconception

All the Greek myths have morals.

The Greek myths are not all moralistic. Indeed, the gods, mythological creatures and mortals often act in cruel, reactive, vengeful and immoral ways.


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

LC2's focus is Pieter Bruegel's 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'. Consider how you will display this so that pupils can examine the picture carefully and closely. What features would you like to draw their attention to? What further questions might they need in order to understand the landscape?
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Equipment

Pupils will need access to an image of Pieter Bruegel's 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' (c. 1558).

content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Creative people – writers, painters, sculptors etc. – are often inspired by other pieces of art they have read, seen, listened to or heard of. What does it mean to be inspired?
to copy someone else's work but put it in a different format
to mimic someone else's work and referring to them throughout
Correct answer: to be motivated to create something after experiencing someone else's work
to compare your work to someone else's and explain the differences
Q2.
In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we are going to read a story in which Greece, Athens and Crete are important locations. Match each place to a fact about it.
Correct Answer:Greece,a country in southeastern Europe
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a country in southeastern Europe

Correct Answer:Crete,a large island in the Mediterranean sea
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a large island in the Mediterranean sea

Correct Answer:Athens,a capital city
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a capital city

Q3.
In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we explore a story called the Fall of Icarus, a famous Greek myth. What is a myth?
a story telling people how to behave
a truthful account of the history of a nation
Correct answer: an ancient story
Correct answer: a story often explaining what the world is like and why
a long narrative poem
Q4.
In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we will look at a range of different stories. There are so many different ways to tells stories. Match each text type to its definition.
Correct Answer:myth,stories which explain how the world began and what the world is like
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stories which explain how the world began and what the world is like

Correct Answer:legend,a story about humans, often seeming historical but still fictitious
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a story about humans, often seeming historical but still fictitious

Correct Answer:poem,a piece of writing written in stanzas and with a close focus on rhythm
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a piece of writing written in stanzas and with a close focus on rhythm

Correct Answer:painting,a visual art in which colour and brushes are used to convey meaning
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a visual art in which colour and brushes are used to convey meaning

Q5.
Some texts you will read in the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire' will include morals. What is a moral?
Correct answer: a lesson taught through the act of story-telling
an ancient story
a story deriving from ancient Greece
a piece of non-fiction giving instructions
Q6.
Some of the stories in 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire' inspire artwork. For example, Pieter Bruegel painted a picture in around 1558 inspired by a myth. What is true of the year 1558?
It is the time of ancient Greek civilisation.
Correct answer: It is part of the 16th century.
Shakespeare was alive in 1558.
It is part of the Victorian era.
Correct answer: Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne in Britain.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In the unit 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', one of the myths is called 'The Fall of Icarus'. Match the most important characters from this myth to what we know about them.
Correct Answer:Daedalus,a renowned inventor
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a renowned inventor

Correct Answer:Icarus,a boy who drowns
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a boy who drowns

Correct Answer:King Minos ,a king who imprisons two of his subjects
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a king who imprisons two of his subjects

Correct Answer:Theseus,a man who escapes a labyrinth created by Daedalus
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a man who escapes a labyrinth created by Daedalus

Q2.
Starting with the first, put these plot points from the myth 'the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') in chronological order.
1 - King Minos imprisons Daedalus and Icarus.
2 - Daedalus creates wings from wax and feathers so they can fly away.
3 - Daedalus tells his son not to fly too close to the sun.
4 - Icarus flies higher and higher, enjoying the feeling of flying.
5 - The wax begins to melt as Icarus flies close to the sun.
6 - Icarus falls into the sea and drowns.
7 - Daedalus offers his wings to the god, Apollo, and swears never to fly again.
Q3.
In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we read the myth called 'The Fall of Icarus'. This myth is designed to teach us about the dangers of hubris. What does it mean to be full of hubris?
Correct answer: to be excessively proud
to be excessively intelligent
to be excessively humble
to be excessively moral
to be excessively inventive
Q4.
In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting called 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'. The most important figures are shepherds and workers. What word best describes them?
hubristic
moral
Correct answer: humble
mythical
inspired
Q5.
Found in many cultures, are stories which explain how the world began and what the world is like and why.
Correct Answer: myths, myth
Q6.
In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we look at a painting entitled ' with the Fall of Icarus', a painting inspired by a Greek myth.
Correct Answer: Landscape

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