Question

In Ovid’s the story of Daedalus and Icarus why do Icarus wings fall off

Answer 1

When Daedalus was building the wings, he used candle wax in order to connect the 2 sides of the wings. Daedalus told Icarus specifically not to fly too close to the sun or else the sun would melt the candle wax. Icarus being his immature & cocky self, he decides to rebel against Daedalus and flies close to the sun. When the wings melt, he falls from the sky & Daedalus tries to help him but since Icarus fell in the ocean, he drowns.

Answer 2

Daeldalus told his son to be careful and not fly to close to the sun because it would melt the wax that was holding the wings together and to not fly to close to the sea because the water would dampen the wings and weigh him down. Icarus only heeds his father advice for a little while before becoming cocky and flying too close to the sun. It melts his wings and he falls into the sea and drowns.
So the answer is: Because he flew to close to the sun and it melted the wax on his wings.