[EDIT: This was written before seeing DaMoshe’s post.]
oomis:
“They were certainly not trying to compete with Hashem (as Nimrod was trying to do, and as I believe was the case with Icarus). By the way, how is it that all of us are so familiar with Greek Mythology, hmmmmm…?”
Evidently, we are not all so familiar with Greek mythology;
Icarus and his father were simply trying to escape an island
on which they were imprisoned.
A better parallel than Nimrod exists (with the same issue, though) – Shem’eiver. Here’s ArtScroll’s translation of Rashi to Bereishis 14:2.
He put an artificial limb on himself to be able to fly and to leap and to rebel against HaKadosh Boruch Hu.
ArtScroll footnote:
Minchas Yehudah and Sifsei Chachamim appear to take this literally; Shemeber actually made wings that gave him the ability to fly and thereby rebel against G-d[it’s fully spelled out in the original] in some way.
Sefer Zikaron takes this figuratively; he rebelled against G-d so blatantly that it was as if he made wings to fly up and attack Him.