His wings melted when he flew too near the sun (6)
I believe the answer is:
icarus
'his wings melted when he flew too near the sun' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for icarus that I've seen before include "one with disintegrating wings" , "Flier with wax wings" , "Ancient Greek who flew too close to the sun" , "he drowned" , "Failed flier" .)