being
Phoenix
Beings · Myth & story · Nature
A bird said to renew itself through fire or long age. Classical natural history and later rebirth talk should not be flattened into one bird.
Egyptian religion
Phoenix appears in Egyptian religion.
Herodotus Histories 2 reports the phoenix as a sacred bird of Egyptian Heliopolis that renews itself after long age. Egyptian temple lore told to a Greek traveler, not a rebirth slogan for every culture.
from Herodotus · Histories, c. 440s BCE
appears in · sourced · documented
Hellenic religion
Phoenix appears in Hellenic religion.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 15 seats the phoenix among Pythagoras’s speech on change and rebirth of forms. A named phoenix in that poem, not a generic immortal-bird dump and not Egyptian Bennu identity flatten.
from Ovid · Metamorphoses, 8 CE
appears in · sourced · documented
Phoenix represents Resurrection.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems, Tertullian speaks of the phoenix as an emblem of the Resurrection, and it appears as such in many works of early art — the phoenix represents that rising-again doctrine.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Phoenix represents Immortality.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems, a bird seated on a palm is read as a phoenix, the emblem of Immortality — the phoenix represents that immortality sign.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Phoenix is associated with Nimbus.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, a mosaic of Cosmas and Damian adds a nimbus divided into rays as a frequent accompaniment of the Phoenix — the phoenix wears that nimbus.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
associated with · sourced · documented
Phoenix is historically related to Nest.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, the phoenix is represented literally according to the legend as rising from its nest amid flames toward the sun — the phoenix rises from that nest.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Phoenix is historically related to Flame.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, the phoenix is represented rising from its nest amid flames toward the sun according to the legend — the phoenix rises from those flames.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Phoenix is historically related to Dove.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, Ciampini reads the bird on a palm in S. Praxede as a phoenix of immortality rather than the dove.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Christianity is used in Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems, the fable of the phoenix rising from its ashes was at an early period brought into Christianity, and Tertullian speaks of it as an emblem of the Resurrection — Christianity adopts the phoenix for that rising-again sign.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
used in · sourced · documented
Vine is associated with Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, a Catacomb sarcophagus shows Christ among the Apostles with Vine branches spreading behind and a Phoenix seated on one of two Palm Trees — the vine shares that phoenix field.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
associated with · sourced · documented
Sun is associated with Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, the Phoenix is represented rising from its nest amid flames toward the sun, according to the legend — the phoenix rises toward that sun.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
associated with · sourced · documented
Peacock is historically related to Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, among birds the peacock, the phoenix, and the pelican are named together as especial emblems of rising from the grave — peacock sits with that phoenix as resurrection marks.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Pelican is historically related to Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, the phoenix and the pelican are combined with Samson and the lion as a type of victory over death — pelican sits with that phoenix as resurrection marks.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Lion is historically related to Phoenix.
In Twining’s Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediæval Christian Art, among animals the lion, and among birds the peacock, the phoenix, and the pelican, are named as especial emblems of rising from the grave — the lion sits with that phoenix as resurrection marks.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
historically related to · sourced · documented
sources
- Histories · Herodotus
Herodotus, Histories.
- Metamorphoses · Ovid
Ovid, Metamorphoses.
- Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art · Louisa Twining
Louisa Twining, Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art.