Mythology –
The phoenix never existed. It was a large bird, much like an eagle, written about in Greek mythology and based on ancient Egyptian legends.Only one phoenix was said to have lived at a time. This gold and red bird, always a male, lived in Arabia. Each phoenix lived for exactly 500 years, and when it was about to die, it gathered twigs and spices and built a nest. Then the phoenix sat on the nest and waited patiently for a ray of sun to set the nest on fire.The bird never tried to escape its fiery death, for from its ashes a worm would come crawling out. This worm became a new, beautiful little phoenix, who immediately set to work gathering its father’s ashes into a ball of incense.The phoenix then flew with these ashes to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, and buried the ashes in the temple of the sun god. Then it flew back to Arabia to live for 500 years, when the cycle would be repeated. Because of the phoenix’s rebirth from its own ashes, it became a symbol of immortality. Even today, a person who makes a comeback after suffering a great defeat is called a “phoenix.”
Mythology has always been a subject of interest and excitement for human beings. One of the most important characteristics of mythology are the colorful and interesting characters that are thrown towards the readers. Of course, most of the characters are exaggerated, but then, we have no proof that such characters did not exist or did not have the virtues and characterizations that are said to be theirs. The phoenix bird is one such mythical creature that has garnered the interest of generations of humans.
Phoenix Bird Legend and Physical Description:
The Phoenix Bird myth is in itself exciting and racy. Different legend has it that the phoenix bird lives for about 500 or 1461 years and then builds a nest for itself. The nest is made up of cinnamon twigs. The bird then ignites the nest and itself. The myth so says that a new bird comes out of the ashes of the burnt bird. This bird is destined to live as long as the previous bird. According to some myths, the new Phoenix bird creates an egg out of the ashes of the old Phoenix and stores it in the City of Heliopolis in Egypt.
This myth is routinely used to put an emphasis on afterlife, survival and strength in modern culture and literature. According to other legends, the Phoenix bird also has regenerating capabilities, which makes it almost immortal. It is also the symbol of fire and divinity.
Various legends have a different description of the Phoenix bird. Some legends say that it had a gold and red plumage, while other legends, like the Greeks and the Romans pictured like more on the lines of the eagle or the peacock. The Egyptians described the phoenix bird as a heron or a stork.
Due to the legend attached to the Phoenix bird, it makes for a good example for anything to with survival, strength, patience, and to a large extent, even victory in popular culture. It has been an important character in many modern and ancient legends. In the US, it is prominently seen on the flag of County and City of San Francisco. It is also seen in the flag and seal of the City of Atlanta.
Probably, the most famous and successful corroboration of the Phoenix legend has been in the fictional Marvel Comics character Phoenix. The Phoenix has been used in other mainstream media like a spacecraft in the Startrek universe. A sci-fi series titled the ‘Phoenix’ had a short run in the ‘80s. In literature, the Phoenix has played an important part in character creation. It served as a title for a 2000 novel about aircraft crash survivors. Another fantasy novel, titled ‘The Phoenix’ was written by Steven Brust for his Vlad Tatos series in 1990.
Of course, the current famous corroboration of the Phoenix and its legend has been in the fifth Harry Potter novel, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’.
Origins –
Originally, the phoenix was identified by the Egyptians as a stork or heron-like bird called abenu, known from the Book of the Dead and other Egyptian texts as one of the sacred symbols of worship at Heliopolis, closely associated with the rising sun and the Egyptian sun-god Ra.
The Greeks subsequently pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle and identified it with their own word phoenix meaning the color purple-red or crimson (cf. Phoenicia) or a palm tree. According to the Greek mythology the phoenix lived in Phoenicia next to a well. At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Helios stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen to its song.
Correspondant & Similar Mythical Character –
In Persian mythology, Simurgh was a winged creature in the basic shape of a peacock, gigantic enough to carry off an elephant or a whale, but also endued with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion. The Simurgh appears in Iranian literary classics such as Farid ud-Din Attar's Conference of the Birds as instructor and birds leader, and in Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), in which also the Huma bird appears as the presumed "bird of paradise".
Indian mythology tells of Garuda, a large mythical bird or bird-like creature and lesser Hindu divinity, usually forming the mount of the God Vishnu. Avalerion is an Indian magic bird that drowns itself once it has laid its eggs.
In China, the phoenix is called the literally "immortal bird"), whereas the fenghuang is a mythical bird of local Chinese origin, similar to the phoenix. It is imagined as a composite of many birds, or even as comprising some body part of a snake, a fish etc. It is
one of the most-respected legendary creatures in China and the feminine counterpart to the dragon. Its rare appearance is said to foreshadow a great event or bear testimony to the greatness of a ruler.
In Japan, the phoenix is literally "immortal bird". In Korea, the phoenix is called bulsajo literally meaning "immortal bird", and the East Asian variant is called bonghwangsae.
In Hebrew traditions Ziz is a legendary pure bird, the protector of all birds.
In ancient Arabic tradition the Ghoghnus or Ghoghnous is a bird having some mythical relation with the date palm. The Ghoghnus is said to have laid only one egg. It lived in the Arabian Desert many thousands of years ago.
Zumrud-u Anka is a Turkish version of the phoenix. The word Anka comes from the word for "necklace", for the bird's neck is covered with white feathers forming like a necklace.
In Russian folklore, the phoenix appears as firebird, subject of the famous 1910 ballet score by Igor Stravinsky.
Kokko is a mythical bird of iron and fire from Finnish folklore, Turul is the correspondent in the myths of the Magyars. Adarna may be considered a Philippine version of the phoenix.
Modern Symbolism –
The constellation Phoenix, was introduced in the late 16th century by sailors organized by Petrus Plancius, probably one of Keyser or de Houtman and displayed on a globe from 1597 created byHondius.
The phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal. In modern Greece, the phoenix became established as a symbol of the nation's rebirth during the Greek War of Independence. It was first used in the flags of Alexander Ypsilantis, and was chosen as the official emblem of the Provisional Government (1828–1832) by Governor John Capodistria, who also named the first modern Greek currency "phoenix". Despite being replaced by a Germanic royal Coat of Arms, it remained a popular symbol, and was used again in the 1930s by the Second Hellenic Republic. However, its use by the military junta of 1967-1974 made it extremely unpopular, and it has almost disappeared from use after 1974, with the notable exception of the Order of the Phoenix, the country's second-highest award.
Likewise Lebanon, and Beirut in particular, is often depicted symbolically as a phoenix bird having been destroyed and rebuilt 7 times during its long history. The Belgian € 10 silver coin, commemorating sixty years of peace, depicts the phoenix as a representation of a new Europe, post 1945. Also the Iranian 500 rial coins issued since 2004 have an image of a phoenix on the reverse.
In the course of the colonization of Northern America a number of cities have received the name of Phoenix or have been associated with its symbolism.Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, was so named as it was built on the ruins of theHohokam civilization that had existed on the site centuries before. The phoenix became the official symbol of Atlanta, Georgia in 1888 because it was "reborn" from the ashes after it was burned down in the American Civil War. The American Chemical Society uses a Phoenix rising from its own ashes as a logo. The logo is a symbolism for change, the essence of the study ofchemistry; the science of interactions and changes.
In politics, the phoenix was sometimes used as a symbol of the Provisional IRA. The symbols of rebirth and renewal referred to the Provisional IRA's formation "out of the ashes of '69".
