The Legend of the Phoenix

The Phoenix as a mythical bird arose in early times, earliest mention is in texts from Assyria, and then from various civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea. The Phoenix was described as a bird that ate neither fruit nor seed, preferring fragrant substances like frankincense and odoriferous gums. A bird bigger than the largest eagle, soaring high in the skies, with colours ranging from gold to crimson.

The bird was long lived, living to over 500 years. Upon reaching the end of its life, the bird would make a nest in the top of an Oak or Palm tree. Where it would with its dying breath place itself on a pile of all the fragrant substances, like myrrh, frankincense, cinnamon and spikenard. From the body of the dead parent bird, the young bird would rise amidst the flames of fragrance.

Once the young bird had gained sufficient strength, it would pick up the nest, and fly the nest and body of the dead parent to the Altar of the Sun in Heliopolis, Eygpt – to be consumed in the flames of fragrance.

These earlier texts were changed through the passage of time and retelling, to the myth that we assume today, of this mythical bird that rises from the flames of ruin. It is easy to understand how through the early cultures of Europe and Asia Minor, where written words were not the norm, but histories and cultures were passed through the spoken words of village elders and shaman; and perhaps embellished along the way.

Abridged from ‘The Golden Age of Myth & Legend’, by Thomas Bulfinch.