Phoenix: Encyclopedia - Phoenix

Phoenix

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In ancient Egyptian mythology and in myths derived from it, the phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird.

Said to live for 500, 1461 or for 12594 years (depending on the source), the phoenix is a male bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in Heliopolis ("the city of the sun" in Greek), located in Egypt. The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.

Although descriptions (and life-span) vary, the phoenix became popular in early Christian art and literature as a symbol of the resurrection, of immortality, and of life-after-death.

Originally, the phoenix was identified by the Egyptians as a stork or heron-like bird called a benu, (see Bennu), 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.

As Britannica 1911 continues:

The Greeks adapted the word benu (and also took over its further Egyptian meaning of date palm tree), and identified it with their own word phoinix, meaning the colour purple-red or crimson (cf Phoenicia). They and the Romans subsequently pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle. According to the Greeks the phoenix lived in Arabia next to a well. At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Apollo stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen to its song.

This myth is famously referred to in Shakespeare's play The Tempest,

One inspiration that has been suggested for the Egyptian phoenix is a specific bird species of East Africa. This bird nests on salt flats that are too hot for its eggs or chicks to survive; it builds a mound several inches tall and large enough to support its egg, which it lays in that marginally cooler location. The hot air rising around these mounds resembles the turbulence of a flame.

In Russian folklore, the phoenix appears as the Zhar-Ptitsa (Жар-Птица), or firebird, subject of the famous 1910 ballet score by Stravinsky.

The phoenix appears on the city flags and seals of both Atlanta (torched in the US Civil War) and San Francisco (destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1906) to symbolize their respective rebirths from the ashes.

Phoenix - In fiction

Sylvia Townsend Warner's 1940 short story "The Phoenix" satirized the exploitation of nature using a phoenix maltreated in a carnival sideshow, revealing the modern preference for violence and sensationalism over beauty and dignity.

The majesty of Eudora Welty's classic 1941 short story "A Worn Path" employs the phoenix as the name of the major and virtually sole character of a sparsely written yet rich story of regeneration and the South.

The phoenix was also famed for being a symbol of the rise and fall of society in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The pattern of an over complacent and abusive society's destruction yielding a fresh new start was compared to the Phoenix's mythological pattern of consumption by flame, then resurrection out of ashes.

In the canon of comic author Osamu Tezuka the phoenix is often featured as both a literal and symbolic character. Most prominently in the 12 volume series Hi No Tori in which the phoenix is an all knowing cosmic force which connects the string of cultural, physical, and spiritual deaths, rebirths, reincarnations and transmigrations throughout the series.

More recently, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels feature a phoenix, named Fawkes (after Guy Fawkes). He is Dumbledore's pet (Dumbledore's Patronus is speculated to be a phoenix). The life span of this bird is unknown, though it is less than 500 years. In Harry Potter's world, phoenixes can carry enormous weights, their tears have extraordinary healing powers and their song is said to strike fear into the hearts of the unpure and courage into those who are pure of heart. Harry's wand also has a core of phoenix feathers, as does that of Lord Voldemort.

The X-Men comics most famous and successful story arc feautured the fabled Phoenix Force merging with the barely living X-Men mutant Jean Grey in order to pilot a shuttle down from space. Now possessing incredible sensations and emotions never before felt, the Phoenix Force became corrupt. This led to Jean Grey sacrificing herself to save the world from destruction. Although not truly a Phoenix, Jean Grey symbolized the essence of a Phoenix when she rose from the ashes, or the dead, later on in the comics. The Phoenix Force later merged with Jean Grey's daughter (from an alternate future), Rachel Summers, who also died and later came back to life.

In the classic anime franchise, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, the most spectacular power the superhero has is the ability to temporarily transform their aircraft, The God Phoenix in a massive phoenix like bird of flame to escape danger.

In the Final Fantasy series, the Phoenix appears as a summon in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX. Unlike most summons in the series, obtaining the Phoenix summon usually ties into the game's story in some way. In Final Fantasy V, you can do a side-quest in which you find King Tycoon's wyvern at the top of Phoenix Tower, barely alive. The Wyvern proceeds to sacrifice himself to Reina, King Tycoon's daughter, by diving from the tower and as he plummets toward the bottom, a phoenix rises up out of his body and grants the group his aide as a summon. In Final Fantasy VI, the character Locke, a noble thief, attempts to revive his long-lost lover Rachel, who he lost when she fell to her death in the chasm of a cave, by using the magicite in Phoenix Cave, which is said to possess the essence of the legendary bird. The Phoenix is a legendary bird but only one lived at a time. When it was about to die (it knew when it was about to) it would build a fire and kill itself but a new younger Phoenix would be born.

A phoenix plays an important role in Sega's game Shining Force II.

In the Star Trek universe, Phoenix is the name given to the first man-made spacecraft to travel faster than light. It is named Phoenix because in the Star Trek timeline, the Earth was still recovering from the ravages of World War Three, and represents a reborn and bright future for humanity.

In the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, a centaur shoots a burning arrow that turns into a burning Phoenix and devastates the lines of the White Witch.

See also

• Fenghuang, commonly referred to as the Chinese phoenix.
• Paddington tram depot fire, for the use of this motif on trams rebuilt after a fire.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Phoenix", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki