The Roman poet Ovid made it clear that the Phoenix was reborn every five hundred years.

While Herodotus did not say exactly how the Phoenix hatched its own father, later writers filled in the blanks of the story. The fire bird buried its egg in the Temple of Helios so that its father could be reborn. The egg, in a confusing turn, contained the Phoenix’s father. When the Phoenix arrived at the Temple of Helios, Herodotus said that it carried a large egg made of myrrh. It was far more brightly-colored, though, with bright red and gold plumage that shone in the sun. Herodotus said that the Phoenix was roughly the size of an eagle.

It flew from Arabia to the temple of the sun god Helios. He claimed to have learned about the bird from the people of Heliopolis in Egypt.Īccording to Herodotus, the Phoenix appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years. Herodotus went into more detail about the life and origins of the legendary fire bird. In a list of long-lived creatures including stags and ravens, Hesiod claimed that only the nymphs lived longer than the Phoenix. Instead, he focused on the legendary longevity of the Phoenix. Hesiod did not write about any specific myths associated with the bird, however. Hesiod mentioned the Phoenix in the 7th or 8th century BC, at the dawn of Greek literature. The Phoenix was not a prominent part of Greek mythology, but it was a long-lasting one. For the origins of the Phoenix, both ancient and modern historians looked far beyond Greece to cultures that worshipped the sun. While the ancient Greeks and Romans described the amazing Phoenix in many works, they acknowledged that it was not a native part of their own mythology. From the ashes was born a young Phoenix, both a new life and a continuation of its predecessor. When the Phoenix reached the end of its extraordinary lifespan, it was said that it burst into flames. It lived a remarkably long life and was blessed with constant rebird.

There was, according to most accounts, only one Phoenix. A beautiful and noble creature, it was known for both its long life and the unique way in which it was born. The Phoenix is one of the most famous birds of ancient mythology.

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