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3829: Cornelis Troost 1696-1750: The Phoenix. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
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The Phoenix is a fabulous and sacred bird.
What he does and how he looks like
According to the people of Heliopolis in Egypt,
the Phoenix came to that city once in five hundred
years to bury his father. Historians have
apparently never claimed to have seen this
extraordinary creature, except in pictures, and
they have found the accounts about this bird quite
incredible. It is from the pictures that they have
described the Phoenix, saying that it had the
appearance of an eagle, both in shape and size, and
that his plumage was partly golden, and partly red.
How he manages
It is said that the Phoenix, carrying his father
encased in myrrh, comes from Arabia to the Temple
of the Sun in Heliopolis, where he buries him. In
order to do this, the Phoenix first moulds an egg
of the bitter tasting but aromatic plant called
myrrh, and then hollows it out, putting his father
into it. Having done this, he plasters over with
more myrrh the hollow of the egg, and carries it to
Egypt.
Reproduces himself
Yet the Phoenix has no father in the usual
sense. For this bird, they say, is the only
creature capable of renewing and reproducing its
own being. They add that unlike other birds, the
Phoenix does not feed on seeds, but on the gum of
frankincense, an aromatic resin, and the juices of
amomum, a herb of the ginger family.
Nest carried to Heliopolis
When the Phoenix has lived for five hundred years, he builds a nest at the top of a palm-tree, which he covers over with cassia-bark, spikes of nard, cinnamon, and myrrhall of them highly aromatic plants. Having then placed himself upon the nest, he dies; but from the dead body a little Phoenix springs up, who also lives the length of five centuries. Now, once in the course of his life, the Phoenix removes the nest from the palm and bears it to Heliopolis, where he lays it down before the doors of the Temple of the Sun. This is the only thing that the Phoenix, though
he lives five hundred years, has been reported to
do.
The difficult science of life span, years, ages
and generations
On the length of the life of the Phoenix, the
following has been said:
"A chattering
crow lives out nine generations of aged men, but a
stag's life is four times a crow's, and a raven's
life makes three stags old, while the phoenix
outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder, outlive ten
phoenixes." (Hesiod, quoted by Plutarch, Obsolescence
of Oracles 415c).
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Aged man
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80 years
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Crow
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9 x 80
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720 years
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Stag
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4 x 720
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2880 years
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Raven
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3 x 2880
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8640 years
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Phoenix
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9 x 8640
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77760 years
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Nymphs
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10 x 77760
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777600 years
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Now, if the crow outlives nine generations of
aged men, and if we were to call an aged man he who
is 80 years old, then the crow would live 720 years
(80 x 9). The stag's life being four times a crow's
would then amount to 2880 years (720 x 4). The
raven lives as long as three stags, which amounts
to 8640 years (2880 x 3); and the Phoenix lives as
long as nine ravens, which is 77760 (8640 x 9). The NYMPHS then would live 777600 years before they also die. But this is not right counting that reaches such immense results. For the word "generation," says Plutarch, is to be interpreted as "one year," thus opening a wiser way of counting, able to yield results (table below), which, for being more modest must also be more reasonable. For those who count with lesser numbers, as the Etruscans and the Atlanteans, whose ages
amount repectively to 12.000 years and 11.044
years, may tend to find enormous, the fashion in
which other peoples pile up digits. For the
Indians, for example, say they have existed for
more than 1.000.000.000 years, and the Scythians say for
88.638.417 years, and the Chinese for 2.760.000
years, and the Japanese for 2.362.584 years, and
the Chaldeans for 720.000 years, and the Persians
for 100.000 years, and the Phoenicians for 30.000
years. And as some apparently find that very large
numbers may confuse the mind, making it run away
from any meaning whatsoever, they have wished to
keep them low. Thus, they reason, the crow lives 9
years out of those which an aged or vigorous man
may live, which could be 30 years if he is going to
be counted as a generation for his vigour, or 108
if he is counted as a generation for his age. For
108 doubles 54, which is considered to mark the
middle years of human life, being also a number
related to the creation of the world. Such
interpretation yields better results:
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Aged man
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Crow
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9 x 1
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9 years
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Stag
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4 x 9
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36 years
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Raven
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3 x 36
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108 years
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Phoenix
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9 x 108
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972 years
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Nymphs
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10 x 972
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9720 years
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The table shows, however, that the Phoenix lives
972 years and not 500, as others have claimed.
Concerning the Nymphs,
who live in the woodlands, rivers, and meadows,
some have thought that they do not live longer than
a tree. Then again it has also been said that:
"... in the
lifetime of one squawking crow, five human
generations come and go." (Hesiod quoted by Aristophanes, The
Birds 609).
And that:
"... for every
crow, if her mate dies, remains a widow, not merely
for a short time, but for nine generations of
men." (Plutarch, Beasts are rational, Moralia 989a).
Here "generation" does not appear to mean "one year" as before; for it is said immediately that:
"It follows
that your fair Penelope is nine times inferior in chastity
to any crow you please." (Plutarch, Beasts are rational, Moralia 989a).
These enlightening discussions suggest, despite
their merits or through them, that difficulties
tend to grow when things are examined in their
details. Leaving them aside for a moment then, it
may be established that the Phoenix is immortal.
For whatever the length in years of each
reincarnation, he is born from its own being, and
returns for ever and ever again.
Account of Philostratus
Flavius Philostratus (c. AD 170), who wrote the
biography Life
of Apollonius of Tyana, says that the
Phoenix visits Egypt every five hundred years, and
the rest of the time flies about in India. He
considered the bird as an emanation of sunlight,
being in appearance and size much like an eagle.
Its nest, he says, is made out of spices at the
springs of the Nile, and when the bird is being
consumed in the nest, he adds, it sings funeral
strains for itself.
Others with identical name
Phoenix 1, brother of Europa or perhaps her father, was son either of Agenor 1 or of Belus 1; these two descend from Libya, daughter of Epaphus 1, son of Io. After Phoenix 1, they say, Phoenicia was called.
For Phoenix 2 see ACHAEAN LEADERS;
after him a river Phoenix was called in southern
Thessaly.
Phoenix 3 was a chieftain who came as guardian of the young Hymenaeus 3 when they joined Dionysus 2 in his
campaign against India
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