Greek mythologies were around humanity for thousands of years and they do not seem to fade away easily. Among them stands out the legendary Phoenix, which is deemed as the symbol of renewal, rebirth, and destruction. The ancient legends detail about a majestic, giant bird with a body ablaze with irradiant colors and eyes filled with vitality.
According to Greek mythology, the Phoenix is associated with the Sun. Just like the Sun that rises and sets daily, the Phoenix will die and resurrect eventually within a time scope of hundreds of years. When a Phoenix approaches its latter years, it will build a nest with the finest aromas in due course and will ignite itself with a single clap of wings. From the ashes, arises a young Phoenix which is much stronger than his precursor. The myth further explains that the young Phoenix would collect the ashes into an egg and deposit this egg in the name of the Sun-god in the city Heliopolis.
Since the legendary Phoenix awed people, it has been then adopted by many cultures and religions to depict various themes such as the Sun, death, rebirth, and so on. Among them is early Christianity which specifically used the Phoenix to analog the resurrection of their survivor, Jesus Christ. Since then it has become a popular symbol of Christian tombstones even until to this very day. They believe the reason it lives so many years up to the point where some people would say “almost immortal”, goes way back in history. In Eden, when Eve took a bite out of the apple, she then induced the animals with the forbidden fruit as well. The denial of the Phoenix to eat the fruit gifted the Phoenix with “almost immortality”.
But what does this mythical creature really appear for? People who look up to this mythical bird believe that it represents nothing other than the dawn and the dusk of the universe. The last ignition, according to them represents a cosmic fire that would ultimately consume the universe. Again, a new universe would be born and would live up to millions or billions of years until it destroys itself by the ones who sinned. Hence, it is safe to say that the Phoenix represents the end is only the beginning. It is quite certain that this legendary creature will awe many more generations to come until life on earth bites the dust.
By Rtr. Rashmi Kurukulasooriya
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References: The Catholic Bible, The Phoenix in Egyptian, Arab & Greek mythology by Tina Garnet
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