Mimicking the fires of the sun, a bird with radiant plumage lays tucked in its nest. It wastes away into ashes, only to rise again with the sun— the Phoenix.
The Phoenix has been a long-enduring mythological creature present in various cultures around the world. Accounts of this creature are littered across antiquity, traveling back to ancient Egypt and spreading to other civilizations like Greek, Persian, and Chinese mythology. In spite of how vastly different the cultures that mention this bird of myth are from one another, the Phoenix is consistently characterized as a majestic winged entity believed to have hailed from Paradise.
Newworldencyclopedia.org describes it as “a bird with brightly colored plumage, which, after a long life, dies in a fire of its own making only to rise again from the ashes.” Among its many interpretations, the Phoenix is closely tied to worshippings of the sun, life cycles, death, and is a renowned symbol of resurrection and immortality.
It is believed that the origin of the Phoenix was in Egyptian mythology; the bird having been known as Bennu, an ancient Egyptian deity that took shape in the form of a heron. Greek culture later adapted the bird deity into their own word phoenix, meaning purple-red or crimson, becoming what we now recognize as the modern Phoenix.
The Bennu bird shares many traits with the Greek Phoenix, like its connection with the sun and rebirth, but even though the Bennu was the original interpretation, its Greek counterpart is vastly more popular. This is likely due to some confusion surrounding the Egyptian texts when we first unearthed them.

Mythology.net enumerates “several other cultures that hold references to similar ‘solar birds’ or ‘fire birds,’” like the Huma of Persian mythology, the Garuda of Hindu mythology, the Chinese Feng-huang, as well as other appearances in religions like Milcham or Chol in Judaism and Christianity. In all of the variations of its tale that existed, the Phoenix’s legend usually revolved around its ability to overcome death and self-reincarnate. Some variants of the story say that it has to fly all the way from Paradise into the mortal world in order to be reborn.
The Phoenix begins its journey by setting off to the city of Arabia, seeking the finest herbs and spices, namely cinnamon, to fashion into a nest. Cradled in its nest of aromatic herbs and cinnamon twigs, the Phoenix will spend its last moments singing a melodious cry. The notes were said to be so haunting and beautiful that the sun god, Apollo in the Greek version, would stop his chariot to listen to it sing. As if its red and gold feathers were ignited, the bird would then burst into a bright flame of its making, reducing itself and its nest into ashes.
After three days, a new young phoenix would rise and collect the remains of its predecessor. An egg made of myrrh will be made to put the ashes into, and the new Phoenix will end the previous one’s journey by carrying the egg to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, meaning “the city of the sun,” to deposit it on the temple’s altar of the sun god, Ra.
Because of its association to a wide range of themes and ideas, the Phoenix has become a significant figure when it comes to symbolism. We see the Phoenix’s legacy live on through its role in literature rather than its religious portrayal today because of that. And, as the story goes, the new Phoenix would begin its new life cycle by flying back to Paradise, but eventually return to the mortal world for its rebirth. This notion of renewal gives a strong fiery sense of hope and redemption. Life can still rise even after death, and upon destruction can be found a fresh new start— is what the Phoenix embodies.