The modern English word phoenix entered the English language from Latin, later reinforced by French. The word first entered the English … See more

Apart from the Linear B mention above from Mycenaean Greece, the earliest clear mention of the phoenix in ancient Greek literature occurs in a fragment of the Precepts of Chiron, attributed to 8th-century BC Greek poet Hesiod. In the fragment, the wise See more

According to Pliny the Elder, a senator Manilius (Marcus Manilius?) had written that the phoenix appeared at the end of each Great Year, which he wrote of "in the consulship of Gnaeus Cornelius and Publius Licinius", that is, in 96 BC, that a cycle was 540 years, … See more

Scholars have observed analogues to the phoenix in a variety of cultures. These analogues include the Hindu garuda (गरुड) and See more

Classical discourse on the subject of the phoenix attributes a potential origin of the phoenix to Ancient Egypt. Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, provides the following account of … See more

The phoenix is sometimes pictured in ancient and medieval literature and medieval art as endowed with a halo, which emphasizes the bird's connection with the See more

In time, the motif and concept of the phoenix extended from its origins in ancient Greek folklore. For example, the classical motif of the phoenix continues into the Gnostic manuscript On the Origin of the World from the Nag Hammadi Library collection … See more