Phoenix

“ The very first decree of state which King Phoenix issued was, that, if a maiden happened to arrive in the kingdom, mounted on a snow-white bull, and calling herself Europa, his subjects should treat her with the greatest kindness and respect, and immediately bring her to the palace. You may see by this, that Phœnix's conscience never quite ceased to trouble him, for giving up the quest of his dear sister, and sitting himself down to be comfortable, while his mother and her companions went onward. ”

“ Among the birds the phoenix is the most wonderful. When Eve gave all the animals some of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the phoenix was the only bird that refused to eat thereof, and he was rewarded with eternal life. When he has lived a thousand years, his body shrinks, and the feathers drop from it, until he is as small as an egg. ”

“ But here this night let reverend Phœnix stay:
His tedious toils and hoary hairs demand
A peaceful death in Pythia’s friendly land.
But whether he remain or sail with me,
His age be sacred, and his will be free.”
GREEK GALLEY
The son of Peleus ceased: the chiefs around
In silence wrapt, in consternation drown’d,
Attend the stern reply. Then Phœnix rose;
(Down his white beard a stream of sorrow flows;)
And while the fate of suffering Greece he mourn’d,
With accent weak these tender words return’d.
PROSERPINE
“Divine Achilles! ”

“ Phoenix is a bird, and there is but one of that kind in all the wide world. Therefore lewd men wonder thereof, and among the Arabs, there this bird is bred, he is called singular—alone. The philosopher speaketh of this bird and saith that phoenix is a bird without make, and liveth three hundred or five hundred years: when the which years are past, and he feeleth his own default and feebleness, he maketh a nest of right sweet-smelling sticks, that are full dry, and in summer when the western wind blows, the sticks and the nest are set on fire with burning heat of the sun, and burn strongly. ”

“ And by and by there came other people, who chanced to have no homes; and, seeing how pleasant a spot it was, they built themselves huts in the neighborhood of Phoenix's habitation. Thus, before many years went by, a city had grown up there, in the center of which was seen a stately palace of marble, wherein dwelt Phoenix, clothed in a purple robe, and wearing a golden crown upon his head. For the inhabitants of the new city, finding that he had royal blood in his veins, had chosen him to be their king. ”

“ He dreaded the curious gaze of the other birds, who would find his beauty dimmed, and would scorn, perchance, the faded glory which they had once held in awe. For years he had not ventured within sight of men, and he knew that most of them had forgotten his existence, nay, even denied that he had ever lived. He feared that there might not be a single heart in all the world that thrilled to his name.
Thinking thus mournfully, the Phœnix sat upon the top of the tallest palm. His plumage of crimson and gold glowed in the last rays of the setting sun. ”

“ THE PHOENIX Ovid tells the story of the Phoenix as follows: "Most beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous gums. When it has lived five hundred years, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors. ”

“ I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their day. ”

“ A snow-white bull with a little princess on his back! Ho! ho! I ask your pardon, good folks; but there never was such a sight seen hereabouts."
At last, when his upper lip began to have the down on it, Phœnix grew weary of rambling hither and thither to no purpose. So, one day, when they happened to be passing through a pleasant and solitary tract of country, he sat himself down on a heap of moss.
"I can go no farther," said Phœnix. "It is a mere foolish waste of life, to spend it, as we do, in always wandering up and down, and never coming to any home at nightfall. ”

“ The bells of the city were rung and crowds of people came to rejoice over the recovery of the coat. Meanwhile the Phœnix walked about the garden. [Pg 197]
"This is as it should be," said he, "as far as the Old Brown Coat is concerned, but I don't receive the honour due to me. I am the Phœnix; the only one of course in the world. I am five hundred years old, nearly. When I was here a hundred years ago I was made very much of. But the world is growing very degenerate." The gardener of the palace came by just then. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Phoenix had been Achilles' tutor. In terror for the safety of the Greek fleet, he appealed to his friend to relent.
"How can I be left alone here without thee, dear child? Thy father sent me to teach thee to be a speaker of words and a doer of deeds. In thy childhood I tended thee, for I knew that I should never have a son and I looked to thee to save me from ruin. Tame thy great spirit. Even the gods know how to change, whose honour is greater, and their power. Men in prayer turn them by sacrifice when any hath sinned and transgressed. For Prayers are the daughters of great Zeus ”

“ The Phœnix lives a thousand years, "a secular bird of ages:" and there is never more than one at a time in the world. Yet Plutarch very gravely informs us, that the brain of the phoenix is a pleasant bit, but apt to occasion the head-ache. By the bye, there are few styles that are not fit for something. ”

“ Not that there were any such persons as Phœnix and Belus, for they were certainly titles: and, under the characters of those two personages, Colonies, named Belidæ and Phœnices, went abroad, and settled in different parts. Their history and appellation may be traced from Babylonia to Arabia and Egypt; and from thence to Canaan, and to the regions in the west. It were therefore to be wished, that the terms Phœnix and Phœnicia had never been used in the common acceptation; at least when the discourse turns upon the more antient history of Canaan. ”

“ Ask me no more if east or west
The phoenix builds her spicy nest;
For unto you at last she flies,
And in your fragrant bosom dies. ”

“ The priests of that temple have all their writing dated by the fowl that is called Phoenix; and there is none but one in all the world. And he cometh to burn himself upon the altar of the temple at the end of five hundred years; for so long he liveth. And at the end of the five hundred years, they array their altar carefully, and put thereon spices and live sulphur, and other things that will burn lightly. And then the bird Phoenix cometh and burneth himself to ashes. And the first day next after, men find in the ashes a worm; and the second day next after, men find a bird, quick and perfect ”

“ And the Sun himself loved to caress his plumage of gold and crimson.
As for men, they also had adored him in time past, and had built temples in his honor. They also were puny mortals, scarcely longer of life than the birds themselves. The Phœnix had seen many generations of men grow up, do good or evil deeds, and die, sometimes leaving grand monuments upon the earth, sometimes disappearing from knowledge like the very birds, leaving scarcely a trace behind. ”

“ The title of Phoinic seems at first to have been given to persons of great stature: but, in process of time, it was conferred upon people of power and eminence, like αναξ and ανακτες among the Greeks. The Cuthites in Egypt were styled Royal Shepherds, Βασιλεις Ποιμενες, and had therefore the title of Phœnices. A colony of them went from thence to Tyre and Syria: hence it is said by many writers that Phœnix came from Egypt to Tyre. People, not considering this, have been led to look for the shepherd's origin in Canaan, because they were sometimes called Phœnices. ”

“ This wise and glorious Bird, that has been sent to us by the King, is called Phœnix; he dwells far off in Arabia, on a tree, which there is no other that resembles on Earth, as in like manner there is no second Phœnix. ”

“ There are many legends about the phoenix , which was described as a bird of the size and shape of an Eagle , but with red and gold plumage . There was but one proenix at a time , and it came to Egypt every 500 years from Arabia . ”

“ Out of the sea will rise Behemoth and Leviathan, and sail round the high-pooped galleys, as they do on the delightful maps of those ages when books on geography were actually readable. Dragons will wander about the waste places, and the phoenix will soar from her nest of fire into the air. We shall lay our hands upon the basilisk, and see the jewel in the toad’s head. ”

“ Phœnix has been a sort of foster-father to Achilles{v.i-95} from his boyhood, intrusted with the care of him by his father Peleus, and has now accompanied him to the war by the old man’s special request, to aid him with advice and counsel. If any one in the camp has any influence over the headstrong prince, it will be the man who, as he says, has dandled him in his arms in his helpless infancy. And no diplomatic enterprise could be complete without the addition of Ulysses, the man of many devices and of persuasive tongue. ”

“ He was replied to a few years later by Alexander Ross, who says, in answer to the objection of the Phoenix so seldom making his appearance, "His instinct teaches him to keep out of the way of the tyrant of the creation, man, for if he were to be got at, some wealthy glutton would surely devour him, though there were no more in the world." ”

“ Phoenix—by Lactantius.—"Seleucus" is informed, in answer to his query in No. 13. p. 203., that he will find the Latin poem of the Phoenix, in hexameters and pentameters, in that scarce little volume, edited by Pithaeus, and published at Paris in 1590 (see Brunet) , Epigrammata et Poematia Vetera, &c. (of which I am happy to say I possess a most beautiful copy) , where it is headed "Phoenix, Incerti Auctoris;" and again at the end of the edition of Claudian by P. Burmann Secundus Amsterdam, 1760) , with the following title,—Lactantia Elegia, de Phoenice ”

“ While sojourning on the Pacific coast Derby first began writing for the San Francisco papers and magazines. His contributions consisted mainly of humorous sketches written under the signature of John Phoenix. These sketches attracted general attention among the Pacific States, and in 1855 were published in book form under the title of Phoenixiana, or Sketches and Burlesques. ”

“ Phoenix [39] , the Son of Amyntor, hath often paid many a Tear for his Amours, though he had not the wretched Fate of Hippolytus [40] , to be torn in pieces by wild Horses.
And thou, O Phineus [41] ! why dost thou indulge that Jade Harpalice by digging out the Eyes of thy Children? Believe me, Divine Vengeance will hereafter inflict the same Punishment on thyself.
All these have been the Effects of Women's raging Desires, which are so much more violent and mad than ours.
Come on then, and doubt not the Conquest of any Girl whatever: there is not one in a thousand who will deny you. ”

“ The Phoenix. 1603–4
S. R. 1607, May 9 (Buck) . ‘A Booke called The Phenix.’ Arthur Johnson (Arber, iii. 348) .
1607. The Phoenix, As It hath beene sundry times Acted by the Children of Paules. And presented before his Maiestie. E. A. for A. I.
1630. T. H. for R. Meighen.
The only available performance before James was on 20 Feb. 1604, and the imitation of Volpone (1605) suggested by Fleay, ii. 92, is not clear enough to cause any difficulty. Knights are satirized in I. vi. 150, II. iii. 4, and there is an allusion to the unsettled state of Ireland in I. v. 6.
A Trick to Catch the Old One. ”

“ Teaching that they continued to make intercession for sin, after their ascension to the right hand of the Father, they were also called Intercessors, Mediators or Advocates with the Father. From teaching their appearance every 600 years originated the Egyptian legend of the Phoenix, a bird said to descend from the sun at these intervals, and, after being consumed upon the altar in the temple of On, or city of the sun—called Heliopolis by the Greeks—would rise from its ashes and ascend to its source. According to the civil laws of Egypt, manhood was not attained until the age of thirty years. ”

“ They have also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. ”

“ The Assyrians call it the Phœnix. ”

“ The country of Phoenicia was 120 miles long and with an average breadth of 12 miles, never exceeding 20 miles. The chief cities of Phoenicia were Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Byhlus, Berytus, Tripolis, and Accho or Ptolemais. Its central position between the eastern and western countries, early developed its commercial power, and its intercourse with foreign nations at an early period produced an advanced state of civilization and refinement. The Phoenicians were a Semitic nation like the Israelites ”

“ Æon, discovered that life might be sustained by the fruits of trees. Their immediate descendants were called Genos and Genea, who lived in Phoenicia, and in time of drought stretched forth their hands to heaven towards the sun; for him they regarded as the sole Lord of Heaven, and called him Baal-samin, which means ‘Lord of Heaven’ in the Phoenician tongue, and is equivalent to Zeus in Greek. ”