phoenix

In Egyptian and Oriental mythology, a sacred bird born from the sun. The Egyptians believed it was also connected with the soul and the obelisk. In China the phoenix signified good and its appearance prosperity; its departure boded calamity. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the creature visited the temple of the sun at Heliopolis every 500 years to bury its dead father, embalmed in a ball of myrrh. In another version, the phoenix placed itself on the city's burning altar or built a nest as a funeral pyre, and rose rejuvenated from the ashes. Only one phoenix existed at a time.

Mysterious and beautiful, the phoenix was depicted in early artistic representations with a plumage of five colours, and a very long tail. Its song was said to be a harmony of five notes. In classical mythology the bird was believed to resemble an eagle in size and shape, with red and gold plumage.