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Clement of Rome

1 Clement

First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

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The Phoenix as a Sign of the Resurrection

Chapter 25

1 Let us consider the marvelous sign⁠ that is seen in the regions of the east,⁠ that is, in the area around Arabia. 2 There is a bird called the phoenix.⁠ This bird, the only one of its kind, lives for five hundred years; and when it has reached the time of its end and must die, it makes itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, which it enters when the time is fulfilled, and so it dies. 3 But, as the flesh rots, a worm is produced, which is nourished by the moisture of the dead creature and grows wings.⁠ Then, when it has grown strong, it takes up the coffin that holds the bones of its parent, and carrying them it travels from the country of Arabia all the way to Egypt, to the place called the City of the Sun. 4 and in the daytime, in the sight of all, it flies to the altar of the Sun and lays them on it; and having done this, it sets out to return. 5 So the priests examine the records of the dates, and they find that it has come when the five hundredth year is completed.

Texts in conversation

Compare Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 25:2 and Physiologus 40:2

Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author refers to the mythical phoenix, reborn from its own remains, as a sign that God can raise the dead. The Physiologus, an early Christian handbook of animal lore, goes a step further and describes the phoenix as an image of Jesus.

Passages

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 25:2

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
1 Let us consider the marvelous sign that is seen in the regions of the east, that is, in the area around Arabia. 2 There is a bird called the phoenix. This bird, the only one of its kind, lives for five hundred years; and when it has reached the time of its end and must die, it makes itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, which it enters when the time is fulfilled, and so it dies. 3 But, as the flesh rots, a worm is produced, which is nourished by the moisture of the dead creature and grows wings. Then, when it has grown strong, it takes up the coffin that holds the bones of its parent, and carrying them it travels from the country of Arabia all the way to Egypt, to the place called the City of the Sun. 4 and in the daytime, in the sight of all, it flies to the altar of the Sun and lays them on it; and having done this, it sets out to return. 5 So the priests examine the records of the dates, and they find that it has come when the five hundredth year is completed.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

Physiologus 40:2

Early Christian
2 There is a bird in India called the Phoenix. And at the end of five hundred years he comes to the trees of Lebanon, and fills his wings with pleasant fragrances, and he announces his return to the priest of Heliopolis early in the month Nisan or Adar (that is Phamenoti or Pharmuti). And the priest, when he hears the news, comes and fills up the altar with vine wood. And the bird comes to Heliopolis laden with the fragrance of pleasant spices, and settles on the altar, and kindles a fire and burns himself. And on the following morning the priest searches through the ashes on the altar and finds a small worm in them. And on the second day, look, he grows feathers and becomes like a young bird. And on the third day they find him just as before, the Phoenix, and he greets the priest, and flies away and returns to his old dwelling-place. 3 If this bird has the power to kill himself and come to life again, how can reasonable men complain about our Lord Jesus Christ when He said: "I have power to lay down my life and to take it again." 4 For the Phoenix takes on the image of our Lord, when, coming down from heaven, he brought with him both wings full of pleasant fragrances, the excellent heavenly words, so that as we stretch out our hands in prayer we become filled with the pleasant scent of his mercy.
150–350 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Physiologus

References

“... The first known example of a Christian use of the Phoenix motif is found in 1 Clement. In an argument that serves to enhance the probability of the resurrection of the dead Clement refers to the Phoenix bird. [...] The Phoenix is another wondrous sign pointing towards the resurrection. At the time of its dissolution in death it makes a sepulchre of frankincense, myrrh and other spices, and when the time is fulfilled it enters into the sepulchre and dies. From the putrefied flesh, however, a worm springs forward that eventually develops into a new Phoenix bird which will carry the sepulchre of its predecessor from Arabia to Heliopolis (25:1–3). [...] Both Clement and Tertullian endorse Phoenix as a powerful symbol that enables them to render the idea of the resurrection probable. [...] Some other texts point in the same direction but they take the understanding even further by identifying Phoenix with Christ. In the Greek Physiologos—the dating of which remains uncertain—the Phoenix symbolises Christ. After a period of 500 years the Indian bird leaves for the trees of Lebanon in order to collect aromates for its future immolation. It informs a priest of Heliopolis about its forthcoming arrival in the new month of Nissan. The rebirth of the bird is said to last three days. Both statements mirror a move towards an identification with Christ which is explicitly made in the final morale of the story. Phoenix has adopted the countenance of the saviour ...”
Anders Klostergaard Petersen, “Between Old and New: The Problem of Acculturation Illustrated by the Early Christian Use of the Phoenix Motif,” in Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome: Studies in Ancient Cultural Interaction in Honour of A. Hilhorst, ed. Florentino García Martínez and Gerard P. Luttikhuizen, JSJSup 82 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 161–162.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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