The Classical myth of the phoenix has been the subject of many studies since the middle of the sixteenth century, when the Humanists had published so many original texts that it became possible to make a systematic study of the Classical heritage. At that time, the main question was whether the phoenix was to be considered a real bird or belonged entirely to the realm of fable. The learned discussions on this problem were full of citations of Classical and Early Christian passages in which the bird was mentioned. ... An attempt has been made to consider all the Classical and Early Christian texts concerning the phoenix. These include a small number not mentioned in the older literature on the phoenix. The outer limits set for this attempt to exhaust the sources were taken at Isidore of Seville in the West-and Maximus Confessor in the East. From later periods only those texts are cited which distinctly reflect old traditions or clarify data in the earlier literature. - [Author]

Language: English

Locators: ISBN: 978-90-04-30832-9