In Ancient Greek folklore, a phoenix (; Ancient Greek: φοῖνιξ, phoînix) is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. A...
In Ancient Greek folklore, a phoenix (; Ancient Greek: φοῖνιξ, phoînix) is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again.Over time the phoenix motif spread from its origins in classical folklore and gained a variety of new associations: Herodotus, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Pope Clement I, Lactantius, Ovid, and Isidore of Seville are among those who have contributed to the retelling and transmission of the phoenix motif. Over time, extending beyond its origins in classical Greek folklore, the phoenix could variously "symbolize renewal in general as well as the sun, time, the Empire, metempsychosis, consecration, resurrection, life in the heavenly Paradise, Christ, Mary, virginity, the exceptional man, and certain aspects of Christian life". In the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, a tool used by folklorists, the phoenix is classified as motif B32.
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Abath
An Abath is a legendary creature resembling a unicorn, first appearing in records in the 16th century.
Accounts of the Abath were brought back by 16t...
An Abath is a legendary creature resembling a unicorn, first appearing in records in the 16th century.
Accounts of the Abath were brought back by 16th-century European travellers to the Malay Peninsula. Described as female, with a single horn growing from its forehead, it is speculated that these were probably the result of a half-glimpsed Javan or Sumatran rhinoceros. Like the unicorn, a powder made from this horn supposedly served both as an aphrodisiac and as an antidote to poison. However, since the unicorn was invariably represented as male, and since there was only ever one in existence at any time, the Abath seems to have developed independently from the European myths of the one-horned creature.
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