Solar and Fire Birds

Solar and Fire Birds gathers the mythological birds of different cultures associated with the sun, fire and renewal, each treated in scholarship as an analogue of the Greek phoenix. The fenghuang of Chinese tradition is paired with the dragon and understood to reign over all other birds as a feminine counterpart to that masculine symbol. The bennu of ancient Egyptian religion is linked with the sun, creation and rebirth, and is regarded as a likely original inspiration for the later Greek phoenix legend. The vermilion bird represents the fire element and the direction south among the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, described as perpetually wreathed in flame. The simurgh of Iranian mythology and literature is explicitly noted for its similarities to the phoenix across Persian, Georgian, Armenian and Eastern Roman art and iconography.