Chapter 29

Chapter XXIX
Modern Monsters: The Phoenix Basilisk Unicorn Salamander There is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have been the
successors of the "Gorgons, Hydras, and Chimeras dire" of the old
superstitions, and, having no connection with the false gods of
Paganism, to have continued to enjoy an existence in the popular
belief after Paganism was superseded by Christianity. They are
mentioned perhaps by the classical writers, but their chief
popularity and currency seem to have been in more modern times.
We seek our accounts of them not so much in the poetry of the
ancients, as in the old natural history books and narrations of
travellers. The accounts which we are about to give are taken
chiefly from the Penny Cyclopedia. THE PHOENIX Ovid tells the story of the Phoenix as follows: "Most beings
spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which
reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does
not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous
gums. When it has lived five hundred years, it builds itself a
nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm-tree. In
this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these
materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying,
breathes out its last breath amidst odors. From the body of the
parent bird a young Phoenix issues forth, destined to live as
long a life as its predecessor. When this has grown up and
gained sufficient strength, it lifts its nest from the tree (its
own cradle and its parent's sepulchre) and carries it to the city
of Heliopolis in Egypt, and deposits it in the temple of the
Sun." Such is the account given by a poet. Now let us see that of a
philosophic historian. Tacitus says, "In the consulship of
Paulus Fabius (A.D. 34), the miraculous bird known to the world
by the name of Phoenix, after disappearing for a series of ages,
revisited Egypt. It was attended in its flight by a group of
various birds, all attracted by the novelty, and gazing with
wonder at so beautiful an appearance." He then gives an account
of the bird, not varying materially from the preceding, but
adding some details. "The first care of the young bird as soon
as fledged and able to trust to his wings is to perform the
obsequies of his father. But this duty is not undertaken rashly.
He collects a quantity of myrrh, and to try his strength makes
frequent excursions with a load on his back. When he has gained
sufficient confidence in his own vigor, he takes up the body of
his father and flies with it to the altar of the Sun, where he
leaves it to be consumed in flames of fragrance." Other writers
add a few particulars. The myrrh is compacted in the form of an
egg, in which the dead Phoenix