Re: a real Phoenix

[Amtoine Grant <ajgrant@eastlink.ca>]

On Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 06:11  PM, Christopher Taylor wrote:

> 'Phoinix' (latinised to 'Phoenix') is Greek for 'crimson' or 'purple' -
> hence Phoenicia is named after the purple dye (murex) that it was 
> famous for
> producing, and the red stain that this dye left on the hands of those 
> who
> made it. My guess would be that flamingos are _Phoenicopterus_ because 
> of
> their 'crimson wings'. This doesn't rule out an association with the 
> bird
> 'Phoinix', if a double meaning is intended.
> 'Phoinix' is also translatable as 'date palm'. I don't know if there's 
> an
> etymological connection between 'dates' and 'crimson', or which of the
> meanings the bird 'Phoinix' is named after - while the Phoenix may 
> have been
> thought of as crimson in colour, the date palm was traditionally the 
> tree on
> which it set itself alight.

What also must be taken into consideration if the fact that the Phoenix 
is part of Egyptian mythology, which predates Greek. If I recall 
correctly, I read something about a connection with a species of stork 
by the Egyptians must've encountered/lived with.