Posted on

Compare and contrast: The Phoenix

The text below is adapted from a Greek historian called Herodotus. He lived about 2,500 years ago and wrote about the phoenix. If you want to see his original work, it’s on the University of Chicago’s website.

There is a sacred bird called the phoenix. I did not see it, but I saw a painting. It travels to Egypt sometimes. The people in Heliopolis, Egypt say they see it every 500 years. He comes every 500 years because that is when his father dies. (More on that soon!)

The paintings show the phoenix has gold and red feathers. The shape of the phoenix is like the eagle.

When the phoenix comes to Egypt, he buries his father in the temple of the Sun. He follows special steps. He first gathers an expensive material called myrrh. He uses the myrrh to make an egg. He wraps his father in the egg-shaped myrrh. Then, he carries him to the temple of the Sun.

When Shakespeare heard this story 2,000 years later, he wrote:

The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new create another heir

Shakespeare, King Henry VIII

This quote means that when the phoenix dies, she catches on fire. From, these ashes a new phoenix rises. This idea that the phoenix is reborn through fire is common in stories about the phoenix.

Compare this description of a phoenix, wth the description of the phoenix in this book.

First, create a Venn diagram to show what is the same and different about these descriptions.

Then, add 2 quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to show that your description is correct.

Finally, write two paragraphs to describe what is the same and what is different between the historical phoenix and the phoenix you just read.

You can upload your work here.

Upload your picture here.

Click here to see the rubrics