Here is a short description of the myth of
Phoenix:
[The
Roman poet] 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.'
from Bulfinch's
Mythology So it is not understandable why there should be a pile of
rocks.
Rocks are not
part of this myth! The so-called
rocks are the logs of a pyre!
Regards,
Jochen
