The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

Introduction
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phoenix ( feeniks) Something that rises anew in the face of defeat or adversity. This legendary bird
appears in the mythology of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and early Christianity and was widely
considered a symbol of immortality and life after death. According to most traditions the phoenix
resembled an ea gle, with gold and scarlet feathers, and lived for about 500 years. When the time
came for it to die, it lay down on a pyre and allowed itself to be burned in the fl ames. It then
emerged renewed from the ashes, hence the expression a phoenix rising from the ashes.
See References
See references direct the reader to the full entry where the allusion is considered.
Bluto See popeye.
eye of a needle See camel: go through an eye of a needle.
rest on one’s laurels See laurels.
Biblical quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.