The constellation was named after the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes.The mythical bird phoenix is known as the sacred fire bird across many mythologies: Greek, Persian, Arabic, Egyptian, Roman, Turkish, Indian and Chinese among others.
The phoenix was said to have resembled an eagle with purple, red and gold feathers, and a scarlet and gold tail. Ovid wrote in his Metamorphoses that the bird lived for 500 years. When it reached the end of its life span, the phoenix would build itself a nest at the top of a palm tree, using