Any Greek story is chock full of immortal heroes interacting with mythical creatures, so it can be easy to see why writers like Herodotus were eager to adopt the mythological bird into their culture.

Many of the country’s most iconic legends come from the Tohoku region, where history is riddled with natural disasters, famine, and isolation. The spirits known as namahage visit families at their ...

Introduction -- Cultural transformations of the phoenix -- Prologue sacred to the sun -- Egyptian beginnings -- Royal bird of China -- Classical marvel. Birth of the Western phoenix ; Early Roman ...