Over time the phoenix motif spread and gained a variety of new associations Herodotus, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Pope Clement I, Lactantius, Ovid, and Isidore of Seville are among those who have contributed to the retelling and transmission of the phoenix motif. The origin of the phoenix has been attributed to Ancient Egypt by Herodotus and later 19th-century scholars, but other scholars think the Egyptian texts may have been influenced by classical folklore. In the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, a tool used by folklorists, the phoenix is classified as motif B32.

Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology (with analogs in many cultures) that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again.

A depiction of a phoenix by Friedrich Justin Bertuch, 1806)

Empire at war phoenix rising