64 A GLOSSARY OF GREEK BIRDS 



IBI2 {continued). 



headed snake with ibis-heads; cf. Savigny, op. cit. p. 159, Kircher, 

 Oedip. iii. p. 96, &c. : on the same zodiac an ibis-headed man rides 

 on Capricornus, under which sign Sirius rose anti-heHacahy (Dupuis, 

 Orig. de tous les cultes, v. i) ; in this connexion, cf. Timoch. 3. 590 

 TTws- av (Tcoaiuv 'ijSis r) kiojv. Thoth is figured as an Ibis, or with 

 an ibis-head, Plut. Synip. ix, cf. Pherecydes, Hymn. Merc. '^O 'Epfirjs 

 il3lfxop(pe, apx^yos 68v6oio, (TvyypnfJ.ixdTaiv yei/vi^Tuip, fie^fjCTtaii re naarjs : 

 Hermes, pursued by Typhon, changed himself into an Ibis, Hygin. 

 Astr. P. ii. c. 28, Ant. Lib. Met. c. 28, Ovid, Met. v. 331. Many of 

 the bird's peculiarities, real or fabulous, are mystically associated with 

 the same god : e. g. its dainty walk (Ael. ii. 38) with the inventor 

 of the dance ; its numerical constants (e. g. its intestine 96 cubits long, 

 and its pace of one cubit, Ael. x. 29) with the inventor of arithmetic ; 

 the equilateral triangle or A that its beak and legs made (Plut. Is. et 

 Osir. 381 ; or its legs alone, Pier. Valer. xvii. 18, xlvii) with the inventor 

 of letters (cf. also Kircher, Obel. Pamphil. pp. 125-131), its knowledge 

 of physic with the founder of the medical art. On the Ibis as the inventor 

 of clysters, cf. Cic. N. D. ii. 50, 126, Plut. De Sol. Aniin. p. 974 C tijs 'i^eas 

 rov vnoK.\vapov dXjLtJ; Kadaipnpfuj^s AlyvnTLOi avvi8e'ip Kai fxipTjaatxdai Xeyovaiv : 

 id. De Is. et Osir. p. 381, Ael. ii. 35, X. 29, Phile xvi, Plin. viii. (27)41, x. 30, 

 Galen, De Ven. Sect, i, &c. ; the same story of the Stork, Don Quixote, 

 ii. p. 63 (edit. Lend. 1749) : cf. N. and O. (4) ix. p. 216 : see also 

 Bacon, De Augm. v. 2. The opposed black and white of the Ibis' 

 plumage, as sometimes of Mercury's raiment, suggested various sym- 

 bolic parallels, the opposition of male and female, of light and darkness, 

 of order and disorder, of speech and silence, of truth and falsehood : 

 cf. Ael. X. 29, Schol, in PL Phaedr., Plut. De Is. 381 D, Clem. Alex. Str. 

 V. 7. The Ibis is a symbol of the heart (irfpl ov Xoyo? ea-rl nXelaros 

 nap' AlyvnTiois cfiepopLevos, Horap. i. 36), an organ under the protection 

 of Hermes ; and the bird has a heart-shaped outline (Ael. x. 29 KapSias 

 (Txripa, orav viroKpv^rjTai rt]v Bfprjv Knl rrjv Kf({)aXi)v Tois vno tco arepva 

 TTTfpois) as indeed its mummies have still ; a weight as it issues from 

 the egg equal to the heart of a new-born child (Plut. Symp. 670), 

 or a heart of its own of exceptional size (Gaudent. Merula, Memorab. 

 iii. c. 50) ; in this connexion we may compare the Eg. daku with da or 

 l>ai the soul (Lauth, op. cit.) ; cf. supra s. v. )3aii]8. The Ibis was em- 

 blematic of the ecliptic or zodiacal ring : dpidpoi yap e-mvoias Ktu perpov 

 paXta-ra rav C'i"^*' V '/^'^ ^PXH^ tvaptxfo'Oai. tois AiyvTrriois Soxei, cos rcov 

 kCkXcov Xo^os, Clem. Alex. Stromat. p. 671. It enjoyed freedom from 

 sickness, longevity, or even immortality (Apion ap. Ael. x. 29) ; it was 

 buried at Hermopolis (Herod, ii. 67, Ael. I.e.). 



'IBYH. Hesych., Suid. ; vide s. v. i^is. 

 'lAAAl'Z, also eiSaAi's- opvis ttolos, Hesych. 



