Symbolism of the Fish
Among the symbols employed by the primitive Christians, that of
the fish ranks probably first in importance. While the use of the
fish in pagan art as a purely decorative sign is ancient and
constant, the earliest literary reference to the symbolic fish is
made by Clement of Alexandria, born about 150, who recommends his
readers (Paedagogus, III, xi) to have their seals engraved with a
dove or a fish. Clement did not consider it necessary to give any
reason for this recommendation, from which it may be safely be
inferred that the meaning of both symbols was unnecessary .
Indeed, from monumental sources we know that the symbolic fish was
familiar to Christians long before the famous Alexandrian was
born; in such Roman monuments as the Capella Greca and the
Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus, the fish was
depicted as a symbol in the first decades of the second century.
The symbol itself may have been suggested by the miraculous
multification of the loaves and fishes or the repast of the seven
Disciples, after the Resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee (John, xxi, 9), but its popularity among Christians was
due principally, it would seem, to the famous acrostic consisting
of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for
fish (Ichthys), which words briefly but clearly described the
character of Christ and His claim to the worship of believers:
Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Saviour. (See the discourse of Emperor Constantine, "Ad coetum
Sanctorum" c. xviii.) It is not improbable that this Christian
formula originated in Alexandria, and was intended as a protest
against the pagan apotheosis of the emperors; on a coin from
Alexandria of the reign of Domitian (81-96) this emperor is styled
Theou Yios (Son of God).
The word Ichthys, then, as well as the representation of a fish,
held for Christians a meaning of the highest significance; it was
a brief profession of faith in the divinity of Christ, the
Redeemer of mankind. Believers in this mystic Ichthys were
themselves : "little fishes", according to the well-known passage
of Tertullian (De baptismo, c. 1): "we, little fishes, after the
image of our Ichthys, Jesus Christ, are born in the water". The
association of the Ichthys with the Eucharist is strongly
emphasized in the epitaph of Abercius, the second century Bishop
of Hieropolis in Phrygia (see ABERCIUS, INSCRIPTION OF), and in
the somewhat later epitaph of Pectorius of Autun. Abercius tells
us on the aforesaid monument that in his journey from his Asiatic
home to Rome, everywhere on the way he received as food "the Fish
from the spring, the great, the pure", as well as "wine mixed with
water, together with bread". Pectorius also speaks of the Fish as
a delicious spiritual nurture supplied by the "Saviour of the
Saints". In the Eucharistic monuments this idea is expressed
repeatedly in the pictorial form; the food before the banqueters
is invariably bread and fish on two separate dishes. The peculiar
significance attached to the fish in this relation is well brought
out in such early frescoes as the Fractio Panis scene in the
cemetery of St. Priscilla, and the fishes on the grass, in closest
proximity to the baskets containing bread and wine, in the crypt
of Lucina, (See EUCHARIST, SYMBOLISM OF THE.) The fish symbol was
not, however, represented exclusively with symbols of the
Eucharist; quite frequently it is found associated with such other
symbols as the dove, the anchor, and the monogram of Christ. The
monuments, too, on which it appears, from the first to the fourth
century, include frescoes, sculptured representations, rings,
seals, gilded glasses, as well as enkolpia of various materials.
The type of fish depicted calls for no special observation, save
that, from the second century, the form of the dolphin was
frequently employed. The reason for this particular selection is
presumed to be the fact that, in popular esteem, the dolphin was
regarded as friendly to man. Besides the Eucharistic frescoes of
the catacombs a considerable number of objects containing the
fish-symbol are preserved in various European museums, one of the
most interesting, because of the grouping of the fish with several
other symbols, being a carved gem in the Kircherian Museum in
Rome. On the left is a T-form anchor, with two fishes beneath the
crossbar, while next in order are a T-form cross with a dove on
the crossbar and a sheep at the foot, another T-cross as the mast
of a ship, and the good shepherd carrying on His shoulders the
strayed sheep. In addition to these symbols the five letters of
the word Ichthys are distributed round the border. Another ancient
carved gem represents a ship supported by a fish, with doves
perched on the mast and stern, and Christ on the waters rescuing
St. Peter. After the fourth century the symbolism of the fish
gradually disappeared; representations of fishes on baptismal
fonts and on bronze baptismal cups like those found at Rome and
Trier, now in the Kircherian Museum, are merely of an ornamental
character, suggested, probably by the water used in baptism.
MAURICE M. HASSETT
Transcribed by Mary and Joseph P. Thomas
In memory of Elizabeth Kunneth
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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