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
[New Advent Catholic Website]
http://www.knight.org/advent
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright �
1996 by New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver,
Colorado, USA, 80228. (
[email protected])
If you would like to contribute to this worthwhile
project, please contact Kevin Knight by e-mail at
(knight.org/advent). For more information please
download the file cathen.txt/.zip.
-------------------------------------------------------
Provided courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
PO Box 3610
Manassas, VA 22110
Voice: 703-791-2576
Fax: 703-791-4250
Data: 703-791-4336
Web:
http://www.ewtn.com
FTP: ewtn.com
Telnet: ewtn.com
Email address: sysop@ ewtn.com
EWTN provides a Catholic online
information and service system.
-------------------------------------------------------
