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Biography

Ichthys , from Koine Greek : , (capitalized ??T?S or ??T??) is the Greek word for " fish ". (Alternative transliterations include Ichthus and Ikhthus ). In English, this refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret Christian symbolism|Christian symbol and now known colloquially as the " sign of the fish " or the " Jesus fish ."

History

Symbolic meaning

??T?S (Ichthys) is an acronym for "", ( I esous Ch ristos, Th eou Y ios, S oter), which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".

Iota (i) is the first letter of Yeshua (name)|Iesous (), Greek for " Jesus (name)|Jesus ".

Chi (letter)|Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christ os (), Greek for "anointed".

Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (), Greek for "God's", the genitive case of , Theos , Greek for "God".

Ypsilon (y) is the first letter of (h)yios The initial "h" was sometimes pronounced, depending on dialect and period, but in Ionic orthography the sound was written with the rough breathing diacritical mark instead of a full letter, and so would not be used to form an acronym) (), Greek for "Son".

Sigma (s) is the first letter of soter (), Greek for "Savior".

This explanation is given among others by Augustine in his City of God (book)|Civitate Dei , where he notes that the generating sentence has 27 letters, i.e. 3 x 3 x 3, which in that age indicated power. Augustine quotes also an ancient text from the Sibylline oracles Sibylline oracles, Book viii, 284-330 (Greek text, 217-250) whose verses are an acrostic of the generating sentence.

Historians say the 20th-century use of the ichthys motif is an adaptation based on an Early Christian symbol which included a small cross for the eye or the Greek letters "".

An ancient adaptation of ichthys is a wheel which contains the letters superimposed such that the result resembles an eight-spoked wheel.

Fish in the Gospels

Fish are mentioned and given symbolic meaning several times in the Gospels. Several of Jesus ' twelve Apostle (Christian)|Apostles were fishermen. He commissions them with the words " Mark 1#Calling of the four disciples|I will make you fishers of men ".

At the Feeding the multitude|feeding of the five thousand , a boy is brought to Jesus with "five small loaves and two fish". The question is asked, "But what are they, among so many? " Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish to feed the multitude.

In , the Parable of Drawing in the Net , Jesus compares God's decision on who will go to heaven or to hell ("the fiery furnace") at the end of this world to fishers sorting out their catch, keeping the good fish and throwing the bad fish away.

In , it is related that the disciples fished all night but caught nothing. Jesus instructed them to cast the nets on the other side of the boat, and Miraculous catch of fish|they drew in 153 fish .

A less commonly cited use of fish in Christ's life may be found in the words of , in which, upon being asked if his Teacher does not pay the temple (two-drachma) tax, Simon Peter answers, "Yes." Christ tells Peter to go to the water and cast a line. He says that a coin sufficient for the tax will be found in the fish's mouth. Peter does as told and finds the coin.

The early church

According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:

There are several other hypotheses as to why the fish was chosen. Some sources indicate that the earliest literary references came from the recommendation of Clement of Alexandria to his readers (Paedagogus, III, xi) to engrave their seals with the dove or fish. However, it can be inferred from Roman monumental sources such as the Cappella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus that the fish symbol was known to Christians much earlier. Another probable explanation is that it is a reference to the scripture in which Jesus miracle|miraculously feeds 5,000 people with fish and bread (, , , and ). The ichthys may also relate to Jesus or his disciples as "fishers of men" (e.g., ). Tertullian , in his treatise On Baptism , makes a pun on the word, writing that "we, little fishes, after the example of our Jesus Christ, are born in water." http://ccel. org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-49.htm#P11466_3245563 §1 Still another explanation could be the reference to The Sign of Jonah. Just like he was in the belly of a big fish, so Christ was crucified, entombed for three days, and then rose from the dead.

Pre-Christian use

Fish may have been used as symbols before Christianity, possibly representing several goddesses; it has been associated with Aphrodite , Atargatis , Dagon , Ephesus , Isis , Delphine and Pelagia . Barbara G. Walker (author)|Barbara Walker , in her book ''The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects , suggests that Ichthys was the son of the sea goddess Atargatis and that his symbol was a representation of sexuality and fertility. The fish has also been used to symbolize Pisces (astrology)|Pisces , the Zodiac sign. The Sun was in Pisces, the fish, on the Vernal Equinox shortly before the founding of Christianity and, depending on the line of demarcation, may remain so for approximately 600 more years, though this is a topic of debate: see Age of Pisces|Astrological age .

In non-Christian religious symbolism, the pointed oval or vesica piscis shape can represent the vulva|female genitalia .

Revival and adaptations of the symbol

Popular culture

The "Jesus Fish" has become an icon of modern Protestant Christianity . Today, it can be seen as a decal or emblem on the rear of automobiles or as pendants or necklaces as a sign that the owner is a Christian. It is incorporated into business logos or in business advertisements and listings in telephone books. It is also seen on clothing. Versions of this include an ichthys with "Jesus" or "??T?S" in the center, or simply the Ichthys outline by itself. This badge may also be seen in e-mail signature block|signatures with the symbols nowrap|"<><" or nowrap|"<°(((><".
It can also be seen in Grant Morrison's The Invisibles , where a character explains that it represents the center, interlocking part of a Venn diagram , symbolic of reality itself which is supposedly formed by the intersection of two higher, warring planes of existence.

In the video for singer-songwriter Beck 's " Loser (Beck song)|Loser ", one man wears a T-shirt featuring the ichthys with the word "LOSER".

Music festival

Ichthus Music Festival is an annual large outdoor Christian music festival held every year in mid-June in the town of Wilmore, Kentucky.

In Handwriting

Vimala Rodgers has created "The Vimala Alphabet" which incorporates what looks like the Ichthys symbol in a number of the letters. Some of the letters are the capital A, H, J, L, P, Y, Z and the lowercase e, f, h, j, p, q, y and z.

Parodies of the ichthys symbol

Distortions of the Ichthys symbol in modern culture rely on its use as a "Jesus fish" symbol of Christianity.
Examples include:

A right-facing ichthys-style symbol with legs, representing evolution . Occasionally it has " Charles Darwin|Darwin " printed inside.

An ichthys-style symbol with legs (representing evolution ) & a single strand of DNA running through the center.

An ichthys-style symbol with the word "gefilte" written inside, a reference to the common Jewish food, gefilte fish .

An ichthys-style symbol with tentacles on the face of the fish, with or without legs and/or wings, and the name of H. P. Lovecraft 's fictional deity Cthulhu written inside.

An ichthys-style symbol with legs, horns, and the lower tail-fin removed leaving a tail. Representing a "devil dog" and occasionally with "Satan" written inside.

An ichthys-style symbol with 3 noodle-like appendages on each end and 2 stalk eyes protruding from the top is used by Pastafarians to represent The Flying Spaghetti Monster .

In the Futurama episode Hell Is Other Robots the robot Bender affixes a fish with an antenna and the word "ROBOT" inside to the Planet Express spaceship.

A larger ichthys symbol eating a smaller "Darwin" parody ichthys (or vice versa).

An ichthys-style symbol with sandalled feet, a smile and sunglasses. The word "Dudeism" is written inside, a reference to Dudeism , a religion based on Taoism and the movie The Big Lebowski .

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