Ichthys


The ichthys or ichthus, from the Greek ikhthýs is 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. The symbol was adopted by early Christians as a secret symbol. It is now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish".

Origin

The first appearances of the ichthys symbol in Christian art and literature date to the 2nd century AD. The symbol's use among Christians had become popular by the late 2nd century, and its use spread widely in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
In the early Church, the ichthys symbol held "the most sacred significance", and Christians used it to recognize churches and other believers through this symbol because they were persecuted by the Roman Empire. The ichthys symbol is also a reference to "the Holy Eucharist, with which the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes had such intimate connection both in point of time and significance." While many Christians hang a cross necklace or rosary inside their vehicles, "the fish sticker on the car is a more conscious symbol of a witnessing Christian—significantly, unlike the former, it is on the outside of the car for everyone to see."

Symbolic meaning

ΙΧΘΥΣ, or also ΙΧΘΥϹ with a lunate sigma, is an acronym or acrostic for Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr; contemporary Koine, which translates into English as 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior'.
This explanation is given among others by Augustine in his Civitate Dei, where he notes that the generating sentence "Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτήρ" has 27 letters, i.e. 3 × 3 × 3, which in that age indicated power. Augustine quotes also an ancient text from the Sibylline oracles whose verses are an acrostic of the generating sentence.
The statement "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" affirmed the belief of early Christians in the twofold nature, of Jesus Christ being both fully human and fully divine. The belief in Jesus Christ being true Man and true God completes the Most Holy Trinity, that is the basic article of the Christian faith.
A fourth century A.D. adaptation of ichthys as a wheel contains the letters ΙΧΘΥΣ superimposed such that the result resembles an eight-spoked wheel.
Egon Friedell speculates in his Cultural History of Antiquity, that the symbol of the fish may refer to the astrological age of pisces, which started at around the time of the establishment of Christianity. Thus, the symbol may have been used to symbolise the starting of a new age.

In the Gospels

Fish are mentioned and given symbolic meaning several times in the Gospels. Several of Jesus' 12 Apostles were fishermen. He commissions them with the words "I will make you fishers of men".
Having been resurrected, Jesus is offered some grilled fish in Luke 24:41-43.
At the 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 Matthew 13:47-50, the Parable of Drawing in the Net, Jesus compares the angels separating the righteous from the wicked at the end of this world to fishers sorting out their catch, keeping the good fish and throwing the bad fish away. In John 21:11, 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 they drew in 153 fish. In Matthew 17:24-27, upon being asked if his Teacher pays the temple tax, Simon Peter answers yes. Christ tells Peter to go to the water and cast a line, saying that a coin sufficient for both of them will be found in the fish's mouth. Peter does this and finds the coin.
The fish is also used by Jesus to describe "the Sign of Jonah". This is symbolic of Jesus's resurrection, upon which the entire Christian faith is based.
with the inscription ΙΧΘΥϹ ΖΩΝΤΩΝ, early 3rd century, National Roman Museum

In the Book of Tobit

In the Deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, by Raphael the Archangel's order, the young cousin and future spouse of Sarah captures a fish while it tries to swallow his feet, washing in the river Tigris. Then he is instructed how to offer it, in order to be saved from the daemon Asmodeus.

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 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.

In popular culture