There are numerous cultural references to chickens in myth, folklore, religion, and literature. Because the chicken has lived in close association with humans for millennia, it has become deeply embedded in cultures worldwide. Its presence in myth, religion, and art from every inhabited continent reflects not only its practical value but also its symbolic importance. The ubiquity of chickens in human societies exemplifies their long-standing symbiotic relationship with humans—a partnership that has made the chicken one of the most successful species on Earth.
Chickens are a sacred animal in many cultures, being deeply embedded in belief systems and religious worship practices.
Roosters are sometimes used for a divination practice called Alectryomancy, a word deriving from the Greek for "rooster" and "divination". This would sometimes involve sacrificing a sacred rooster during a ritual cockfight to communicate with the gods.
Ancient Greece and Rome
In Greek mythology, Alectryon was the guard of Ares, waiting beside his door and alerting him if anyone came near while he was sleeping with Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus. However, Alectryon once fell asleep, and Helios, the sun, saw the two lovers and alerted Hephaestus. In anger over Alectryon's incompetence, Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster for his disobedience, thus fulfilling his promise to Ares for eternity.Lucian, Gallus 3 ; Scholiast on Aristophanes' Aves 835; Libanius, Progymnasmata 2.26 The rooster was one of Helios' sacred animals.Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.25.9
In Ancient Greece, chickens were not normally used for sacrifices, perhaps because they were still considered exotic animals. Due to its valor, the cock is often depicted as an attribute of Ares, Heracles, and Athena. The alleged last words of Socrates, as recounted by Plato, were: "Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?", signifying that death was a cure for the illness of life.
The Greeks believed that even lions were afraid of roosters. Several of Aesop's Fables reference this belief. The poet Cratinus calls the chicken "the Persian alarm". In Aristophanes's comedy The Birds (414 BC) a chicken is called "the Median bird", which points to an introduction from the East. Pictures of chickens are found on Greek red figure and black-figure pottery.
In Ancient Greece, chickens were still rare and were rather prestigious food for symposia. Delos seems to have been a center of chicken breeding. "About 3200 BC chickens were common in Sindh. After the attacks of the Aria people, these fowls spread from Sindh to Balakh and Iran. During attacks and wars between Iranians and Greeks, the chickens of Hellanic breed came to Iran and about 1000 BC Hellenic chickens came into Sindh through Medan".
The mythological basilisk or cockatrice is depicted as a reptile-like creature with the upper body of a rooster. Abraxas, a figure in Gnosticism, is portrayed similarly.
The Romans used chickens as oracles, both when flying (augury) and when feeding (alectryomancy). According to Cicero any bird could be used in auspice, and at one point any bird could perform the tripudium. Normally only chickens were consulted. The chickens were cared for by the pullarius, who fed them pulses or a special kind of cake when an augury was needed. If the chickens stayed in their cage, made noises, beat their wings, or flew away, the omen was bad; if they ate, the omen was good.
In 249 BC, the Roman general Publius Claudius Pulcher had his sacred chickens thrown overboard when they refused to feed before the battle of Drepana, saying "If they won't eat, perhaps they will drink." He promptly lost the battle against the Carthaginians, and was heavily fined for impiety back in Rome.
In 162 BC, the Lex Faunia forbade fattening hens on grain, a measure enacted to reduce grain demand. To get around this, the Romans castrated roosters (capon), which resulted in a doubling of size, despite a law in Rome forbidding the consumption of fattened chickens. According to Aldrovandi, capons were produced by burning "the hind part of the bowels, or loins or spurs" with a hot iron. Fattening chickens with bread soaked in milk was thought to give especially delicious results. The Roman gourmet Apicius offers 17 recipes for chicken, mainly boiled chicken with sauce. All parts of the animal are used: the recipes include the stomach, liver, testicles, and even the pygostyle.
The Roman author Columella advises on chicken breeding in the eighth book of his treatise, De Re Rustica (On Agriculture). He commented on various breeds of chicken and their uses in different functions, ideal practices of flock keeping, construction of chicken coops, what feed to use, and when to slaughter.
Plutarch said the inhabitants of Caria carried the emblem of the rooster on the end of their lances and relates that origin to Artaxerxes, who awarded a Carian who was said to have killed Cyrus the Younger at the battle of Cunaxa in 401 B.C "the privilege of carrying ever after a golden cock upon his spear before the first ranks of the army in all expeditions". The Carians also wore crested helmets at the time of Herodotus, for which reason "the Persians gave the Carians the name of cocks".
East Asia The Rooster is the tenth of the twelve animal symbols in the Chinese zodiac. In Taoism, the spring Hanshi or Cold Food festival was a traditional holiday in which fires were left to die down and then re-lit. Both fire and the rooster are symbols of yang and the sun. Thus, to have a rooster fight another rooster was the same in substance as the fire-renewal custom, and cockfighting was instituted as a springtime ritual.A Brush with the Spur: Robert Joe Cutter on the Chinese Cockfight, (review-article of The Brush and the Spur: Chinese Culture and the Cockfight), in Journal of the American Oriental Society, 113.3 (1993), pp. 444-49" " The Hanshi festival was eventually moved to coincide with the Qingming Festival, retaining the rooster and cockfights.Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden – Cultural-China.com, Shanghai, People's Republic of China ""
Many roosters are found around Shinto shrines, with the rooster being associated with the sun goddess Amaterasu.
Southeast Asia
Indigenous beliefs on the veneration of spirits and deities still remain strong in Southeast Asia. The veneration of traditional spirits (Antio) still exists for practicing Christians. A popular form of fertility worship among most of Southeast Asia is the Animist belief in the rooster and the cockfight.Using Spirit Worship to Infuse Southeast Asia into the K-16 Classroom – Marc Jason Gilbert, Department of History and Sociology, North Georgia College and State University Some Judeo-Christians consider this a form of Baal or Baalim.
In East Timor the cock is admired for courage and perseverance. Man's courage is often compared with that of the cock, and cockfights are a regular occurrence. Many tais designs include the cock.Symbols – Tais, Houses, Cock – East Timor Mission – Mary MacKillop – St Marys NSW
In Indonesia, many religions place symbolic importance on the rooster. A sect of Balinese Hinduism within the Toraja society called Aluk, or Aluk To Dolo, embraces rituals such as funeral ceremonies including a sacred cockfight.incito tour – PT. INCITO PRIMA – Re: Funeral Ceremony in Toraja – Authorized by: Department of Law and Human Rights of Republic of Indonesia In several myths, the cock has the power to revive the dead or to make a wish come true.The Tongkonan – Large 'Houses of Origin' – indahnesia.com is a non-governmental website created in 1999 for information on Indonesian travelers. Kaharingan, an animist folk religion of the Iban branch of the Dayak people, includes the belief in a deity associated with the rooster and cockfighting, and the belief that humans become the fighting cocks of god. The Iban further believe that the rooster and cockfight was introduced to them by god. Gawai Dayak, a festival of the Dayaks, includes the cockfight and the waving of a rooster over offerings while asking for guidance and blessings; the rooster is then sacrificed.Words and photos from Nazreen Tajul Arif and Virtual Malaysia – The Official e-Tourism Portal for The Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia The Tiwah festival involves the sacrifice of animals such as chickens as offerings to the Supreme God.
Miao (i.e. Hmong) are animists, shamanists, and ancestor worshipers with beliefs influenced by Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. At the Miao New Year, there may be domestic animal sacrifices or cockfights. The Hmong of Southeast Guizhou cover the rooster with a piece of red cloth, then hold it up to worship and sacrifice. In Hmong Shamanism, a shaman may use a rooster in a religious ceremony; it is said that the rooster shields the shaman from evil spirits, as the evil spirits see only the rooster's spirit. In a 2010 trial of a Sheboygan Wisconsin Hmong charged with staging a cockfight, it was stated that the roosters were "kept for both food and religious purposes",Cockfight Trial Underway WHBL News 8 April 2010 resulting in an acquittal.Not Guilty Verdict In Cockfighting Trial WHBL News 9 April 2010 In Vietnam fighting roosters or fighting cocks are colloquially called "sacred chickens".Battle of the Chickens (choi ga) – Source: Vietnam Nation Administration of Tourism – vietnamtravels.vn/Vietnam-travel-information/Battle-of-the-Chickens-choi-ga.htm
The Bayon Temple in Cambodia is an ancient Buddhist temple which includes a depiction of a cockfight within its walls.Sacred Destinations is an online travel guide to sacred sites, pilgrimages, holy places, religious history, sacred places, historical religious sites "" During April, the Three Pagodas Pass becomes the site of the Songkran Festival, which includes cockfights. Many sacred Buddhist amulets depict Buddha with cocks in fighting stance. Cocks are also interpreted as a symbol of greed in Tibetan Buddhist murals.
North America
Chickens are ritually sacrificed in the Santería religion which originated in Cuba and developed from native Caribbean culture, Catholicism, and the Yoruba religion of West Africa.
South Asia The Khasi people of Northeast India believe the rooster is sacrificed as a substitute for humans, as it's thought that the cock "bears the sins of the man." in sacrifice.
Kukkuta Sastra, or cock astrology, is a form of divination based on the rooster fight common in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Hinduism
Hindu war god Kartikeya is depicted with a rooster on his flag. A demon Surapadman was split into two and the halves turned into the peacock (his mount) and the rooster in his flag. Balinese Hinduism includes the religious belief of Tabuh Rah, a religious cockfight where a rooster is used to fight against another rooster. The altar and deity Ida Ratu Saung may be seen with a fighting cock in his hand with the spilling of blood serving as a purification rite to appease the evil spirits. Ritual fights usually occur outside the temple and follow an ancient and complex ritual set out in the sacred lontar manuscripts.