The Ichthys (Fish)
A fish sign whose Greek name, ICHTHYS, spells the initials of "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."
What the Ichthys (Fish) means
Ichthys is the Greek word for fish. Its letters are the initials of Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior," so a simple outline of a fish could state the heart of the creed. Today it is usually drawn as two crossing arcs, sometimes with the Greek letters inside.
The fish is among the oldest Christian images. It appears in the Capella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus in Rome in the first decades of the second century. Late in that century Clement of Alexandria advised Christians to have a dove or a fish engraved on their seal rings, and Tertullian called the baptized "little fishes" born in water after the image of Christ, the Ichthys.
Early Christians also tied the fish to the Eucharist. Catacomb paintings show a fish with baskets of bread and wine, recalling the feeding of the multitude, and the second-century epitaph of Abercius, Bishop of Hierapolis, speaks of being fed with the Fish from the spring. The fish also recalls the fishermen apostles whom Christ made "fishers of men." According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the symbol faded from Christian art after the fourth century.
