InGreek mythology, alittle owl (Athene noctua) traditionally represents or accompaniesAthena, the virgin goddess ofwisdom, orMinerva, hersyncreticincarnation inRoman mythology.[2] Because of such association, the bird—often referred to as the "owl of Athena" or the "owl of Minerva"—has been used as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, perspicacity and erudition throughout theWestern world.[3][4]
The reasons for the association of Athena and the owl are uncertain. Somemythographers, such as David Kinsley andMartin P. Nilsson, suggest that she may descend from aMinoan palace goddess associated with birds[5][6] andMarija Gimbutas claim to trace Athena's origins as anOld European bird and snake goddess.[7][8]
On the other hand, Cynthia Berger theorizes about the appeal of some characteristics of owls—such as their ability to see in the dark—to be used as symbol of wisdom[3] while others, such asWilliam Geoffrey Arnott, propose a simple association betweenfounding myths ofAthens and the significant number of little owls in the region (a fact noted since antiquity byAristophanes inThe Birds andLysistrata).[9]
In any case, the city ofAthens seems to have adopted the owl as proof of allegiance to its patron virgin goddess,[9][10] who, according to a popularorigin myth reproduced on the West pediment of theParthenon, secured the favor of its citizens by providing them with a more enticing gift thanPoseidon.[11]
Owls were commonly reproduced by Athenians on vases, weights andprize amphoras for thePanathenaic Games.[9]The owl of Athena even became the common obverse of the Atheniantetradrachms after 510 BC and according toPhilochorus,[12] the Atheniantetradrachm was known asglaux (γλαύξ, little owl)[13] throughout the ancient world and "owl" in present-daynumismatics.[14][15] They were not, however, used exclusively by them to represent Athena and were even used for motivation during battles by other Greek cities, such as in the victory ofAgathocles of Syracuse over theCarthaginians in 310 BC—in which owls flying through the ranks were interpreted as Athena's blessing[3]—or in theBattle of Salamis, chronicled inPlutarch's biography ofThemistocles.[16]
The association between the owl and the goddess continued throughMinerva inRoman mythology, although the latter sometimes simply adopts it as a sacred or favorite bird. For example, inOvid’sMetamorphoses,Corone thecrow complains that her spot as the goddess' sacred bird is occupied by the owl, which in that particular story turns out to beNyctimene, a cursed daughter ofEpopeus, king ofLesbos.[17]
As for ancient Roman folklore, owls were considered harbingers of death if they hooted while perched on a roof, and placing one of its feathers near someone sleeping could prompt him or her to speak and reveal their secrets.[2]
The philosophical use of the metaphor of the mind as anight owl goes at least as far back as an analogy in Aristotle'sMetaphysics between the day-blind eyes ofbats and human intellect (Aristo., Met. II 993 b9–11). This morenegative epistemological metaphor of anight owl was long transmitted through the philosophical tradition, e.g.Thomas Aquinas (Summa contra gentiles, quaestio 45).In affirmative contrast, the 19th-centuryGerman idealist philosopherGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel famously noted that "the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk"; philosophy comes to understand a historical condition just as it passes away.[18] Philosophy appears only in the "maturity of reality", because it understands in hindsight.
Philosophy, as the thought of the world, does not appear until reality has completed its formative process, and made itself ready. History thus corroborates the teaching of the conception that only in the maturity of reality does the ideal appear as counterpart to the real, apprehends the real world in its substance, and shapes it into an intellectual kingdom. When philosophy paints its grey in grey, one form of life has become old, and by means of grey it cannot be rejuvenated, but only known. The owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering.
— G.W.F. Hegel,Philosophy of Right (1820), "Preface"; translated by S W Dyde, 1896
Klaus Vieweg describes it as "one of the most beautiful metaphors of the history of philosophy" in his Hegel biography.[19] In a recent reconstruction, Hegel'saffirmative metaphor, in opposition to the philosophical tradition, seems to originate betweenGoethe and a relative unknown, philosophical writerJacob Hermann Obereit around 1795 in Jena, where Hegel stayed shortly after, giving lectures.[20]
The Roman goddess of wisdom Minerva has the owl as her sacred creature, as does her ancient Greek counterpart Athena. Athena was often depicted with an owl, which was considered a symbol of wisdom in both cultures. The best known image of Athena's owl, the Little Owl, is seen on ancient Athenian coins dating from the fifth century BCE. To the Romans an owl feather placed near sleeping people would prompt them to speak in their sleep and reveal their secrets. However, in Rome the owl was considered a harbinger of death if it perched on a roof or on a public building and hooted. The deaths of several Roman emperors, including the assassination of Julius Caesar, were signaled by an owl landing on the roof and hooting.
Minerva's owl wisdom.
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Hegel's claim, however, bestows no special importance on a closing phase; it refers instead to the end of an era, which is confirmed as such by the appearance of philosophical critique and appraisal that involves making explicit the ideas and beliefs that drove that era but could not be fully articulated until it was over
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