Owls: from the wisdom of Athena to the bird of ill omen

Owls carry two opposite reputations. On the one hand the little owl is the emblem of Athena and, by extension, of wisdom; on the other, nocturnal birds of prey were for centuries regarded as messengers of death, so much so that in many parts of Italy their call near a house was heard with apprehension. This double reading has ancient roots and can be traced precisely in Greek and Latin sources.

The owl of Athens

In Athens the little owl was the animal of Athena, goddess of wisdom and protector of the city. Its image appeared on the reverse of the silver tetradrachms minted from the sixth century BC, beside the first letters of the city's name, so that these coins were familiarly called «owls». The Greek proverb «bringing owls to Athens», recalled by Aristophanes too, described a pointless gesture, like carrying water to the sea.

The link between the owl and intelligence probably depended on its ability to see in the dark, a metaphor for a mind that penetrates what remains obscure to others. The association has survived to this day: the owl appears in the coats of arms of universities and academies and in the symbols of many European cultural institutions.

The funereal owl of the Romans

In Rome, by contrast, the sinister image prevailed. Pliny the Elder calls the eagle owl, the bubo, a funereal bird and particularly unlucky in public omens, and he notes that its appearance in the city could call for rites of purification. Virgil, in the fourth book of the Aeneid, makes Dido, by then close to death, hear the lament of the solitary owl on the roofs of the palace.

Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, relates that Ascalaphus was turned into an owl by Proserpina for revealing that the goddess had eaten pomegranate seeds in the underworld, and he calls the new bird «ignavus bubo», a herald of grief for mortals. The myth thus explained the animal's bad reputation as punishment for an act of betrayal.

From strix to witch

The Latin world also knew the strix, a nocturnal creature part bird and part demon. In the Fasti Ovid describes the striges as birds with large heads and hooked talons that attack newborn babies at night, and tells how the infant Proca was saved by the nymph Crane. From the name strix derives, through late Latin, the Italian word «strega», meaning witch.

This legacy explains why, in Italian popular culture, the call of the little owl or the barn owl was often interpreted as the announcement of an imminent death. Beliefs varied from region to region, but the common thread was the idea that a bird of the night, which sees while people sleep, might also know the hidden destiny of human beings.

The story of the owl shows how the same natural trait can give rise to opposite symbols. Night vision was read as wisdom in Athens and as a deadly omen in Rome, and the two interpretations coexisted until the modern age. Even today Athena's bird adorns libraries and diplomas, while its call in the dark still carries a disquieting echo for many.