Condition: New, Made in Greece.
Material: Pure Bronze
Height: 8 cm - 3,15 inches
Width: 5 cm - 1,97 inches
Length: 2 cm - 0,8 inches
Weight: 130 g
In
Greek mythology, a little owl (Athene noctua) traditionally represents
or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her
syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. 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 the Western world.
The reasons for the
association of Athena and the owl are uncertain. Some mythographers,
such as David Kinsley and Martin P. Nilsson, suggest that she may
descend from a Minoan palace goddess associated with birds and Marija
Gimbutas claim to trace Athena's origins as an Old European bird and
snake goddess.
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 while others, such as William
Geoffrey Arnott, propose a simple association between founding myths of
Athens and the significant number of little owls in the region (a fact
noted since antiquity by Aristophanes in The Birds and Lysistrata).
In
any case, the city of Athens seems to have adopted the owl as proof of
allegiance to its patron virgin goddess, who, according to a popular
etiological myth reproduced on the West pediment of the Parthenon,
secured the favor of its citizens by providing them with a more enticing
gift than Poseidon.
Owls were commonly reproduced by Athenians in
vases, weights and prize amphoras for the Panathenaic Games. The owl of
Athena even became the common obverse of the Athenian tetradrachms after
510 BC and according to Philochorus, the Athenian tetradrachm was known
as glaux (γλαύξ, little owl) throughout the ancient world and "owl" in
present-day numismatics.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 of Agathocles of Syracuse
over the Carthaginians in 310 BC – in which owls flying through the
ranks were interpreted as Athena's blessing[3] – or in the Battle of
Salamis, chronicled in Plutarch's biography of Themistocles.
10207 ΓΙΩ ΚΟΥΚ ΚΟΛΩΝΑ XΡ - 4,4
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