Owl of Athena

In the ancient Greek world, the animal companion of Athena -- the goddess of wisdom, strategy, and crafts -- isn't just a single physical artifact. This creature, what we classify in biology today as Athene noctua (the little owl), forms an iconographic whole that spans a wide array of mediums, from statues to ceramics.

The ancient Athenians saw this bird as a direct, physical extension of the goddess on Earth. For the Greeks, the bird's biological ability to hunt in the dark and see clearly in pitch blackness was the concrete embodiment of intelligence, strategy, and the ability to discern hidden truths.

Now let's look at the best-known physical form of this symbol surviving today: the silver tetradrachm coins that formed the foundation of the ancient Athenian economy.

Right in the center of the coin's reverse side sits this little owl. The bird's body is turned slightly to the right, while its broad head and large, round eyes look straight ahead, staring directly at you. Coin engravers captured the bird's anatomical features -- particularly its upright posture -- on the metal with great accuracy. Just to the upper left of the bird lies a small olive branch, the goddess's gift to the city that ensured Athens' agricultural prosperity. Next to it is a tiny crescent moon. Historians associate this crescent with the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC; the Athenians won the battle that night under a waning moon. On the right, we see the letters AΘE engraved vertically. These letters literally mean "of the Athenians."

Ancient Athenian mints struck millions of these owl coins using ore extracted from their own silver mines. These heavy silver pieces became the first international currency in the Mediterranean basin. When trading in the markets, merchants didn't refer to these coins by their official name, but simply called them glaukes, meaning "owls." So many of these coins were minted that an interesting idiom became ingrained in everyday language. In ancient Greece, the phrase "bringing owls to Athens" was used to point out that someone was doing something entirely pointless -- because every corner of the city was already overflowing with these silver owls. Plus, hundreds of real Athene noctua lived in natural colonies among the rocks surrounding the city and within the massive roof beams of the Parthenon.

When we look at the battlefields, we can clearly see the psychological impact this bird had on the soldiers. Since Athena was also the protector of strategic warfare, soldiers would look for her approval in their surroundings. Just before the start of the naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, an owl was seen flying among the ranks of the Greek fleet. The soldiers accepted this bird in the sky as definitive physical proof that the goddess had directly joined the battle and guaranteed their victory. This natural occurrence boosted the motivation of the soldiers, who were fighting against the numerically superior Persian fleet, to extraordinary heights. Following the victory, the bird's political and military position in society was cemented forever.