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Cook, Arthur B.
Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 3,1): Zeus god of the dark sky (earthquake, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorits): Text and notes — Cambridge, 1940

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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14698#0879

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784 The owl of Athena

of course she was an owl1. Hence the appearance of an owl was
hailed as an omen of victory. In the Wasps'2, the old dikasts
attribute their repulse of the Persians to the timely arrival of
an owl :

Yet we drove their ranks before us, ere the fall of eventide:

As we closed, an owl flew o'er us, and the Gods were on our side!

The scholiast3—shrewd fellow—remarks: ' He is here speaking of
Athena as an owl.' According to Plutarch4, just before Salamis an
owl came flying from the right, perched on Themistokles' mast-top,
and so induced the Greeks to follow that commander's advice.
Posterity concluded that Themistokles was a man of resource •
Agathokles too on one occasion (310 B.C.) routed the Carthaginians
by the simple expedient of uncaging a few owls. They settled 0°
the shields and helmets of his men, who with confidence restored
promptly defeated the foe6. An allusion to this incident has been
detected' on a unique gold stater of Agathokles, struck between

lex. p. 643, 5 f. ivSap&via, is clearly corrupt. Scaliger cj. h> 6" ap olSvia, Salmasius and
Heinsius 'EvSaiBvla, Hemsterhusius iv S' aWvia, M. Schmidt iv b" AXBvia. The phrase is»
however, out of order between ivSaaai and IvdaTctTCtt.

A black-figured oinoMe at Paris, which possibly illustrates the foregoing myth, ,s
given infra (fig. 618). ,

1 On the relation of the bird to the goddess see F. Studniczka 'Zur Eule der Parthen°s
in the Arch. Zeit. 1884 xlii. 162 f., E. Pottier 'La chouette d'Athene' in the Bull- Corf-
Hell. 1908 xxxii. 529—548 with pis. 7 and 8, Miss E. M. Douglas (Mrs Van Burew
'The Owl of Athena' in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1912 xxxii. 174—178 figs- '""T
H. Schrader 'Athena mit dem Kauzchen' in the Jahresh. d. oest. arch. Inst. 1913

1—32 pi. 1 ( = my fig. 640), M. P. Nilsson Die Anftinge der Gbltin Athene (Del {
Danske Videnskabemes Sehkab. Historisk-filologiske Meddelelser. iv, 7) K^lbenhavn 19

PP- '3—r5- , bp

2 Aristoph. vesp. 1085 f. dXX' 8p.as dTrwadp.e<j8a l-ini deois rrpbs etrwipav \ yX<*"£ '

rifiCiv ■wpiv fidxeadai tov arpavrav SUitTtTo trans. B. B. Rogers. The last line beca
proverbial (Apostol. 5. 44 b): infra p. 785 n. 2. ..^

3 Schol. Aristoph. vesp. 1086 y\avKa Si tt)v ' kd-qvav KaXei. W. G. Rutherford Sen
Aristophanica London 1896 ii. 424 printed PXaOf: <P\aOxa> tt\v 'Ad-qvav KOAel> ^
commented: ' The annotator imagines a proper name derived from y\av<ro-ew, the *
often used in explaining yXavKWTrLs.' But it is much more probable that yXavi; has

its usual force.

4 Plout. v. Them. 12. *s

5 Bekker anecd. i. 232, 30 ff. T\ab% i-KTmo- ira.poip.ia. ewi tuv vevitcr/tcdTuv, on "V ••
p.dxf]S ev 2,aXap.ivi y\auKd <pavi dtaTTrjvai, ttjv viktjv rots 'A9v}vaioLS irpoo"t}f1'a
Qep.i<rroKX£ovs yap Tr£p.\J/avTos avrovs, wept rijs vavpLaxlas iroiovpAvov tov Xbyov, yXavKa
to de^ibv fitpos tov /cepajs orpdrjvaL.

8 Diod- 2°-

7 F. Imhoof-Blumer in the Num. Zeitschr. New Series 1871 iii. 4, 43 f. ph 5' 2 ' r2,
fig. 580) Vienna, Sir G. F. Hill Coins of Ancient Sicily London 1903 p. 155 (• p'" \ 'rfifi
id. Historical Greek Coins London 1906 pp. 1 ro, 112 f. pi. 8, 65, Sir G. Macdonal ,
Types Glasgow 1905 p. nof., C. Seltman Greek Coins London 1933 p. 246 p'-
(' perhaps').
 
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