DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0316
294
OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE.
Owls were for the most part looked upon to be unlucky birds, but at
Athens were omens of victory and success, being sacred to Minerva, the
protectress of that city ; and therefore the proverb, rX«ug iVra-rai, was
usually applied to persons whose undertakings met with success (1).
Plutarch reports, that when Themistocles was consulting with the other
officers upon the uppermost deck of the ship, and most of them opposed
him, being unwilling to hazard a battle, an owl coming upon the right
side of the ship, and lighting upon the mast, so animated them, that they
unanimously concurred with him, and prepared themselves for the fight.
But in other places, as we are told by iElian (2), owls were unlucky
omens when they appeared to men going about any serious business ; an
instance of which we have in king Pyrrhus, whose inglorious death at
Argos was portended by an owl, which came and sat upon the top of his
spear, as he held it in his hand. And for this reason, when Diomedes
and Ulysses went as spies to the Trojan camp, though it was night, the
most proper time for owls to appear in, yet Homer (3) reports, that Mi-
nerva gave them a lucky omen, by sending an egu^sog, or hern:
To/in S\ <5~(£iov yikvi i^oeS'tov \yyijs oS'oio
As they were marching on, a lucky hern
Minerva sent.
Where Eustathius saith, that this bird was a token of success to men that
lay in ambush, or were engaged in any such secret designs. Yet owls
were not at all times esteemed inauspicious, as appears from Hieron, at
whose first admission into military service, an eagle came and sat upon
his shield, and an owl upon his spear ; by which was signified, that he
should be valiant in war, and wise in council, and at length arrive to the
dignity of a king. This story you may find in Justin, at the end of his
third book.
The dove in Homer is a lucky bird ; so also was the swan, especially
to mariners, being an omen of fair weather, for which we have a reason
in ^mihus, as he is cited by Niphus :
Cygnus in auspiciis semper Icetissimus ales :
Hunc optant JVauta, quia nuncjuam mergit in undis.
The mariner, when tost by angry seas,
Straight for a swan, the luckiest omen, prays;
For spite of tempests she upon the surface stays.
Ravens are very much observed, being thought to receive a power of por-
tending future events from Apollo, to whom they were Uf>oi *, uxokxBoi, sa-
cred, and companions (4). When they appeared about an army, they were
dangerous omens : if they came croaking upon the right hand, it was a
tolerable good omen ; if on the left, a very bad one ; as also the chatter-
ing of magpies seems to have been. When Alexander entered into Ba-
bylon, and Cicero fled from Anthony, their deaths were foretold by the
noise of ravens : and these birds alone were thought to understand their
own predictions, because, as Pliny (5) affirms, the worst omens were giv-
en by them, when they made a harsh sort of noise, rattling in their throats,
as if they were choaked. i
(1) Themistocle. (2) Histor. Anim. lib. xv. cap, 59. (3) Iliad. «'
(4) iElianus de animal, lib. i. cap. 43. (5) Lib. x. cap. 12.
OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE.
Owls were for the most part looked upon to be unlucky birds, but at
Athens were omens of victory and success, being sacred to Minerva, the
protectress of that city ; and therefore the proverb, rX«ug iVra-rai, was
usually applied to persons whose undertakings met with success (1).
Plutarch reports, that when Themistocles was consulting with the other
officers upon the uppermost deck of the ship, and most of them opposed
him, being unwilling to hazard a battle, an owl coming upon the right
side of the ship, and lighting upon the mast, so animated them, that they
unanimously concurred with him, and prepared themselves for the fight.
But in other places, as we are told by iElian (2), owls were unlucky
omens when they appeared to men going about any serious business ; an
instance of which we have in king Pyrrhus, whose inglorious death at
Argos was portended by an owl, which came and sat upon the top of his
spear, as he held it in his hand. And for this reason, when Diomedes
and Ulysses went as spies to the Trojan camp, though it was night, the
most proper time for owls to appear in, yet Homer (3) reports, that Mi-
nerva gave them a lucky omen, by sending an egu^sog, or hern:
To/in S\ <5~(£iov yikvi i^oeS'tov \yyijs oS'oio
As they were marching on, a lucky hern
Minerva sent.
Where Eustathius saith, that this bird was a token of success to men that
lay in ambush, or were engaged in any such secret designs. Yet owls
were not at all times esteemed inauspicious, as appears from Hieron, at
whose first admission into military service, an eagle came and sat upon
his shield, and an owl upon his spear ; by which was signified, that he
should be valiant in war, and wise in council, and at length arrive to the
dignity of a king. This story you may find in Justin, at the end of his
third book.
The dove in Homer is a lucky bird ; so also was the swan, especially
to mariners, being an omen of fair weather, for which we have a reason
in ^mihus, as he is cited by Niphus :
Cygnus in auspiciis semper Icetissimus ales :
Hunc optant JVauta, quia nuncjuam mergit in undis.
The mariner, when tost by angry seas,
Straight for a swan, the luckiest omen, prays;
For spite of tempests she upon the surface stays.
Ravens are very much observed, being thought to receive a power of por-
tending future events from Apollo, to whom they were Uf>oi *, uxokxBoi, sa-
cred, and companions (4). When they appeared about an army, they were
dangerous omens : if they came croaking upon the right hand, it was a
tolerable good omen ; if on the left, a very bad one ; as also the chatter-
ing of magpies seems to have been. When Alexander entered into Ba-
bylon, and Cicero fled from Anthony, their deaths were foretold by the
noise of ravens : and these birds alone were thought to understand their
own predictions, because, as Pliny (5) affirms, the worst omens were giv-
en by them, when they made a harsh sort of noise, rattling in their throats,
as if they were choaked. i
(1) Themistocle. (2) Histor. Anim. lib. xv. cap, 59. (3) Iliad. «'
(4) iElianus de animal, lib. i. cap. 43. (5) Lib. x. cap. 12.