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Owl pendant of Goddess Athena
This silver pendant is derived from the motif of the
arguably best-known ancient coin – the Athenian Tetradrachm. On the
back side of the pendant, engraved in Greek characters, is an
inscription of AΘΕ.
Owls are traditionally
associated with wisdom and with the goddess Athena, although crows,
rooks and many other common birds are more intelligent. The Ancient
Egyptians made a representation of an owl into their hieroglyph
for "m", although they would often draw this hieroglyph with
its legs broken to keep the bird of prey from coming to life and
attacking.
In Japanese culture,
the bird is a symbol of death and seeing one is considered a bad omen.
The same is true in Romanian culture,
where the howling of an owl predicts the death of somebody living in the
neighbourhood, as the howling of the owl is likened to a mourning.
The Romans considered them funerary birds, for their nocturnal activity
and having their nests in inaccessible places, therefore, seeing an owl
at daytime was considered a bad omen. Their vampiric strix was in
part based on the owl. The taboo surrounding owls in Hopi culture regards them
as a dirty and ominous creature.
(Source: WIKIPEDIA) |
