Owl of Athena Owl of Athena 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
Aurora (mythology) Aurora (mythology) Aurora () is the Latin word for dawn, and the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry. Like Greek "Eos" and Rigvedic "Ushas", "Aurora" continues the name of an earlier Indo-European dawn goddess, "Hausos". In Roman mythology, Aurora renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the sun. Her parentage was flexible: for Ovid, she could equally be "Pallantis", signifying the daughter of Pallas, or the daughter of Hyperion. She has two siblings, a brother (Sol, the sun) and a sister (Luna, the moon). Roman writers rarely imitated Hesiod and later