Owl of Minerva

About the image on these pages

The banner on the UWA Philosophy pages displays a detail from a Greek coin of the sixth century B.C. featuring an image of an owl. The owl was the emblem of ancient Athens and a traditional symbol of wisdom. The other side of the coin depicts Athene, the patron goddess of Athens and goddess of wisdom and of the arts and crafts. Athene was subsequently identified by the Romans with their own goddess of wisdom, Minerva, who, like Athene, is often associated with the owl.

The word 'philosophy' originates in a Greek term, apparently coined by Pythagoras, meaning 'love of wisdom'. The owl of Athene/Minerva has naturally come to symbolize philosophy itself. For example, the influential German thinker Hegel uses it to illustrate his conception of philosophy as understanding the world as it is rather than laying down the law about how it should be, when he says, "The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk" (Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Preface, T. M. Knox's translation).