The owl of Minerva or Athena is on the one hand an affirmative symbol of prudence and wisdom and on the other hand as a night owl a negative metaphor of the older, philosophical epistemology

In ancient times, the symbolic content of the owl was diverse: As the animal of Minerva/Athena, literally a head birth , it stood for wisdom and cleverness, but at the same time it was feared as a bird of bad luck and death. ^[4] Aristotle uses them in his metaphysics as a comparison image for cognitive difficulties, since night owls see badly during the day. This imagery is also found in Thomas Aquinas