The Latin equivalent of ‘coals to Newcastle’ (ligna in silvam) was the subject of an earlier post. The Greek equivalent is γλαυκ' Ἀθηναζε [ἀγειν], meaning ‘to bring an owl to Athens’. The owl was the bird of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, and it is said that owls used to roost in the rafters of the old Parthenon, Athena’s sanctuary on the Acropolis (destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 B.C.).

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