Minerva, in Greek mythology Athena the
goddess of wisdom. And her faithful companions – the snake and the owl. Coming,
for example, in the Pushkin Museum we can see them next to Minerva.
The owl was the symbol of wisdom.
Remember, our beloved elite club of experts "What? Where? When?" is a
live owl as its symbol.
Unfortunately, philosophical wisdom, as,
indeed, any other, is often late and comes too late. At the time, the aphorism
about the Owl of Minerva has caused much rumours. The words "gray on
gray" woefully acted on young disciples of Hegel. And one of them decided
to add the famous saying of the teacher as follows: "But philosophy is
also the pre-dawn crowing of the cock announcing the new youth of the
world".
The teacher had not objected to such
amendment.
Maybe when the Owl of Minerva will cease
for us to be offended and will forgive our lack of attention to her, she
surprisingly I'll break out the pre-dawn crowing of the cock, heralds the youth
of the world, and the spirits of darkness and ignorance will no longer be
naughty and confuse young minds.
In the meantime, to finally make peace
with the wise hostess of our philosophical Museum will finally remember another
aphorism of the king of philosophers, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel...
”Here in the sphere of the spirit flow
river of forgetfulness, from which Psyche drinks, she immerses them in their
pain; it softened, turning into dreams, grim ghosts of life and, illumined by
the light, become the outline of a shining eternity."