bring owls to athens

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bring owls to athens

To undertake a pointless venture, one that is redundant, unnecessary, superfluous, or highly uneconomical.

Calque of Ancient Greek proverb γλαῦκ' εἰς Ἀθήνας. The owl, which roosted in the rafters of the old Parthenon, was the symbol of the city of Athens, and was sacred to its patron goddess, Athena. It was featured on Athens’ silver coins, and as Athens both mined its own silver and minted its own coins, bringing owls to Athens would be pointless.

Collection Edit

Submitted on September 01, 2009

bring owls to athens	Forgive me, then, for bringing owls to Athens as a thanks-offering. — Goethe, in a letter to Wilhelm von Humboldt.
bring owls to athens	Perhaps we have not been sufficiently aware that talking about access and its implications in Scandinavia is like bringing owls to Athens. — Herbert Burkert.
bring owls to athens	Who brings owls to Athens? — Euelpides, in Aristophanes' Birds.

جلب البوم إلى أثينا

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"bring owls to athens." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/bring-owls-to-athens_2607>.

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