170 
OWLS AND OMENS. 
of the owl. When Dido, shortly before her death, stands in front 
of the altar iu the marble temple of her ancient spouse, she heai-s 
the voice of omen : — 
Among other portents before the death of Valentinian, an owl sat 
upon the roof of the pavilion where he generally bathed, and could 
not be driven away even with stones. So, too, prior to the decease 
of the Emperor Commodus, an owl was observed to take up his 
position on the top of the imperial palace, both at Rome and at 
Lanuvium. Xiphilinus, discoursing upon the prodigies that preceded 
the death of Augustus, asserts that the owl screamed on tlie top of 
the Curia ; and that the Actian war was prefigured by the flying of 
owls into the Temple of Concord. On the other hand, the Atlienians 
always looked upon the appearance of the owl as a fortunate sign. 
Hence the proverb, yXa)^ 'iTrraTaL, "The owl is out," signified, 
" We have good luck." In England, however, this view of the 
