A Very Brave Owl

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Announcer: This is a Getty podcast.

[Theme music begins]

Host: If somebody asked you where an owl lived, you’d probably say in a tree, right? Well today’s guest might be an owl, but he lives someplace unusual—on an ancient coin to be precise.

Welcome to If Objects Could Talk, a podcast where art and artifacts get to leave the museum vault and tell their side of the story. Thanks for joining us as we bring objects into the light!

[Theme music ends]

Quick question: do you have any coins at home?

[Coins shaking in a bag]

Maybe in a piggy bank or a few nickels and dimes under your couch cushions? If the answer is “no” don’t worry about it. A lot of us only have money in the bank and use cards or phones to pay for things. But in ancient times, coins were the hot, new way to pay.

[Roman-style music begins]

The coin we’ll hear from today was made between 505–490 BCE. It was made in Athens, Greece but found far away, in Egypt.

I’ll let our owl tell you the rest.

[Wings flapping]

Owl Coin: ATTENTION!

[Foot stomp] What an exciting opportunity to educate young minds on what it means to be, well, me. At ease, private.

[Two foot stomps]

Not only am I wise, and humble, I am also very brave. And why wouldn’t I be? I’m important! I’m currency!

[Coin dropping]

Money! The big cheese! I helped people get the things they wanted! The things they needed!

But before we get to the why we must know more about the who, who-who.

[Owl hoot, followed by throat clearing]

About the who.

First things first: I am adorable!

[People saying “aw”]

It’s true! I have two large eyes that take up most of my face and the cutest little beak.

[Small horn honking]

Although I am made of metal, you can see my tiny feathers covering my body and crowning my head.

[Flute music begins]

One of my majestic wings is on view as well as my three tail feathers and two sturdy legs. Above my body is an olive sprig.

Coins like me were among the most recognizable coins in ancient times, used all over the Mediterranean and produced in great numbers!

[Music ends]

This means that I have a lot of brothers and sisters—and it was basically a family reunion when I went from one coin purse to another! [laughs]

[Greek music begins]

I’m from Athens, one of over one thousand Greek city-states, although none were as large as Athens. While I live on one side of the coin, my other side features the head of Athena. She’s the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, and also the patron goddess of Athens.

[Music ends, sound of battle]

We don’t really see eye to eye, Athena and me. Oh, we get along; I’d ride into battle with the great Athena any day!

[Horses running and horns]

It’s just literally impossible to see eye to eye when she’s heads and I’m tail...feathers.

[Snare drum hit]

When you think about it, coins really haven’t changed all that much over time. I bet you can find a coin right now with an animal on one side and the face of someone important on the other. Go! Find it! I’ll wait. Yes, you can use the internet.

[Clock ticking, then a bell ring]

What coin did you find? What country is it from? What’s it made out of? Well, I’m made out of silver which makes sense seeing as there were silver mines in the mountains outside of Athens. I’m also heavier than the coins of today.

You want to know how I was made? Well, it went a little something like this…

[Music begins, then hissing and bubbling noises]

First, you have to heat the silver. It must be so hot that it turns into a bright liquid. That molten metal is then poured into circular molds.

[Pouring liquid]

Once the molds cool, it is time to give the coins specific images that project out from the flat surface of the coin. To make the coin a true Athenian Owl like me, a blank disc was sandwiched between a pair of cylinders with the engraved designs on either side. This was then struck with a hammer!

[Hammer striking metal surface]

Talk about a splitting headache! The force of the hammer impressed the designs into the coin on both sides: the majestic Athena on one side and me, her loyal owl on the other.

[Heavenly sounds, followed by hooting]

It was a noisy process—but not as noisy as the agora!

[Marketplace din]

The agora was the center of city-state life. It was loud and crowded. People would work, trade or buy goods, meet friends, and conduct business deals. In truth, I am a bit of an agoraphobe; that’s someone who is afraid of public spaces. It comes from the Greek words “agora” which means meeting place and “phobia” which means fear. It was at the agora where a vendor cut into me to make sure I was really made out of silver—he could’ve just asked!

[Metal cutting followed by bird squawk]

You can still see a “test cut” that goes from the edge of the coin almost all the way to my gorgeous wing!

[Marketplace din]

From that day forward, I have been a bit nervous to go into any market place. But I had to be there because people needed me to buy what they wanted. In the Athenian agora, you could find goods from around the Mediterranean. There were dates from Phoenicia, [Voices saying “yum”] the softest linen from Egypt, [Voices saying “ooh”] the brightest ivory from North Africa, [Voices gasp] and fragrant spices from Syria. [Sneeze]

Merchants of similar goods had shops together in specific areas in the agora. Prices were rarely set in stone, so bargaining with the merchants was a common practice.

[Marketplace haggling]

I do remember one particular screaming match over the size of fish like it was yesterday. Like today’s paper money and coins, I’ve been passed around from vendor to buyer and back again.

[Cash register chimes]

I have been in many hands, strongboxes, and ships.

[Marketplace din]

But on this day, I was in the small, leather pouch of a tough Spartan teenager by the name of Daphne. Daphne had traveled to Athens with her father, a wealthy diplomat. When Daphne arrived at the agora in Athens she was shocked by the social norms.

[Greek music begins over marketplace sounds]

In Athens, women had to shop with a male relative or with an enslaved escort. Only very poor women would shop in the markets alone or sell goods. This was not like Sparta at all, where women could shop on their own whenever they wanted.

Sparta and Athens were independent Greek city-states, each with their own government and culture. So while they shared a common language and religion, there were also many little differences. As Daphne discovered, alone in the agora!

[Whispering]

Daphne felt eyes staring at her throughout the marketplace. They could tell by her dress that she was a well-off and respectable young woman. They knew she shouldn’t be alone! Many vendors even refused her service unless she came back with a male relative.

[Coin jiggling]

As I jiggled and jostled inside her loosely tied purse, I had a feeling the next person to refuse Daphne was going to meet real, true Spartan rage. And who could really blame Daphne! It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t shop alone but her brother could.

[Sad music begins]

Can you think of a time where something unfair happened to you or a friend? Maybe someone cut you in line, or copied from your homework? How did that make you feel? Probably as upset as Daphne!

[Marketplace din]

Daphne was determined to buy something. Anything. She approached a fishmonger and asked if he had any squid. Without a word he retrieved the tiniest squid in his possession and attempted to wrap it up for a potential sale. Daphne couldn’t believe how disrespectful this was! She could afford the best! What was the meaning of this insulting gesture?

Daphne screamed at the man and told him his catch was puny! Without thinking, Daphne threw the squid in the fishmonger’s face [wet splat] and vowed never to return to Athens or its agora with its too many rules ever again.

[Voices yelling]

The fishmonger was hot with rage and began moving from behind his fish stall. Daphne knew that it was time to RUN.

[People running]

In the heat of the moment, I fell from Daphne’s purse [coin clinks] and onto the dirt path. You see, Sparta forbid the use of valuable gold and silver coins, so Daphne was not used to handling them or making sure she didn’t lose them in the hustle and bustle of a quick getaway!

The fishmonger, hot on Daphne’s trail, stopped when he saw my silver surface catch the light.

[Twinkle and a gasp]

When he realized what was in his hands, an Athenian Owl, representing four days of pay for a Greek soldier, he immediately began to thank Athena for her generosity and wisdom.

[Mystical music begins]

From then on the fishmonger kept me close. A testament to the favor Athena showed him and a reminder that seeking revenge is never worth it! He would have never found me if he’d kept running after Daphne. And Daphne wouldn’t have lost me if she hadn’t tried to get her revenge by throwing that slimy squid.

[Wet splat]

And I was just relieved.

[Owl hoot]

I didn’t have to go from vendor, to buyer, to purse for quite some time! I was special. A gift from a goddess.

[Twinkle]

Sometimes you just need a break from the rat race, you know?

[Wings flapping away]

[Theme music begins]

Host: I hope you enjoyed learning about the agora and Greek city-states.

Join us next time when a pair of feet illuminates our studio.

To see photographs of the owl coin and learn more, visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.

This episode was written by Tocarra Elise and produced by Zoe Goldman. Dave Luukonnen voiced the owl. Theme music, mixing and sound design by Alexandra Kalinowski. Christopher Sprinkle is executive producer.

Special thanks to curators Ken Lapatin and Judith Barr and educator Lilit Sadoyan.

Catch you next time!