Many birds in ancient Greece took their meaning from the qualities associated with gods and goddesses who usually had certain birds as their symbols, the most well known being Athena, goddess of wisdom, who had the owl as her sacred bird, therefore the owl came to symbolize knowledge and wisdom.
They were considered endowed with oracular properties, and a divine bird, as messenger of Zeus and herald of victory. In fact, Zeus himself is said to have transformed himself into an eagle on occasion.
The story of Europa's abduction is yet another story of Zeus, transforming himself into an animal to seduce a mortal woman. In this case, the god took the shape of a bull. Europa was a descendant of the nymph Io from Phoenice.
The gods Horus and Thoth from ancient Egyptian mythology were often depicted as humans with the heads of a falcon and an ibis, respectively. Huitzilopochtli, "hummingbird's south" or "hummingbird's left"; Aztec god of the sun and war who was often depicted as either a hummingbird or an eagle.
The god Horus, represented as a falcon or a human with a falcon head, was a sun god as well as the ancient Egyptian god of kingship, representing the living king of Egypt. Falcons, along with other birds, could have easily been seen by everyone in ancient Egypt.
Thoth was the god of the moon, sacred texts, mathematics, the sciences, magic, messenger and recorder of the deities, master of knowledge, and patron of scribes. His Egyptian name was Djehuty, which means “He who is like the Ibis.” He was depicted as an ibis bird or a baboon.
Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God for boasting about his achievements, lost his sanity and lived like an animal for seven years, according to Daniel, chapter 4. When his sanity was later restored he praised and honoured God.
Zeus transformed into an eagle in order to kidnap the young man Ganymedes, while for the abduction of the young Europa he was transformed into a bull. In many of his representations, Zeus is depicted with a great golden-feathered eagle called Aetos Dios, serving as his personal messenger and companion by his throne.
In order to achieve his amorous designs, Zeus frequently assumed animal forms, such as that of a cuckoo when he ravished Hera, a swan when he ravished Leda, or a bull when he carried off Europa.
Garuda, in Hindu mythology, the bird (a kite or an eagle) and the vahana (mount) of the god Vishnu. In the Rigveda the sun is compared to a bird in its flight across the sky, and an eagle carries the ambrosial soma plant from heaven to earth.
THE AETOS DIOS was a giant, golden eagle which served as Zeus' personal messenger and animal companion.
The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology (with analogs in many cultures such as Egyptian and Persian) that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again.
In Greek mythology, a little owl (Athene noctua) traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology.
Apollo's sacred bird in Greek mythology. According to the myth, the raven originally had white feathers. In one story, Apollo told the bird to watch over Coronis, one of his lovers, who was pregnant at the time. Coronis gradually lost interest in Apollo and fell in love with a mortal man, Ischys.
SCREECH-OWL The screech-owl, a bird of ill-omen, was sacred to the god Haides. It was the metamorphosed form of his orchardist Askalaphos.
In the myth, the god Zeus turned into a swan and raped Leda, Queen of Sparta. That event had huge consequences, according to classical mythology: Leda's intercourse with the swan and then with her husband, King Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs, from which hatched Helen, Clytemnestra and the twins Castor and Pollux.
Among Jupiter's many loves was the boy Ganymede, whom the god, in the guise of an eagle, carried off to Olympus to serve as his cupbearer.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera. After courting her unsuccessfully he changed himself into a disheveled cuckoo. When Hera took pity on the bird and held it to her breast, Zeus resumed his true form and ravished her.
In Revelation 4:6–8, four living beings (Greek: ζῷον, zōion) are seen in John's vision. These appear as a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, much as in Ezekiel but in a different order. They have six wings, whereas Ezekiel's four living creatures are described as only having four.
In the Hebrew Bible
Genesis 1 tells of God's creation of the world and its creatures, with humankind as the last of his creatures: "Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam ..." (Genesis 5:2).
The staff is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus (Ex 4:2), when God appears to Moses in the burning bush. God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers "a staff" ("a rod" in the KJV version). The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff.
2686 BC), Anubis was portrayed in full animal form, with a "jackal" head and body. A jackal god, probably Anubis, is depicted in stone inscriptions from the reigns of Hor-Aha, Djer, and other pharaohs of the First Dynasty.
In essence, the Benu was considered a manifestation of the resurrected Osiris. Herodotus tells us that the bird lived for 500 years before building a nest of aromatic boughs and spices which it then set ablaze and was consumed within the inferno.
Thoth (/θoʊθ, toʊt/; from Koinē Greek: Θώθ Thṓth, borrowed from Coptic: Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ Thōout, Egyptian: Ḏḥwtj, the reflex of ḏḥwtj "[He] is like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him.