Habetne Minerva bubonem? Immo, noctuam!
In the skill "gods", we are taught that Minerva is accompanied by an owl, bubo (literally "horned owl"). This is not technically correct: the owl associated with Minerva is, in fact, the noctua, "night-owl". This owl is also called the 'little owl', which carries the scientific name Athene noctua.
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People must have been fascinated by owls to have so many different terms for them!
Not to turn this discussion into a biological debate, but doesn't 'strix' also means 'owl'?
Thankyou! Very interesting! This reminds my of the confusion I faced about learning that Harry Potter does not have a 'búho' but a 'lechuza' in Spanish.
Oh yes, and one does "noctuas Athenas portare".
But bubo is certainly a useful word. Bubo bubo is a well-known species.
Hope they change it, cause that is the beauty of Latin, full richness of words.
