Minerva's Owl
Jupiter and the Olympians looked down upon the wedding ceremony of Procne, daughter of Pandion, King of Athens and Tereus, King of Thrace and son of Mars. Jupiter turned to his wife, Juno, and the goddesses at her side, Hymen and the Graces. His frustrated glare would have caused any mortal to cower, but Juno was more than a match for him and coolly met her husband's gaze.
"Will you not attend to the marriage bed of Procne?" he asked. "Why shun her marriage and her offerings, denying her the blessings you provide to all other young brides?"
Juno spoke firmly, holding her ground against Jupiter's anger. "This union was doomed before it began. You know just as well as I the end allotted to these unhappy mortals. We will not bless that which ends in violent abominations. The Furies have written this couple's fate and so the Furies shall prepare the bridal bed."
Zeus sighed and turned away, knowing he would never be able to convince her to act according to his wishes. Juno, Hymen and the Graces returned to their domains, as did the rest of the Olympians, all except for Minerva. She continued to observe the wedding ceremony occurring in the mortal world, pity in her eyes. Eventually, she too returned to her temple but continued to dwell on the horrible fate awaiting the couple. Procne was a daughter of Athens, one of Minerva's own, and she was an innocent maiden with a tragic destiny she could not control. Quickly making up her mind, Minerva summoned her companion, an owl, and sent him to perch over the cursed marriage bed of Tereus and Procne. Her hope was that the young girl would recognize the omen, understanding Minerva's meaning and escape the fate that had been written for her.
Procne and Tereus barely noticed the owl's prophetic screeches, not knowing the pain and torment in store for them and unable to deviate from the path set before their feet. As the years passed the little family's happiness only seemed to grow, and Minerva watched them with a growing sadness. When the time finally came for Philomela's disastrous visit Minerva had decided on a course of action. She could not prevent what was to come to pass but she would do what she could to protect the Athenian girls and prevent the prolonging of their suffering. After Procne murdered her child and fed him to the unsuspecting Tereus, Minerva watched the three unfortunate mortals racing through the palace. As Procne and Philomela fled from Tereus' wrath Minerva turned them all into birds, flying away into the forest and the eaves of the castle. Tereus had become a hoopoe, raging against the world for the death of his son; Philomela transformed into a nightingale, singing her sad tale to the trees of the forest; and Procne became a swallow, nesting in the eaves of the palace where she had raised and killed her boy, forever lamenting the fate she had been cursed with.