L'occhio della civetta. Lo sguardo di Atena sulla moneta di Atene .

The work presents some reflections on the selection in the Athenian coinage of the owl as a monetary type to go along with the image of Athena, among the many attributes of this multipurpose goddess, whose work involves different fields of action. The issue is linked to the controversial significance of the epithet ‘‘glaukopis’’ given to the goddess, which is believed to have taken a specific meaning when, in the course of the VI century BC, Athena is entrusted with protecting the treasury and public resources kept on the Acropolis of Athens. The goddess, with her shining gaze, like that of the nocturnal bird, holds the reserves of the sanctuary (meaning the polis) and acts as the guarantor of the currency, placed under her watchful eye. In this sense, Athena carries out in Athens, in a certain way, the same functions that in Rome will be attributed to Juno Moneta, at whose sanctuary on the summit of the Capitol was located the urban famous mint.