Episode 12: The Owl

The Owl is the second of the two Poems of Psyche in Poemi Conviviali. It focuses on the execution of Socrates, which is narrated through the eyes of a group of children on the streets of Athens. These children have captured an owl, the sacred bird of the goddess Athena. When Socrates dies, the owl escapes from its captivity and flies up to the sky, symbolising the soul freed from the chains of its mortal body, as expounded in Plato’s philosophical theory.

In this episode Elena Borelli discusses The Owl with Michael Trapp. The poem starts at minute 23.39.

You can also enjoy a bonus track: the original poem La Civetta read by Marco Gambino.

From Giovanni Pascoli, Convivial Poems. Translated by Elena Borelli & James Ackhurst. New York: Italica Press, 2022. Copyright 2022 by Elena Borelli & James Ackhurst. Used by permission of Italica Press.