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| The other Athena A Nurses Week tribute to Florence Nightingale |
| By Joy Shiller |
 Athena, goddess of wisdom in ancient Greece, was symbolized by the owl. But there was another Athena. Born on 5 June 1850 (Verney, 1970), she was the devoted and constant companion to one of the most prominent figures in Victorian history. Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 to an extraordinarily wealthy British family who lived primarily at Embley, a manor house in Hampshire. The family spent summers at Lea Hurst, a mansion in Derbyshire. During the high social season, they stayed at the luxurious hotels of London. Despite her privileged existence, Nightingale suffered from bouts of depression. In 1849, following a seven-year courtship with Richard Milnes, she declined his marriage proposal. She became so despondent that her family’s close friends, the Bracebridges, invited her to join them on an extended vacation to Egypt and Greece. Chameleons and tortoises Nightingale always had a passion for animals, finding solace in their presence. While vacationing in Egypt, she had two chameleons that slept in her bed. In Greece, she acquired two tortoises (Mr. and Mrs. Hill) plus a cicada named Plato (Woodham-Smith, 1983). One day, she was visiting the Parthenon in Athens and saw a baby owl being tormented by a group of boys. She bought it with a few coins and named her Athena. Initially, the owlet fought and scratched at everything that came close to her (Verney, 1970). Athena even ate Plato (Woodham-Smith, 1983). She was so ferocious that the only way Miss Nightingale could coax her into a cage was to mesmerize her using a method she had learned from Richard Milnes. Eventually, the mischievous bird calmed down, acquired some manners and ate from Nightingale’s hand (Verney). Nightingale traveled everywhere with the owl in her pocket (Woodham-Smith) and taught the bird to bow and curtsy to anything near her (Greyfield, 2005). Athena had become a “balm to [Nightingale’s] wounded psyche” (Gill, 2004). After 10 months of vacationing with the Bracebridges, Nightingale returned to Embley. While sitting on the sofa between her mother and sister Parthe, she pulled a bag from her pocket. To their surprise, Athena’s little head peered from the bag (Verney, 1970). With this latest addition to the estate, the butler was given the additional responsibility of supplying mice to accommodate the owl’s diet (Nash, 1936). |
(From RNL [Reflections on Nursing Leadership], the blog of Sigma Theta Tau International nursing honor society, www.reflectionsonnursingleadership.org/Pages)/Vol37_2_Shiller_Athena.aspx