Note 6 — A TENTH-CENTURY DRAMATIST, ROSWITHA THE NUN

The intervention of a bird to aid in discovery was a favourite tradition derived from antiquity. We may recall, amongst many variants of the theme, the story of the celebrated expedition of the Athenians to the Island of Scyros to find and recover the body of Theseus. Theseus, being a hero, the agent employed in the quest must likewise be distinguished, and so the eagle, Zeus’s bird, is alone thought worthy to peck the earth and indicate the resting-place of the demi-god.