Pigeons and Doves in Religion, Myths, Mythology and Folklores
by Doves seem holy and clean, but pigeons appear commonplace and dirty. Nevertheless, the two are very closely related in biology and closely associated in folklore. In ancient texts it is often impossible to know which is meant, and perhaps the best way to think of these birds is as the sacred and profane aspects of a single creature.
A grove near the city of Dodona contained one of the most ancient and venerable oracles in Greece. According to legend, a black dove from Egypt alighted there. As it moved among the oak trees, the branches would rustle and speak to the priests in the voice of a woman. In the time of Homer, the shrine at Dodona was the most revered in all the land.
In the ancient world, doves were often associated with prophecy. In The Voyages of the Argo, Apollonius of Rhodes told how the Greek heroes in search of the Golden Fleece found their way through a sea barred by the Clashing Rocks, which would continually open and close. They released a dove. It passed between the rocks, so the heroes knew they could navigate unscathed. In Virgil’s Aeneid, doves guided Aeneas through a forest to a golden bough, which he needed to enter the world of the dead. Even Christianity, which often took a dim view of pagan oracles, was full of stories in which doves assist in divination, perhaps because doves seemed above every suspicion of evil. One apocryphal gospel had a dove from heaven alighting on the staff of Joseph and anointing him as the husband of Mary. Of course, whatever pleased the gods would be offered up to them in the ancient world. For the Hebrews, doves and pigeons were the only birds that might be offered for sacrifice (Lev. 1:14), and they were the favorite sacrifice of people who could not afford sheep or oxen.
The biblical book of Genesis states that “God’s spirit hovered over the water” (1:2). This image certainly suggests a bird, and it has usually been depicted as a dove. During the Flood, Noah sent out a dove. When it returned with an olive branch, he knew that the waters had begun to subside. In Christianity, the dove represents the Holy Spirit. A dove descended on Jesus at his baptism. In pictures of the Annunciation, the dove has traditionally been portrayed descending to Mary from God the Father as she becomes pregnant with the infant Jesus. The scene recalls the amorous adventures of Zeus, for example, when the god assumed the form of a swan to impregnate the maiden Leda. The dove, usually painted directly between Mary and God the Father, seemed to shield Mary with its purity. The dove was sacred to many goddesses of the ancient world.
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