bring owls to Athens
To undertake a pointless venture, one that is redundant, unnecessary, superfluous, or highly uneconomical.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Giving him advice on cooking is like bringing owls to Athens.”
“You are bringing owls to Athens by giving water to a fish.”
“The company decided to sell ice in the Arctic, which was clearly bringing owls to Athens.”
“Sending a crate of coffee to a famous cafe owner in Brazil feels like bringing owls to Athens.”
“The tourists brought their own expensive bottled water to the mountain spring, which was truly bringing owls to Athens.”
“By attempting to teach the master painter his own signature technique, the student was merely bringing owls to Athens.”
Calque from Ancient Greek proverb γλαῦκ’ εἰς Ἀθήνας (glaûk’ eis Athḗnas). The owl, which roosted in the rafters of the old Parthenon (the one burnt by Xerxes I), was the symbol of the city of Athens, and was sacred to its patron goddess, Athena. It was featured on Athens’ silver coins, and as Athens both mined its own silver and minted its own coins, bringing owls (either the real birds, or the coins) to Athens would be pointless.
- 01
bring a knife to a gunfight
To enter into a confrontation or other challenging situation without being adequately equipped or prepared.
- 02
bring a lump to someone's throat
To engender a strong emotional reaction.
- 03
bring back to life
To return someone to a state of consciousness or living after a state of unconsciousness, death or near-death.
- 04
bring down the curtain
To bring something to an end.
- 05
bring down the hammer
To treat very harshly.
- 06
bring down the house
To garner enthusiastic or wild applause or laughter.
- 07
bring forward
To call up for consideration.
- 08
bring home
To earn (money).
Last updated August 10, 2026