Swallows and Souls: The Ancient Greek Symbolism of Eternal Flight

The soul lives in the air. When it knows that no flight is possible, it dies.

In Ancient Greece, swallows were a symbol of the soul and were closely associated with the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Experts in the Greek lore say that if you look for an explanation of this metaphor in ancient Greek literature, you won’t find much. It’s just there. Without any explanations.

However, if we look at the swallow clo…