Agamemnon, Menelaus, for instance, carried a bird on the tip of
their sceptres, who had his share of all presents.[1]

f[1] The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece
of carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird.

EUELPIDES
That I didn't know and was much astonished when I saw Priam come
upon the stage in the tragedies with a bird, which kept watching
Lysicrates[1] to see if he got any present.

f[1] A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates,
because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share
of the presents.

PISTHETAERUS
But the strongest proof of all is, that Zeus, who now reigns, is
represented as standing with an eagle on his head as a symbol of his
royalty;[1] his daughter has an owl, and Phoebus, as his servant, has a
hawk.

f[1] It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus.

EUELPIDES
By Demeter, 'tis well spoken. But what are all these birds doing
in heaven?

PISTHETAERUS
When anyone sacrifices and, according to the rite, offers the entrails
to the gods, these birds take their share before Zeus. Formerly men always