Of all the oracles that the ancient Greeks would consult for wisdom and predictions of the future, the earliest was the one at Dodona in the northwestern part of the country (a region which the Greeks called Epirus). The historian Herodotus recorded in Book II of his Histories that the priestesses at Dodona attributed their oracle’s founding to the orders of a black dove that had flown over from Egypt. When comparing this to an Egyptian account which credited one of their own priestess with establishing the oracle, Herodotus concluded that the “black dove” in the Greek account was originally that same Egyptian priestess (with the dove’s black color alluding to the woman’s Egyptian heritage).

Whatever the truth behind this legend (there seems to be no archaeological evidence in favor of it as far as I know), it should be noted that the priestesses serving at Dodona were traditionally called peleiades, meaning “doves”. Perhaps that is how the Egyptian woman got turned into a dove in their founding story?