I understand what you said about the owl. You're right: owls are icons in ancient culture. Look at the symbol of this book publisher: Les Belles Lettres which publishes a lot of ancient authors!
The owl is a symbol of wisdom and a symbol of the goddess Athena. There is even a species of owl that still has Athena's name : Chevêche d'Athéna — Wikipédia (wikipedia.org).
Athena is very present on the islands of my game. All the women are her priestesses. The goal of the game, if you understood, is to find Athena's owls, dispersed by Athena's enemy, Poseidon, who unleashed a storm. The rivalry between Athena and Poseidon has been known since the Odyssey.
Thanks for the reference to The Witness. It's a game that has attracted me for a long time, and I bought it last week with the Humble bundle! I will try to play it soon, after my update for Wednesday.