What is the meaning of the phrase: "The owls of Minerva fly only by night?&

Question:

What is the meaning of the phrase: "The owls of Minerva fly only by night?"?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The owl of Minerva, takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering.

— Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Preface

There are lots of different translation, such as, "The owl of Minerva only takes flight as the dusk begins to fall."

Hegel argues that it is only possible to understand an epoch, or even your own life, as it comes to an end (with hindsight). It's not possible to understand fully what is going on around you, clarity only comes with time.

Also, it's not possible to rejuvenate that epoch, only to understand it.

In other words, philosophy cannot be used to preach to, or guide society in the present, because it is not equipped to do so.
"Neither you nor the theoreticians of your society have a full conceptual grasp of what you lived through until the world you grew up in has changed so dramatically that the underlying assumptions of the time come into relief. As a product of an earlier time, you may not be fully in tune with what is going on now and cannot articulate its inner experience. This is what the generation coming up now will have to do when it gets an intellectual grasp on what it was like its inhabitants to live through this period."
(Ralph Dumain)